#3122a – 1997 32c Statue of Liberty S/A Pane of20

US #3122a
1997 Statue of Liberty (Pane of 20)

  • Pictures same designs as 1994 29¢ Statue of Liberty stamp
  • Also produced in booklets of 15 and 30


Stamp Category:  Definitive
Value:  32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  February 1, 1997
First Day City:  San Diego, California
Quantity Issued:  2,405,000,000
Printed by:  Avery Dennison Security Printing Division, Clinton, South Carolina
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Pane of 20 plus 1 non-stamp label (Vertical, 3 across by 7 down)
Perforations:  11 (Die-cut simulated perforations)
Tagging:  Phosphored paper

Why the stamp was issued:  The pane of 20 Statue of Liberty stamps was issued to cover the 32¢ First Class Mail rate.

About the stamp design:  Pictures the same design as the 1994 29¢ Statue of Liberty stamp.  The decision to reuse the design was made by the stamp acquisition section of stamp services without the stamp design section’s input.  No changes were made to Tom Engeman’s design, an unusual choice given that, in the past, the USPS would make slight changes to re-used designs to avoid customer confusion between the two.

Special design details:  The 1994 stamp had straight die-cuts while this 1997 stamp has die-cut simulated perforations.  Also, the pane of 20 originally had a message on the back of the liner for the Postal Service’s mail-order catalog.  However, a new one was created later with information about the National Domestic Violence Hotline with its phone number.

First Day City:  First Day sale in San Diego, California at the Sandical Stamp Show.  No official First Day of Issue ceremony.

History the stamp represents:  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”  These poignant words are part of a sonnet penned by American poet, Emma Lazarus, entitled The New Colossus.  Dedicated to the Statue of Liberty, the sonnet was inscribed on a bronze plaque and placed in the pedestal of this magnificent monument to freedom in 1903.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the people of the United States, whose striving for liberty and social justice inspired the French in their own search for freedom.  Designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was presented to the United States in Paris on July 4, 1884.  The monument was shipped to America in 214 cases aboard the French ship Isère in May 1885.  It was then assembled on Bledsoe’s Island overlooking the ship channel of New York Harbor (Congress changed the name to Liberty Island in 1956).

On October 18, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in a ceremony before representatives of France and the United States.  This majestic statue arouses heartfelt emotions in all who behold its stately glory.  As millions of immigrants continued to arrived in America, they gazed upon the Statue of Liberty and saw a powerful symbol of hope and opportunity.

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US #3122a
1997 Statue of Liberty (Pane of 20)

  • Pictures same designs as 1994 29¢ Statue of Liberty stamp
  • Also produced in booklets of 15 and 30


Stamp Category:  Definitive
Value:  32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  February 1, 1997
First Day City:  San Diego, California
Quantity Issued:  2,405,000,000
Printed by:  Avery Dennison Security Printing Division, Clinton, South Carolina
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Pane of 20 plus 1 non-stamp label (Vertical, 3 across by 7 down)
Perforations:  11 (Die-cut simulated perforations)
Tagging:  Phosphored paper

Why the stamp was issued:  The pane of 20 Statue of Liberty stamps was issued to cover the 32¢ First Class Mail rate.

About the stamp design:  Pictures the same design as the 1994 29¢ Statue of Liberty stamp.  The decision to reuse the design was made by the stamp acquisition section of stamp services without the stamp design section’s input.  No changes were made to Tom Engeman’s design, an unusual choice given that, in the past, the USPS would make slight changes to re-used designs to avoid customer confusion between the two.

Special design details:  The 1994 stamp had straight die-cuts while this 1997 stamp has die-cut simulated perforations.  Also, the pane of 20 originally had a message on the back of the liner for the Postal Service’s mail-order catalog.  However, a new one was created later with information about the National Domestic Violence Hotline with its phone number.

First Day City:  First Day sale in San Diego, California at the Sandical Stamp Show.  No official First Day of Issue ceremony.

History the stamp represents:  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”  These poignant words are part of a sonnet penned by American poet, Emma Lazarus, entitled The New Colossus.  Dedicated to the Statue of Liberty, the sonnet was inscribed on a bronze plaque and placed in the pedestal of this magnificent monument to freedom in 1903.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the people of the United States, whose striving for liberty and social justice inspired the French in their own search for freedom.  Designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was presented to the United States in Paris on July 4, 1884.  The monument was shipped to America in 214 cases aboard the French ship Isère in May 1885.  It was then assembled on Bledsoe’s Island overlooking the ship channel of New York Harbor (Congress changed the name to Liberty Island in 1956).

On October 18, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in a ceremony before representatives of France and the United States.  This majestic statue arouses heartfelt emotions in all who behold its stately glory.  As millions of immigrants continued to arrived in America, they gazed upon the Statue of Liberty and saw a powerful symbol of hope and opportunity.