Mint. MNH. No flaws. From a Smoke-free and Pet-free Environment.

On June 27, 2018 in Bellefonte, PA, the U.S. Postal Service issued this sheet of 10 Statue of Freedom self-adhesive $1 stamps, featuring an illustration of the head of the statue that tops the U.S. Capitol dome. The stamps offer a modern take on vintage patriotic stamp art for use on large envelopes, packages and other mailings. The artwork is based on an engraved vignette originally created for a 1923 stamp by John Eissler (1873-1962). The tightly cropped enlargement highlights the solid and dashed lines and the crosshatching characteristic of engraved illustration. The stamp design is intaglio-printed (transferred to paper from an engraved plate) in emerald green, with USA in black, and the number “1” (in 1 Dollar) in gold. American sculptor Thomas Crawford (1814–1857) created the allegorical Statue of Freedom during the mid-1850s. The statue wears a variation on a Roman helmet - circled by stars, topped with an eagle head, and embellished by feathered plumes meant to evoke Native American headdress. The statue’s installation onto the new Capitol dome was completed in 1863.

The history of the Statue of Freedom according to author Jesse J. Holland:  The Statue of Freedom was created by an American art student named Thomas Crawford, who won the competition to decide which statue would crown the Capitol. Crawford made a statue of a woman wearing a liberty cap, but Jefferson Davis (the person in charge of the Capitol construction) vetoed the whole project when he saw the picture of the Statue of Freedom and noticed the cap that was on top of the statue. Being a student of Roman history, Jefferson Davis knew that the only people in Roman history who wore liberty caps were freed slaves. Since there was no way that Jefferson Davis (who went on to become the president of the Confederacy) was going to allow a statue of a freed slave to be put on top of the Capitol, he told Thomas Crawford that he had to either change the statue or the commission would go to someone else. Crawford, an art student who needed the money, decided - instead of changing the statue - to remove the liberty cap and add an American eagle helmet. So, most people look at the Statue of Freedom today and think, this is the statue of an American Indian on top of the Capitol. But, no, it's not. It's actually a statue of a freed slave with an American eagle helmet on top.

Scott # 5295

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