# 590 - 1926 9c Jefferson, rose
U.S. #590
Series of 1923-26 9¢ Thomas Jefferson
First City: Washington, D.C.
Quantity Issued: 79,537,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforation: 10
Color: Rose
National Geodetic Survey
Well before 1807, other nations had done their own coastal and geodetic surveys. Geodesy is the science of measuring the Earth’s shape, orientation in space, and gravitational field. Swiss-born Ferdinand R. Hassler immigrated to the US in 1805 and proposed the creation of a government agency to explore this field of science.
However, after Hessler submitted his plan for the survey just a month later, the Embargo Act of 1807 essentially halted all US overseas trade. The project was put on hold until 1811 when President James Madison authorized Hassler to travel to Europe to purchase the instruments needed for the survey. While Hassler was in England, the War of 1812 broke out and he was forced to stay there until it ended in 1815.
From 1900 to 1917, the Navy was removed from the survey and it was operated entirely by civilians. Then with the US entrance into World War I, the US established the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corp, which gave the survey’s officers a commissioned status to protect them from being treated as spies if they were captured. After the war, they returned to land surveying, seafloor charting, mapping coastlines, geophysics, and oceanography. In 1926, the survey entered a new age with the passage of the Air Commerce Act, which directed them to chart US airways for the first time. During the Depression, the survey established surveying parties and field offices that provided jobs for more than 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.
Click here for more on the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
U.S. #590
Series of 1923-26 9¢ Thomas Jefferson
First City: Washington, D.C.
Quantity Issued: 79,537,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforation: 10
Color: Rose
National Geodetic Survey
Well before 1807, other nations had done their own coastal and geodetic surveys. Geodesy is the science of measuring the Earth’s shape, orientation in space, and gravitational field. Swiss-born Ferdinand R. Hassler immigrated to the US in 1805 and proposed the creation of a government agency to explore this field of science.
However, after Hessler submitted his plan for the survey just a month later, the Embargo Act of 1807 essentially halted all US overseas trade. The project was put on hold until 1811 when President James Madison authorized Hassler to travel to Europe to purchase the instruments needed for the survey. While Hassler was in England, the War of 1812 broke out and he was forced to stay there until it ended in 1815.
From 1900 to 1917, the Navy was removed from the survey and it was operated entirely by civilians. Then with the US entrance into World War I, the US established the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corp, which gave the survey’s officers a commissioned status to protect them from being treated as spies if they were captured. After the war, they returned to land surveying, seafloor charting, mapping coastlines, geophysics, and oceanography. In 1926, the survey entered a new age with the passage of the Air Commerce Act, which directed them to chart US airways for the first time. During the Depression, the survey established surveying parties and field offices that provided jobs for more than 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.
Click here for more on the Coast and Geodetic Survey.