# 459 - 1914 2c Washington, Carmine, Type 1
1914-16 2¢ Washington
Type I
Issue Date: June 30, 1914
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Method: Rotary Press
Watermark: None
Perforation: None
Color: Carmine
First U.S. Rotary Stamp
Prior to 1914, postage stamps were printed using the flat plate method. Sheets printed by this process contained 20 rows of stamps with 20 stamps in each row. The introduction of private perforating machines presented a problem. Workers had to paste strips of 20 stamps together, end to end, to form long coils before they could be fed through the machines. This was inefficient and costly.
The first stamp produced by the rotary press was US #459. The 2¢ Washington stamp was issued June 30, 1914, just two days after the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand. Ferdinand’s death set off a chain of events that led to World War I. As the winds of war swept across the globe, even sharp-eyed collectors failed to notice that a new stamp variety had been issued. US #459 was the very first stamp produced by the rotary press – and the only imperforate rotary press coil in US postal history.
1914-16 2¢ Washington
Type I
Issue Date: June 30, 1914
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Method: Rotary Press
Watermark: None
Perforation: None
Color: Carmine
First U.S. Rotary Stamp
Prior to 1914, postage stamps were printed using the flat plate method. Sheets printed by this process contained 20 rows of stamps with 20 stamps in each row. The introduction of private perforating machines presented a problem. Workers had to paste strips of 20 stamps together, end to end, to form long coils before they could be fed through the machines. This was inefficient and costly.
The first stamp produced by the rotary press was US #459. The 2¢ Washington stamp was issued June 30, 1914, just two days after the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand. Ferdinand’s death set off a chain of events that led to World War I. As the winds of war swept across the globe, even sharp-eyed collectors failed to notice that a new stamp variety had been issued. US #459 was the very first stamp produced by the rotary press – and the only imperforate rotary press coil in US postal history.