Complete Fourth Bureau 1922-26 Series

Rev: I appreciate your passion and respect your opinion. For me this is about whether persons depicted on US stamps contribute to the American story. You advise me to read about Jackson; I have. While in no way condoning Jackson's means of Indian removal and the Trail of Tears, I remind you again that he was not the first president to think in terms of Indian relocation. Washington realized there was a problem. He and Henry Knox tried to come up with a benign, controlled and humane policy. Unfortunately they were overtaken by the mass of humanity sweeping over the Alleghenies and west from Georgia settling lands won in the Revolutionary War.

Jefferson did not have quite so benign a policy. He enlisted William Henry Harrison to clear out the Indians in the Old Northwest Territory by one means or another. This is detailed in "Mr Jefferson's Hammer." So were Jefferson and Jackson saints, sinners, or like many of us a bit of both? You can criticize Jefferson for his artful deceit at times or the hypocrisy of having a slave as a concubine but he is also the man who single handedly gave us the Declaration of Independence and saw the vision of controlling the Port of New Orleans that gave rise to quick action in purchasing The Louisiana Territory when the opportunity arrived. But Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence essentially by himself over a very few days. He may have remembered, plagiarized, or used parts of other things he had read, but the structure and formation of ideas was his, not the result of a popular forum or debate. The debate, who we are and who we want to be, was originally defined by Jefferson as a single man. But he was the one who defined US and we have been arguing about and refining what his ideas meant ever since. The genius of our Constitution is that it permits this debate and permits modification without anarchy or a second revolution.

Jackson was not a common man, but he represented the common man to many citizens of the time, particularly in the frontier areas and expanding western settlements. He also represented democracy to them and coming 30 years after Jefferson, his brand of democracy was different than Jefferson in part because the country had continued to expand and evolve over the preceding 3 decades. The debate his presidency stimulated led to the founding of the Democratic Party, ensuring the debate would continue.

You don't have to like Jefferson's or Jackson's thoughts or actions, but they were early American's who by their thoughts, writings, actions, and yes contradictions defined the American argument that defines us as a Nation, in ways that truly separate us as a people in world history, to our benefit in my opinion.

And their role in helping us define who we are and who we want to be makes them great in my opinion and worthy of inclusion on our cultural and artistic images, including coins, stamps, and currency.

Just one man's opinion.

"he is also the man who single handedly gave us the Declaration of Independence"

TOTALLY FALSE. To begin with he stole a whole paragraph from a speech by Ricard Henry Lee to congress 8 months before (That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States......). In addition, he used the works and principles of John Locke for the the ideas of rest. To be sure, he wrote in his own style, and he was a great stylist, but it was hardly "single handedly". Although after Lee was dead Jefferson told everyone that he alone wrote it.

May I humbly propose a series of definitive stamps depicting the "Pillars of the Community" of this forum...

No thank you. Not my idea of a good time.

Rev: you completely missed my point and I did state that Jefferson's ideas were an incorporation from other sources. The distinction from John Locke is that Locke was a philosopher discussing grand ideas in general whereas Jefferson words defined the credo of a nation. No less than another great American, Abraham Lincoln, clearly considered the DOI not only sacred, but the founding document that defined us and our ideals as a nation.
But it is pointless discussing this further with you because I think you are a person that just likes to argue and thinks he is so much smarter than everyone else.

I'm out of this thread—

I don't think I am smarter than everyone else, just that the truth matters. And that blanket love for past Americans can be dangerous, and not all the people on stamps are worthy of high praise. And the intrinsic beauty of a set should not blind people to this.
The statement that started all of this was that this set is better than anything produced over the last several years; my point is that a set which contains four slave owners and a major league racist cannot be better, no matter how attractive the production was. That the subjects are at least as important as the designs themselves.

I made that five slaveowners, Rev, or are you giving Franklin a pass for his recantation?

This set was important to me at one point in my collecting. It was at a point where I could afford to get XF stamps that were never hinged of this issue. The highest denominations were a stretch for me at that time. So the challenge of finding really well centered stamps and the challenge of negotiating for price all helped me focus on the hobby. The stamps are attractive and brightly colored. Frankly at the time I could care much about the people on the stamps. But the non-people stamps are great American themed images. The statue of Liberty, the head of Freedom, the Golden Gate before the bridge, Niagra Falls, etc. It was a great set to collect. One of these days, now that I know about regumming I will have to do a careful inspection of all those stamps that I think are NH. But I kind of avoid doing that because I worked so hard to get that set. Lol I wont' be surprised if there is a regum in there, but I bought most directly from dealers at shows. That makes me feel a little more confident, but...someday I'll check.

Actually I simply forgot about him in that regard (he had two personal slaves). Franklin did later become an abolitionist.
But I would also give him a bit of a pass for two inventions that have saved uncounted millions of lives over the centuries, the lightning rod and the Franklin Stove. Which he wrote about and never patented and then allowed people to use at will.

It is a great set for somebody that wants to incorporate variety and depth. The Scott listed (but not always valued) varieties range from colors/shades to cracked plates, plate scratches, double transfers, imperf pairs and different perfs on one side. I attempted to start an in-depth collection of this series and it was too much for me. Some of the material is very difficult to find. And then there are the plate blocks and cover usages. A very interesting series indeed for the right person.

I have two of the major double transfers. I have both a MNH plate block and a MNH plate single of the six cent DT, and I have an FDC of the twelve cent with a block of four, one of which has the major DT. The others are very scarce and hard to find. The six is the easiest, being part of a plate block.

One of the key reference manuals I used years ago when I was collecting this set is by Armstrong. It has a lot of interesting information I have never seen anywhere else. Perhaps someone knows if a better reference is now available.



Armstrong's own history is somewhat sordid and would have many detractors today.

He did have a sordid history, but it's a fine book, as are his books on coils, and the W/F series.