Benjamin Franklin on Postage Stamps

Benjamin Franklin has been celebrated on postage stamps on two continents. He was recognized in Britain because he was one of the Committee of Five who drafted the Declaration of Independence. In the United States, he was the first Postmaster and was also on one of the first U.S. postage stamps released on July 1, 1847.

Most older people remember the "penny postcard." Because of the growing interest in postcards at the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. government put out over 11 billion one-cent stamps honoring Benjamin Franklin. An interesting fact is that the volume of printing affected the engraving machines used to turn out these stamps. At first, the machines produced stamps with an apple green color. Two years later, after a few million runs, the stamps were deep olive green. This Franklin stamp led to reformation in sending postcards. Franklin stamps were primarily intended for domestic postcards but some people used them to send small packages overseas. Other people mixed them with other denominations for domestic use.

Since Britain was the country from which the United States became independent, you may think that this date would never be celebrated on a British stamp, but it was. It took two hundred years to get over it but a British stamp released on June 2, 1976, to celebrate the event pictured Benjamin Franklin because he was one of the five who drafted the Declaration of Independence. The inscriptions reads, "The Bicentennial of American Independence 1776-1976."

Benjamin Franklin stamps can be found on various sites on the internet, but despite the mass printing of Franklin stamps few proof originals remain intact. Therefore, eBay advises the collector to know the grading system of Franklin stamps before investing at auction.