Dag Hammarskjöld invert
Encyclopedia
The Dag Hammarskjöld invert is a 4 cent value postage stamp
error issued on 23 October 1962 by the United States Postal Service
(then known as the Post Office Department
) one year after the death of Dag Hammarskjöld
, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in an airplane crash. The stamp, showing the yellow background inverted relative to the image and text, is also known as the Day's Folly after Postmaster General
J. Edward Day
who ordered the intentional reprinting of the yellow invert commenting, "The Post Office Department is not running a jackpot operation."
The stamp reprint
was in effect a deliberate error produced by the Post Office Department to avoid creating a rarity. It was decided to reprint 40 million of the inverted stamps after the discovery of the error so there would be no rarity factor in the inverted stamp
and to prevent people profiting from the Postal Service's mistake. The reprints were issued to the public on 16 November and described as a Special Printing.
The black, brown and yellow commemorative stamp
with yellow background correctly printed has a Scott catalogue
number of 1203 but the inverted error is numbered 1204. The catalogue value of the invert is worth little more than the normal. The stamp, printed on Giori press in plates of 200, was designed by Herbert Sanborn and engraved by C. A. Brooks. 121,440,000 normal stamps were printed and 40,270,000 of the inverted reprint were produced. It has not been recorded how many original invert stamps were produced and it is virtually impossible to tell a reprint from an original unless it has a clear early date, but an invert error on a first day cover
, proving that stamp was from the original printing and not from the reprint, was sold in 2005 for US $3,500.
The finder of the discovery sheet, a New Jersey
jeweler named Leonard Sherman, obtained a court injunction against the reprinting, but it came too late to stop production. He did however receive an affidavit from the (then) Post Office Department that his was the original sheet. In 1987 Sherman donated his sheet to the American Philatelic Society
because the reprint dashed his hopes of owning a valuable stamp error.
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...
error issued on 23 October 1962 by the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
(then known as the Post Office Department
United States Post Office Department
The Post Office Department was the name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department. It was headed by the Postmaster General....
) one year after the death of Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld...
, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in an airplane crash. The stamp, showing the yellow background inverted relative to the image and text, is also known as the Day's Folly after Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
J. Edward Day
J. Edward Day
James Edward Day was an American businessman and political office-holder.Day was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, he studied at University of Chicago, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, and Harvard Law School, receiving high grades...
who ordered the intentional reprinting of the yellow invert commenting, "The Post Office Department is not running a jackpot operation."
The stamp reprint
Postage stamp reprint
In philately a reprint is a new printing of a postage stamp from the original plates. A reprint is to be distinguished from a new print which is not printed from the original medium...
was in effect a deliberate error produced by the Post Office Department to avoid creating a rarity. It was decided to reprint 40 million of the inverted stamps after the discovery of the error so there would be no rarity factor in the inverted stamp
Invert error
In philately, an invert error occurs when part of a postage stamp is printed upside-down. Inverts are perhaps the most spectacular of a postage stamp errors, not only because of the striking visual appearance, but because they are almost always quite rare, and highly valued by stamp...
and to prevent people profiting from the Postal Service's mistake. The reprints were issued to the public on 16 November and described as a Special Printing.
The black, brown and yellow commemorative stamp
Commemorative stamp
A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...
with yellow background correctly printed has a Scott catalogue
Scott catalogue
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Co, a subsidiary of Amos Press, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the entire world which its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in six large volumes and is also produced in...
number of 1203 but the inverted error is numbered 1204. The catalogue value of the invert is worth little more than the normal. The stamp, printed on Giori press in plates of 200, was designed by Herbert Sanborn and engraved by C. A. Brooks. 121,440,000 normal stamps were printed and 40,270,000 of the inverted reprint were produced. It has not been recorded how many original invert stamps were produced and it is virtually impossible to tell a reprint from an original unless it has a clear early date, but an invert error on a first day cover
First day of issue
A First Day of Issue Cover or First Day Cover is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for use within the country or territory of the stamp-issuing authority. Sometimes the issue is made from a temporary or permanent foreign or...
, proving that stamp was from the original printing and not from the reprint, was sold in 2005 for US $3,500.
The finder of the discovery sheet, a New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
jeweler named Leonard Sherman, obtained a court injunction against the reprinting, but it came too late to stop production. He did however receive an affidavit from the (then) Post Office Department that his was the original sheet. In 1987 Sherman donated his sheet to the American Philatelic Society
American Philatelic Society
The American Philatelic Society is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting and organization of philately in the world, with almost 44,000 members from 110 countries...
because the reprint dashed his hopes of owning a valuable stamp error.