ONE DOLLAR PREXIE
The image of Woodrow Wilson (18561924), the twenty-eighth President of the United States (1913 - 1921), appears on the $1 value of the 1938 Presidential Series. Wilson's likeness
was taken from a medal struck by the US Mint.
Woodrow Wilson, the former President of Princeton University and the Governor of New Jersey, led the United States through World War I and earned the reputation as a peacemaker. He was the first American President to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1920).
The Post Office decided to print the dollar values ($1, $2, $5) of the Presidential Series in bicolors so that there would be no confusion with the 1c, 2c and 5c stamps. The $1 stamp, printed in violet and black, was issued to the public on August 29, 1938 in sheet form.
Usages of the $1 stamp in combination with other stamps are relatively easy to find, especially on parcels, registered letters and heavier international air mail covers. Collectors looking
for solo usages of the $1 stamp will usually have to find specific multiple air mail rate covers. For example, the $1 stamp would have paid two times the 50c per half ounce air mail rate
via the Pacific to the Territory of the Philippines (in effect April 21, 1937 thru June 30, 1946) or two
times the 50c per half ounce air mail rate to West Africa via the South Atlantic, (in effect December 2, 1941 thru October 31, 1946) and four times the 25c per half ounce air mail rate
to most of Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands (in effect November 1, 1946 thru June 30, 1971).
Jeffrey Shapiro, 2006
TWO DOLLAR PREXIE
The image of Warren G. Harding (1865 - 1923), the twenty-ninth President of the United States (1921 - 1923), appears on the $2 value of the 1938 Presidential Series. Harding's
likeness was taken from a medal struck by the US Mint.
Harding, a newspaper publisher before entering politics, was the sixth President to die in Office. The President died twenty-seven months into his scandal ridden
first term of heart disease at age fifty-seven and was replaced by Vice President Calvin Coolidge.
The $2 yellow-green and black stamp was issued in sheet form on September 29, 1938. The $2 stamp saw limited usage in combination with other stamps to pay a variety of parcel post,
registry and international air post fees. One of the most difficult Presidential values to find as a solo usage, this $2 stamp could have theoretically paid a variety of fees, including
four times the 50c per half ounce air mail fee to the Territory of the Philippines (in effect April 21, 1937 thru October 31, 1946), four times the 50c per half ounce air mail rate to West
Africa (in effect December 2, 1941, thru October 31, 1946) and eight times the 25c per half ounce airmail rate to most of Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands (in effect November 1, 1946
thru June 30, 1971). In addition, this $2 would have paid five times the 40c per half ounce airmail rate to five countries in South America (in effect December 1, 1937 thru March 31,
1945).
Jeffrey Shapiro, 2006
FIVE DOLLAR PREXIE
The image of Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933), the thirtieth President of the United States (1923 - 1929), appears on the $5 value of the 1938 Presidential Series. His likeness was taken from
a medal struck by the US Mint.
Coolidge, a career politician, became President upon the death of Warren G. Harding. "Silent Cal", as he was known, felt that the best government was the government that governed the least. Coolidge was the first President to be born on the 4th of July and the first President to give a radio broadcast from the White House. No memorial stamp was ever created for this popular President, because everyone involved assumed Coolidge would be part of the 1938 Presidential Series, then in it's early planning stage. Therefore, the $5 stamp was Coolidge's first appearance on a postage stamp.
The carmine and black $5 stamp was printed only in sheet form and was issued on November 17, 1938. The $5 stamp is the most difficult of the Series to locate on cover. Most of these stamps
can be found in combination with other stamps on tags, paying the postage and other fees to mail negotiable securities between banks. Theoretically, a solo $5 stamp could have been used
to pay for a variety of multiple rates and fees, but none has been discovered.
Jeffrey Shapiro, 2006