Champion of Liberty commemorative stamps, also known as the Champion of Liberty series, were a series of nineteen commemorative stamps issued periodically by the United States Post Office between 1957 and 1961 in honor of the men who fought for the cause of freedom and independence in their home countries. The stamp issues also served as a political and social statement against the perceived totalitarianism of the Soviet Union during the cold war. The First day covers were postmarked in Washington D.C. with specially made "First Day of Issue" cancellations that often included a symbol related to the man commemorated on the given issues.[1][2]
With one exception, each subject depicted on the Champion of Liberty stamps were printed in 4-cent and 8-cent denominations, and were first issued on the same date in the same city. The Magsaysay 8-cent issue of 1957 was only issued in an 8-cent denomination and perforated 11 gauge, while all the other issues were issued in 4-cent and 8-cent denominations and were perforated 10½ by 11 gauge. The 4-cent stamps were printed in one color, while the 8-cent stamps were printed with three colors. All issues were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on the Giori Press. The Champion of Liberty series of stamps were all first issued in Washington DC, on their respective dates of issue.[1][3]
1957 issue
Magsaysay, 8c, 1958 issue
Ramon Magsaysay was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957.[4][5][lower-alpha 1] An oversized stamp issue compared to the others in the series, this is the only Champion of Liberty stamp that was first issued in the year 1957, in Washington DC on August 31 of that year.[6]
Magsaysay, FDC cancellation, August 31, 1957
1958 issues
Lajos Kossuth,1958 issues
Lajos Kossuth, or Louis Kossuth, was a leader of the Hungarian Revolution, and supported a war for independence from the Austrian Empire. Kossuth became Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. The war ended later that year when the Hungarian forces surrendered to Russia and Austria. Kossuth went into exile, visiting and speaking with officials in the United Kingdom and the United States. He died in exile in Italy.[7][8] The Lajos Kossuth issue was first Issued in Washington D.C, on September 19, 1958.[9]
Lagos Kossuth FDC cancellation, September 19, 1958 (detail)Simon Bolivar, 1958 issues
Simon Bolivar was one of the most influential leaders in the several South American struggles for Independence. Bolivar rallied the different races and ethnic groups together and led Columbia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia to independence from the Spanish Empire, which led to the ultimate transformation of the governments and social structures of South America.[10] The Bolivar issues were first released in Washington DC on July 24, 1958.[11]
Simon Bolivar, FDC cancellation, July 24, 1958 (detail)
Ernst Reuter was the Mayor of West Berlin from 1948-1953. He was captured and imprisoned by the Nazis in 1933 and release in 1935, after which he went into exile in Turkey, where he remained until the end to the war. He returned to Germany to help rebuild the country. He actively promoted the idea of a unified Berlin and was active in the effort to unify the western sectors. He, assisted with the Berlin Airlift and politically opposed the Soviet Union government. Reuter was the fifth person featured in the Champions of Liberty series.First issued in Washington DC, September 29, 1959.[12]
Ernst Reuter "First Day of Issue" cancellation, September 29, 1959 (detail)José de San Martín, 1959 issues
Jose de San Martin was a South American soldier and statesman who played a central role in many South American countries’ ability to gain independence from Spain. San Martin was born in 1778 in what is present day Argentina. He attended school and served in the Spanish Army Spain and later returned to his native South American homeland to participate in the spreading liberation movement. He assisted the Argentinian army against Spanish forces and helped Chile and Peru to gain their independence.[13][14] The Jose de San Martin commemorative postage stamps were first issued in Washington DC, February 25, 1959.[15]
Jose de San Martin "First Day of issue" cancellation, February 25, 1959 (detail)
Tomáš Masaryk, founder and first president of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1935. Following the outbreak of the World War I, Masaryk sought for a separate country for Czechs and Slovaks, independent from the Austria-Hungary Empire. [16] The Masaryk issues were first released in Washington D.C. on the 110th anniversary of his birth, February 25, 1959.[17]
Masaryk, FDC cancellation, February 25, 1959 (detail)Marshal Mannerheim, 1960 issue
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim served as military leader during the Finnish Civil War and World War II. He was promoted to the honorary rank of Field Marshal for his distinguished service as general. He went on to serve as the sixth President of Finland.[18] The Carl Gustaf issues were first released in Washington, DC on October 26.1960.[19]
Gustaf Karl Mannerheim, FDC cancellation, October 26, 1960Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1960 issues
Giuseppe Garibaldi, was an Italian patriot, known for assisting with the reunification of Italy in the 19th century. He participated in revolutionary struggles of Brazil and Uruguay while in exile in South America. Garibaldi returned to Italy in 1848 to fight in its war of independence. He served in military campaigns against Austria and France. Issue in Washington DC, November 2, 1960.[20]
Giuseppe Garibald, FDC cancellation, November 2, 1960Ignacy Jan Paderewski,1960 issues
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, was an accomplished composer and pianist. . As an active member of the Polish National Committee he served as a representative to Washington who met with President Woodrow Wilson. After the First World War ended, he was appointed Prime Minister of Poland and later served as Polish Ambassador to the League of Nations. During World War II when German forces invaded and occupation Poland in 1939, he became the leader of the Polish National Council, which functioned as a Polish parliament while in exile in London. Paderewski ultimately "welded together" a new Poland.[21] The Paderewski issues were first released in Washington DC on October 8, 1960.[22]
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, FDC cancellation, October 8, 1960
1961 issues
In 1961 the U.S. government issued two commemorative stamps in honor of Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi spend the earlier part of his life advocating for the rights of native Africans in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, where he formed many pf his social and political views. In 1915 he began fighting for India's independence through non-violent activism.. Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi on January 30,1948, by Nathuram Godse. At the time of his death he had no belongings other than some clothing and a few other menial items.[23] The Gandhi commemorative stamps were first issued January 26, 1961, and were the last two stamps issued in the Champion of Liberty Series. They were first issued in the Postmaster General's Reception Room in the Post Office Building in Washington, DC[19]
↑ General Cabal said metal fatigue had broken a drive shaft that caused power failure aboard the twin-engine C-47 after takeoff from Cebu City on the Island of Cebu on a flight to Manila.", resulting in the crash.[5]
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was a Czechoslovak statesman, progressive political activist and philosopher who served as the first president of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1935. He is regarded as the founding father of Czechoslovakia.
The Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932 are postage stamps issued by the United States government in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of U.S. President George Washington's birth. Twelve stamps were issued as a collection, with each one depicting the President in a different period in his life.
Postal service in the United States began with the delivery of stampless letters whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a system of universal prepayment that required all letters to bear nationally issued adhesive postage stamps.
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the revolution of 1848–1849.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.
The United States Bicentennial coinage is a set of circulating commemorative coins, consisting of a quarter, half dollar and dollar struck by the United States Mint in 1975 and 1976. Regardless of when struck, each coin bears the double date 1776–1976 on the normal obverses for the Washington quarter, Kennedy half dollar and Eisenhower dollar. No coins dated 1975 of any of the three denominations were minted.
The history of postage stamps and postal history of Malaysia, a state in Southeast Asia that occupies the south of the Malay Peninsula and Sarawak and Sabah in the north Borneo, includes the development of postal services in these periods:
The Liberty issue was a definitive series of postage stamps issued by the United States between 1954 and 1965. It offered twenty-four denominations, ranging from a half-cent issue showing Benjamin Franklin to a five dollar issue depicting Alexander Hamilton. However, in a notable departure from all definitive series since 1870, the stamp for a normal first-class letter—the 3-cent value—did not present the portrait of a president, but instead offered a monocolor image of the Statue of Liberty. Moreover, two-color renderings of the Statue of Liberty appeared on both the 8 cent and 11 cent stamps; and it is from these three denominations that the Liberty issue takes its name. Pictures of other national landmarks, such as Bunker Hill and Mount Vernon, are found on several values, while the rest of the stamps follow tradition, containing portraits of well-known historic Americans. The six denominations in the set that illustrate buildings were all designed in landscape format, resulting in a free intermixture of landscape and portrait orientation for the first time in a definitive U.S. issue.
The Bicentennial Series was a lengthy series of American commemorative postage stamps.
ABCorp, formerly the American Bank Note Company, is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newly formed First Bank of the United States to design and produce more counterfeit resistant currency. The company has facilities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Taras Shevchenko Memorial is a bronze statue and stone relief-adorned wall located on the 2200 block of P Street NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of many monuments in Washington, D.C. that honor foreign heroes who symbolize freedom in their native countries. Sculpted by Leo Mol, the memorial honors Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), a Ukrainian poet and artist who influenced the development of modern Ukrainian literature.
Qatar was a British protectorate from 1916 till it gained independence on 3 September 1971. Until 1950, the country's postal service was administered by an Indian post office in Bahrain. A British office was opened in Doha and sold stamps of British Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia until 1957 when overprinted British stamps were introduced. Qatar Post took responsibility for postal administration in May 1963 and joined the Universal Postal Union in January 1969. The first Qatari stamps were issued in 1961 and there was an independence issue in January 1972. Since then, Qatar Post has continued to manage the country's postal administration and to issue its stamps, which are mostly relevant to Qatar itself.
Presidents of the United States have frequently appeared on U.S. postage stamps since the mid-19th century. The United States Post Office Department released its first two postage stamps in 1847, featuring George Washington on one, and Benjamin Franklin on the other. The advent of presidents on postage stamps has been definitive to U.S. postage stamp design since the first issues were released and set the precedent that U.S. stamp designs would follow for many generations.
The Regular Issues of 1922–1931 were a series of 27 U.S. postage stamps issued for general everyday use by the U.S. Post Office. Unlike the definitives previously in use, which presented only a Washington or Franklin image, each of these definitive stamps depicted a different president or other subject, with Washington and Franklin each confined to a single denomination. The series not only restored the historical tradition of honoring multiple presidents on U.S. Postage but extended it. Offering the customary presidential portraits of the martyred Lincoln and Garfield, the war hero Grant, and the founding fathers Washington and Jefferson, the series also memorialized some of the more recently deceased presidents, beginning with Hayes, McKinley, Cleveland and Roosevelt. Later, the deaths of Harding, Wilson and Taft all prompted additions to the presidential roster of Regular Issue stamps, and Benjamin Harrison's demise (1901) was belatedly deemed recent enough to be acknowledged as well, even though it had already been recognized in the Series of 1902. The Regular Issues also included other notable Americans, such as Martha Washington and Nathan Hale—and, moreover, was the first definitive series since 1869 to offer iconic American pictorial images: these included the Statue of Liberty, the Capitol Building and others. The first time (1869) that images other than portraits of statesmen had been featured on U.S. postage, the general public disapproved, complaining that the scenes were no substitute for images of presidents and Franklin. However, with the release of these 1922 regular issues, the various scenes—which included the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and even an engraving of an American Buffalo—prompted no objections. To be sure, this series presented pictorial images only on the higher-value stamps; the more commonly used denominations, of 12 cents and lower, still offered the traditional portraits.
Charles Ransom Chickering was best known as the freelance artist who designed some 77 postage stamps for the U.S. Post Office while working at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC. His career as a professional artist began while working as an illustrator for the U.S. Army recording and drawing medical illustrations of the wounded and dead during the First World War. He continued the practice in civilian life and became a noted artist-illustrator who worked for a number of prominent magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, which were very popular during the pre-television era of the 1920s to 1940s. After the Second World War Chickering began working for the U.S. Post office designing U.S. Postage stamps, some of which became famous. Later in life he became a designer and illustrator for first day cover cachets that were also popular among stamp and postal history collectors.
The Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps concerns both the actual stamps and covers used during the American Civil War, and the later postage celebrations. The latter include commemorative stamp issues devoted to the actual events and personalities of the war, as well as definitive issues depicting many noteworthy individuals who participated in the era's crucial developments.
The history of Virginia through the colonial period on into contemporary times has been depicted and commemorated on postage stamps accounting for many important personalities, places and events involving the nation's history. Themes are particularly rich in early American and new nation history, historical landmarks, and Virginia-born presidents.
During the years 1936 to 1937 the United States Post Office issued a series of commemorative stamps honoring prominent figures of the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy who served during the earlier chapters of American history. President Theodore Roosevelt had campaigned for these issues while he was president. The issues, however, did not materialize until President Franklin D. Roosevelt, an avid stamp collector himself, and a frequent motivator of stamp issues and designs, had campaigned for their release. Ten stamps in all were issued on different dates during the course of six months, with the denominations of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cents for both the army and navy issues.
The American Credo postal issues were a series of six commemorative postage stamps issued by the United States Post Office between 1960 and 1961. Issued over a one-year period, the 4-cent stamps feature famous quotes from prominent Americans which are considered to eulogize the principles on which the United States was founded. An opinion poll was taken which consulted one hundred distinguished Americans in public life, which included historians, and presidents of state universities, who collectively chose the given credos found on these stamp issues. The quotes inscribed on the stamps are from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Frances Scott Key, Abraham Lincoln, and Patrick Henry, and were released in that order. Each stamp bears an inscription of the signature of the man who uttered the credo.
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