US #5904
2024 3¢ Peonies (From Coil) – Low-Denomination Flowers Series
• Part of the first issue of the Low-Denomination Flowers Series
Stamp Category: Definitive
Series: Low-Denomination Flowers
Value: 1¢
First Day of Issue: July 18, 2024
First Day City: Berkeley, California
Quantity Issued: 2,000,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.... more
US #5904
2024 3¢ Peonies (From Coil) – Low-Denomination Flowers Series
• Part of the first issue of the Low-Denomination Flowers Series
Stamp Category: Definitive
Series: Low-Denomination Flowers
Value: 1¢
First Day of Issue: July 18, 2024
First Day City: Berkeley, California
Quantity Issued: 2,000,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset, Microprint
Format: Coils of 10,000
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut, 10 vert.
Tagging: Nonphosphored Type III
Why the stamp was issued: To cover 3¢ postage and continue the popular tradition of flowers on stamps.
About the stamp design: Pictures a photograph of peonies on a yellow-toned cream background by Harold Davis.
Special design details: In addition to photographing the flowers, Harold Davis also grew these peonies in his backyard in Berkeley, California.
First Day City: The stamps were issued in Berkeley, California, without an official USPS First Day of Issue Ceremony.
About the Low-Denomination Flowers Series: The series began in 2024 with five stamp designs in the following denominations: 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 5¢, and 10¢. Each 2024 stamp pictures a different flower grown and photographed by Harold Davis of Berkeley California.
History the stamp represents: Peonies, native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America, are known as some of the most beautiful and delicate of all spring-blooming flowers. They are part of the genus Paeonia, which includes 25-40 known species. But how did the genus get its name? Like many, it may have come from a Greek myth…
The story goes that the famous hero Hercules was fighting Hades, god of the underworld. Hercules shot Hades in the shoulder with an arrow (no small feat), causing him to seek healing from Asklepios, the god of medicine. However, Asklepios was away, so Hades enlisted the help of one of his students, Paean. Paean found a beautiful flower growing on Mount Olympus and was able to use his talents to heal Hades. Instead of being happy his student succeeded, Asklepios returned and was overcome with jealousy, killing Paean in the process. Zeus, king of the gods, heard the story of Paean who saved Hades’s life. He decided to honor the slain student by turning him into the beautiful flower he used to heal Hades – the peony.
Korea, China, and Japan have used peonies as medicine (as well as ornamental plants) for hundreds of years. Perhaps that is why they are known as the “King of Flowers” today.
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