In 1918, one collector in Washington, D.C., bought stamps that celebrated the start of the first regularly scheduled airmail service in the United States. To his amazement, a clerk handed him a sheet of 100 misprints—and forever flipped postal history upside down.
This month, the Inverted Jenny flies again! For the first time ever, we’re issuing a new version of this famous misprint featuring a Curtiss JN-4H, the biplane known as the “Jenny,” mistakenly shown upside down in its frame. The stamp carries a new denomination to distinguish it from the 24-cent original, but we honor the history of this philatelic treasure by printing it from intaglio plates created by using proofs made from the actual 1918 dies.
This limited-run set includes:
- one mint sheet and one cancelled sheet of the 2013 Stamp Collecting: Inverted Jenny stamps
- proofs that show each intaglio color in isolation
- an authentic section of the die wipe used during the 2013 press run
- sleeves for preserving the proofs and stamps
- a 48-page book that tells the story of the 1918 misprint and the incredible printing and design challenges involved in recreating the stamp in 2013
The Collector’s Edition will be on sale only through October 15, 2013, and just 5,000 sets will be sold.
By shortening the distance between the present and the past, this wonderful set recognizes the importance of the Inverted Jenny to the generations of professionals who have designed and printed stamps—and its continued fascination to those who use and collect them today.