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Black Jack (stamp)
Encyclopedia
Black Jack or Blackjack was the 2-Cent denomination
United States
postage stamp
issued from July 1, 1863 to 1870, is generally referred to as the "Black Jack" due to the large portraiture
of the United States President
, Andrew Jackson
on its face printed in pitch black.
The stamp was issued to fulfill a need for a reduced rate, 2-Cent denomination for newspaper, magazine, and local deliveries; and was often used to "make up" higher rates, or split in half to make up lower ones (a 1-Cent stamp) due to shortages at the local post office.
During the Civil War
, the "Black Jack" was supposed to have been favored by both North
and South
, but as soon as the South got news of the North making a stamp depicting one of their own heroes, they printed a 2-Cent stamp depicting the same portrait of Jackson on their own 'Red Jack' postage stamp of their own in reaction.
After the War was over, poverty inspired people to wash off the cancellation from the stamps and attempt to use them again
. The Government then decided to put an antitheft device onto the stamps known as a grill
. This grill, which consisted of various rows of tiny indentations into the stamps, was supposed to make it impossible to wash off the cancellations without being detected; but thieves usually got around this by bisecting the stamp, and then reusing that portion that didn't have a cancellation on it.
Denomination (postage stamp)
:This article deals with the price of a postage stamp. For other meanings of the word 'denomination' see Denomination .In philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp"...
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
issued from July 1, 1863 to 1870, is generally referred to as the "Black Jack" due to the large portraiture
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
of the United States President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
on its face printed in pitch black.
The stamp was issued to fulfill a need for a reduced rate, 2-Cent denomination for newspaper, magazine, and local deliveries; and was often used to "make up" higher rates, or split in half to make up lower ones (a 1-Cent stamp) due to shortages at the local post office.
During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the "Black Jack" was supposed to have been favored by both North
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
and South
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, but as soon as the South got news of the North making a stamp depicting one of their own heroes, they printed a 2-Cent stamp depicting the same portrait of Jackson on their own 'Red Jack' postage stamp of their own in reaction.
After the War was over, poverty inspired people to wash off the cancellation from the stamps and attempt to use them again
Postage stamp reuse
In the earlier days of the postage stamp, postal officials worried much about the problem of postage stamp reuse, and invented a number of schemes to mark or deface the stamps....
. The Government then decided to put an antitheft device onto the stamps known as a grill
Grill (philately)
A grill on a postage stamp is an embossed pattern of small indentations intended to discourage postage stamp reuse. They were supposed to work by allowing the ink of the cancellation to be absorbed more readily by the fibers of the stamp paper, making it harder to wash off the cancellation.- In the...
. This grill, which consisted of various rows of tiny indentations into the stamps, was supposed to make it impossible to wash off the cancellations without being detected; but thieves usually got around this by bisecting the stamp, and then reusing that portion that didn't have a cancellation on it.
Sources
- Scott Publishing Company, 2005 Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers (2004)
- Lester G. Brookman, The 19th Century Postage Stamps of the United States (1947, vol. I) [exhaustive information about "grills"]
- John Kerr Tiffany, History of the Postage Stamps of the United States of America (1887)
- John Nicholas LuffJohn N. LuffJohn Nicholas Luff of New York City was one of the important philatelists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, notable as an early user of scientific methods in the study of postage stamps...
, The Postage Stamps of the United States (1902)