U.S. #208a
1881-82 6¢ Lincoln
American Bank Note Printing

Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Method: Flat plate
Watermark: None
Perforation: 12
Color: Deep Brown Red

In 1881, the American Bank Note Company decided some of the plates they were usi...  more

U.S. #208a
1881-82 6¢ Lincoln
American Bank Note Printing

Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Method: Flat plate
Watermark: None
Perforation: 12
Color: Deep Brown Red

In 1881, the American Bank Note Company decided some of the plates they were using had become too worn, and did not show enough clarity and detail. Plates for the 1¢, 3¢, 6¢, and 10¢ were re-engraved; various lines were deepened and certain features were sharpened.

Only three vertical lines can be counted from the edge of the frame to the outside edge of the 6¢ Lincoln stamp; previously there were four. The color of #208a differs from the rose-colored #208.

Booth’s Failed Kidnapping Attempt 

On March 20, 1865, John Wilkes Booth planned to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln.

After Lincoln was elected in 1860, he began to receive many threats on his life. Though there were a few attempts, he never took the threats seriously.

The first attempt on the president-elect’s life came when he was traveling from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC for his inauguration. To keep Lincoln safe, he was escorted on a secret night trip through Baltimore.

After Lincoln was reelected in 1864, the threats on his life increased. Rumors swirled that the Confederates wanted to kidnap him and use him to negotiate a peace treaty or the release of 20,000 captured Confederate soldiers. Upon hearing about some of these plans, the War Department increased Lincoln’s personal security team.

Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth was a successful actor that chose to remain in the North during the war. Lincoln had seen Booth’s acting at Ford’s Theater in 1863 and even invited him to visit the White House several times, though he refused. On March 4, 1865, Booth attended Lincoln’s second inauguration and later wrote in his diary that he wished he had taken action that day. Shortly after, Booth and six of his friends developed a plan to kidnap President Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for the captured Confederate soldiers.

Booth learned that Lincoln was planning to visit a hospital near the Soldier’s Home in Northwest Washington, and believed that to be his best opportunity to kidnap the president and smuggle him back to Richmond. On March 20, 1865 (some sources say March 17), Booth and his co-conspirators positioned themselves on the roadside near the hospital and waited for Lincoln to pass by. However, he never did, as he changed his plans late in the day and decided to go to the national Hotel instead. Interestingly, that was the same hotel where Booth had been staying.

According to some accounts, this failed kidnapping plot greatly angered Booth and likely influenced his decision to assassinate the president less than a month later.