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Philatelic News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2002
Stamp Release #02-079
Prized 'Hawaiian Missionaries' Celebrated On New Stamp Souvenir Sheet
NEW YORK - Four rare postage stamps considered among the world's foremost philatelic items have been reproduced by the U.S. Postal Service on a new souvenir sheet for everyone to enjoy.The 2002 Hawaiian Missionaries commemorative stamps were dedicated today at a first day of issue ceremony held at the Postage Stamp Mega-Event stamp show, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Hall E, 655 W. 34th St. The show runs through Sunday.
The Hawaiian Missionaries souvenir sheet, containing four 37-cent First-Class stamps, reproduces examples of Hawaii's first four postage stamps, which were issued in three denominations: 2 cents, 5 cents and 13 cents. The souvenir sheet is now available at the show and at New York City post offices. It will be available at Philatelic Centers and Postal Stores across the country starting Oct. 25.
"The story of the Hawaiian Missionaries stamps is a classic example of the history that can be discovered and relived through collecting and studying postage stamps," said John F. Walsh, member of the presidentially appointed Postal Service Board of Governors, who dedicated the stamps.
"For more than 150 years, these simple squares of paper have ensured that every person in every state has the means to communicate and conduct business with each other, both affordably and efficiently," he said.
Joining Walsh at the first day ceremony were Jackson Taylor, president, American Stamp Dealers Association, Inc. (ASDA); Robert E. Lamb, executive director, American Philatelic Society (APS); Richard Sheaff, art director and stamp designer; and Vinnie Malloy, district manager/postmaster, New York District.
Called the Hawaiian Missionaries by philatelists, most of these rare stamps were used on correspondence mailed by Christian missionaries from Hawaii to their families, friends and business associates. Only 28 covers bearing Missionary stamps are known to exist, and only one surviving cover bears the 2-cent stamp: the famous "Dawson cover" shown on the 2002 souvenir sheet.
First sold in October 1851, Missionary stamps paid postage on Hawaiian mail to foreign destinations. The 2-cent stamp usually paid the Hawaiian portion of the rate for a newspaper or printed circular. The 5-cent stamp usually paid the Hawaiian portion of letter postage. The typical use of the 13-cent stamp was to prepay all the postage for a letter from Hawaii to the East Coast of the United States by way of San Francisco, applying 5 cents for the Hawaiian charge, 2 cents for the ship captain's fee and 6 cents for a U.S. letter sent more than 3,000 miles.
Used in this way, the 13-cent stamps were unusual because a single stamp prepaid rates in two countries: Hawaii and the United States. (Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898, became a U.S. territory in 1900 and a state in 1959.) Originally reading "Hawaiian Postage," the 13-cent stamp sometimes confused U.S. postmasters and was redesigned in 1852 to read "H.I. & U.S. Postage."
The Hawaiian Missionaries were replaced in 1853 by stamps bearing an image of King Kamehameha III. However, surviving examples of Missionary stamps indicate their use as late as 1856.
Hawaiian Missionary stamps have been previously reproduced on the postage stamps of other countries. Ajman, an emirate on the Persian Gulf that is now a member of the United Arab Emirates, issued a stamp in 1965 that featured an image of a 2-cent Missionary stamp alongside that of an early stamp catalog. In 1979 the Ivory Coast issued a stamp featuring a 13-cent Missionary stamp alongside a portrait of Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879) and a picture of a locomotive. (Hill was a British postal reformer who is credited with the invention of the adhesive postage stamp.)
The header image on the 2002 Hawaiian Missionaries souvenir sheet features a detail of a wood engraving of Diamond Head. According to an archivist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, the engraving appeared in an 1862 book titled "Hawaii: The Past, Present, and Future of Its Island Kingdom."
Also on the souvenir sheet is a photograph of an envelope sometimes known as the Dawson cover (the only surviving envelope to bear a 2-cent Hawaiian Missionary stamp). Addressed to Eliza A. Dawson of New York, the envelope bears 2-cent and 5-cent Hawaiian Missionary stamps as well as two 3-cent U.S. George Washington stamps. The Dawson cover was found around 1905 among papers stuffed into a furnace; evidence of slight charring is visible on the left edge.
Current U.S. stamps, as well as a free comprehensive catalog, are available toll free by calling 1 800 STAMP-24. In addition, a selection of stamps and other philatelic items are available in the Postal Store at www.usps.com/shop.
The fall 2002 Postage Stamp Mega Event is sponsored by the ASDA, APS and the Postal Service. For more information, visit the ASDA Web site at www.asdaonline.com and the APS Web site at www.stamps.org.
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Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 137 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $65 billion, it is the world's leading provider of postal services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume-some 207 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year-and serves 7 million customers each day at its 40,000 retail locations nationwide.
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