# 4860a - 2014 21c Imperf Lincoln Memorial

U.S. # 4860a
2014 21¢ Lincoln Memorial Imperforate

This stamp was issued to cover the additional-ounce and non-machinable surcharge rates. It pictures a close-up view of the statue in the Lincoln Memorial. The stamps were issued in pane (U.S. #4860) and coil (U.S. #4861) formats.

In 1860, Leonard Volk made plaster masks of Abraham Lincoln’s face and hands. Two days earlier, the Illinois lawyer had learned he was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. Neither man could have known Lincoln would be assassinated five years later or that Volk’s casts would be used to create a monument to the fallen leader. 

Calls for a tribute to Lincoln began immediately after his death, but more than 57 years passed before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. was completed. Modeled after the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the monument features a marble statue of Lincoln’s solitary figure sitting in contemplation. Volk’s masks were used to help guide the work, which occurred under the direction of Daniel Chester French.

Original specifications called for the statue to be less than ten feet tall. Realizing the building would dwarf it, the height was increased to nearly 19 feet. The pedestal underneath adds almost ten feet, making Lincoln’s likeness the focal point of the memorial. Plans to enclose the interior were then abandoned. That change allowed the Great Emancipator’s statue to oversee such landmark events in the Civil Rights Movement as Marian Anderson’s historic concert and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.

The stamp shows a cropped photo taken by Carol Highsmith. The original picture is housed at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Value: 21¢ additional second-ounce rate

Issued: February 12, 2014, Lincoln’s birthday

City: Springfield, IL, Lincoln’s home before becoming President

Type of Stamp: Definitive

Printed By: CCL Label Inc.

Printing Method: Photogravure printed in sheets of 3 panes of 20 per sheet

Perforations: Imperforate

Self-Adhesive

Scarce Modern Imperforates

The modern imperforate stamps are one of the hottest stories around.  In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service released some issues as press sheets.  The sheets with die cut perforations were issued in limited quantities. 

To the surprise of many collectors, officials then issued a small number of press sheets without perforations.  The uncut sheets were only available in Kansas City, Missouri, yet most sold out immediately.  In an instant, the imperforate stamp sheets became modern rarities.  For example, only 75,000 Baseball All-Star se-tenant sheets were issued compared to 118,000 Bugs Bunny sheets with the 10th stamp imperforate.

In a controversial move, the editors of Scott Catalogue announced they would not list or give numbers to these stamps because they did not fit Scott guidelines.  This decision was strongly debated since the imperforate stamps are valid for postage.  They eventually decided to give the stamps minor numbers and have continued issuing imperforates in the years since.

Because they were issued in such limited quantities, these scarce modern imperforates can be difficult to find.  Luckily Mystic purchased a small number of each imperforate stamp issued so you can add these modern rarities to your collection.  Be one of the lucky few – order today.