page_title: Washington–Franklin Issues
section_title: 1912–1914 series
hierarchical_section_title: Washington–Franklin Issues / Year series / 1912–1914 series
caption_attribution_description: English: 2-cent Washington stamp, 1912
context_page_description: The Washington–Franklin Issues are a series of definitive U.S. Postage stamps depicting George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, issued by the U.S. Post Office between 1908 and 1922. The distinctive feature of this issue is that it employs only two engraved heads set in ovals—Washington and Franklin in full profile—and replicates one or another of these portraits on every stamp denomination in the series. This is a significant departure from previous definitive issues, which had featured pantheons of famous Americans, with each portrait-image confined to a single denomination. At the same time, this break with the recent past represented a return to origins. Washington and Franklin, after all, had appeared on the first two American stamps, issued in 1847, and during the next fifteen years, each of the eight stamp denominations available featured either Washington or Franklin.
  In the early Washington–Franklin issues, every design incorporated a pair of olive branches surrounding one or the other of the two profiles. From 1912 on, however, the Franklin-head issues would instead appear with Oak leaves near the bottom of the oval in the image.
context_section_description: By 1912, the Post Office had received numerous complaints from postmasters that the many near-identical Washington stamps in the issue confused postal clerks, too often leading them to give customers higher denominations than they paid for. The Post Office addressed this problem in the series of 1912–1914 by making a significant change in the line up in the Washington–Franklin denominations. Washington would now appear on the lower values only; all denominations of 8c and higher would display the Franklin-head. The realignment provided a clear visual distinction between the cheaper and the more expensive stamps. To further heighten the distinction, the Post Office now introduced the oak-leaf frame for the Franklin stamps, thus eliminating olive branches from the higher values along with Washington.
  To be sure, assigning Washington exclusively to the small denominations meant that Franklin had to be displaced from the iconic position he had enjoyed on 1¢ definitive stamps for over sixty years. However, putting Franklin on the lower values would have violated a tradition more noticeable to the public: that of having Washington's image appear on the normal-first-class-letter-rate stamp of every definitive series. (This tradition dated back to 1851 and had only been ignored once: in the disastrous 1869 issue.)
  Accordingly, in early 1912, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing released a new version of the 1-cent stamp, this time with the profile of Washington instead of Franklin who had been on all 1-cent green issues of the three previous series. This was the first U. S. Postage stamp to go on sale in booklet form before sheets were available: the booklet appeared on February 8, while the sheet was not issued until four days later. The denominations of the 1- and 2-cent stamps now appeared in numerals rather than lettering. The new Franklin oak leaf design had already been introduced in January with the issue of a 10-cent yellow stamp, and the other high values soon reached post offices. In the 1912–1914 series, the denominations of 7, 9, 12, 20 and 30-cents appeared for the first time in the Washington Franklin issues.
  This series is again perforated 12, and the values between 1¢ and 50¢ are printed on single-line watermarked paper. The 50¢ and $1 issues, however, are instead printed on double-line watermarked paper left over from the production of the 1908 series. Denominations not included in this printing are the 3, 4, 5 and 6-cent stamps as there were still adequate stocks of these available. Of special interest is the first appearance of the 7-cent Washington-head, with its premier color of black, issued on April 29, 1914. An estimated 5 million 7-cent stamps were printed, a relatively low number for a definitive issue. It was available in post offices for only five months, for this denomination went through a perforation change in the next series, thus making it a new and separate issue.
  The 50-cent and 1-dollar Franklin issues made their debut on February 12, 1912. These stamps were printed from plates of 200 subjects instead of the 400-subject plate used on all lesser denominations. The 200-subject printing plate required paper whose dimensions were compatible with its size and operation. Since there were remaining stocks of double-line watermarked paper from 1908 intended for plates with 200 subjects on hand, this paper was used for these two issues. When stocks of this paper ran out some two years later, new single-line watermarked paper was cut to the proper size and used. Consequently the 50-cent Franklin occurs on two paper-types in this one series. The 1-dollar Franklin was not printed again on this new paper as existing stocks were ample up to 1916. The 50-cents and 1-dollar Franklin and Oak leaves issues occur again in the following three series of the Washington–Franklin Issue.  (see: WF chart)
caption: 2-cent with numerals
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