Object Details
Description
The 20-cent multicolored Blue Jay (Scott 2483) definitive was issued on June 15, 1995, to satisfy the postcard rate. Issued in booklets of ten, the stamp met the need for vending machines.
The yellow, magenta, cyan, and black serpentine die-cut self-adhesive stamp was designed by Robert Giusti and printed for Stamp Venturers by J.W. Fergusson & Sons on the Champlain gravure press 1, formatted as one pane of ten vertical stamps, with two across and five down. One group of four gravure cylinder numbers preceded by the letter 'S' appears on the binding stub. The serpentine die cut was perforated 11 x 10. The year date "1995" appears just below the value "20" on the stamp.
On August 2, 1996, the Blue Jay definitive was re-issued as a self-adhesive booklet of ten (Scott 3048) and as a self-adhesive coil stamp in rolls of one hundred (Scott 3053). The Blue Jay was the first postcard-rate stamp produced as a self-adhesive. Stamp Venturers again produced both stamps. The new booklet had a horizontal peel-off strip below row two of the five rows of stamps. The die-cut simulated perforations, cut on the Comco custom die-cutter, were perforated 10½ x 11. Preceded by the letter 'S', one group of four gravure cylinder numbers appears on the top selvage strip.
The coil stamps were separated by die-cut simulated perforations, perforated 11½ vertically, with straight edges on top and bottom.
The same design appears on all three of the stamp's versions. On the self-adhesive pane and coil, however, the year date "1996" appears just below the value "20" on the stamp. In addition, the paper of the self-adhesive stamps appears whiter that the paper of the booklet stamps.
The Blue Jay had previously been depicted on a 13-cent stamp (Scott 1757d) on the Capex '78 souvenir sheet and a 22-cent stamp (Scott 2318) on the American Wildlife pane of 1987.
The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a North American jay with predominantly lavender-blue to mid-blue feathering from the top of the head to midway down the back and a pronounced crest on the head. The color changes to black, sky-blue, and white on the wings and the tail. The bird has an off-white underside, a black collar around the neck and sides of the head, and a white face. The Blue Jay is approximately 10-12 inches long with a wingspan of 13-17 inches, weighing 2.5-3.5 ounces. It is found over a very large area of eastern North America, from Newfoundland in the northeast to Florida in the southeast, and westward to Texas and Colorado in the north. It is mainly a bird of the mixed woodlands, including those including American beech and various oak species.
References:
Linn's U.S. Stamp Yearbook 1995
Linn's U.S. Stamp Yearbook 1996
Scott 2005 Specialized Catalogue of U.S. Stamps and Covers
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue_Jay.html)
(http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue_Jay.html)
mint
Credit line
Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
Date
June 15, 1995
Object number
1996.2066.11
Type
Postage Stamps
Medium
paper; ink, adhesive
Place
United States of America
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Topic
Animals
U.S. Stamps
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npm_1996.2066.11