The Inverted Jenny flies again! Collector’s Edition unites present and past

In 1918, one collector in Washington, D.C., bought stamps that celebrated the start of the first regularly scheduled airmail service in the United States. To his amazement, a clerk handed him a sheet of 100 misprints—and forever flipped postal history upside down.

This month, the Inverted Jenny flies again! For the first time ever, we’re issuing a new version of this famous misprint featuring a Curtiss JN-4H, the biplane known as the “Jenny,” mistakenly shown upside down in its frame. The stamp carries a new denomination to distinguish it from the 24-cent original, but we honor the history of this philatelic treasure by printing it from intaglio plates created by using proofs made from the actual 1918 dies.

Celebrate the return of the Inverted Jenny with our Collector’s Edition! This limited-run set includes:

• one mint sheet and one cancelled sheet of the 2013 Stamp Collecting: Inverted Jenny stamps
• proofs that show each intaglio color in isolation
• an authentic section of the die wipe used during the 2013 press run
• sleeves for preserving the proofs and stamps
• a 48-page book that tells the story of the 1918 misprint and the incredible printing and design challenges involved in recreating the stamp in 2013

The Collector’s Edition will be on sale only through October 15, 2013, and just 5,000 sets will be sold.

By shortening the distance between the present and the past, this wonderful set recognizes the importance of the Inverted Jenny to the generations of professionals who have designed and printed stamps—and its continued fascination to those who use and collect them today.

Historic Misprinted Inverted Jenny to Fly Again

Nearly a century after it was first issued, America’s most famous stamp—the misprinted 24-cent Inverted Jenny—will be reprinted as a $2 stamp as part of the Stamp Collecting: Inverted Jenny souvenir stamp sheet. The sheet will be issued September 22 to coincide with the opening of the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery—the world’s largest stamp gallery—at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

Stamp design shown reflects preliminary artwork and may be subject to change.

Although this is the first time the Inverted Jenny has been reissued, a small Inverted Jenny stamp appeared as a design element on one of four 1993 stamps that marked the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Today, two Inverted Jennys soar among the museum’s treasures. The Inverted Jenny is said to be the postage stamp most often requested for viewing by visitors.

Stamp design shown reflects preliminary artwork and may be subject to change.

The issuance of this souvenir sheet coincides with the 20th anniversary of the opening of the National Postal Museum in 1993 and the 2013 opening of the museum’s grand new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. Intended to provide greater visibility and public access to the museum’s collection, the new 12,000-square-foot gallery will showcase numerous rarities, including a block of four Inverted Jenny stamps lent by the gallery’s benefactor, William H. Gross.

The gallery will be the largest in the world dedicated to philately. It will provide an experience available nowhere else and offer something for everyone, from casual visitors to experienced collectors. As visitors move through six thematic areas, displays and interactive moments will reveal the stories that unfold from the museum’s collection. Distributed throughout the thematic areas will be hundreds of pullout frames containing more than 20,000 objects, providing ample opportunities to view noteworthy stamps that have never been on public display.

The Stamp Collecting: Inverted Jenny souvenir sheet features a new version of the most famous error in the history of U.S. stamps: the Inverted Jenny, a 1918 misprint that mistakenly showed a biplane flying upside down. Reprinted with a $2 denomination to make them easily distinguishable from the 24-cent originals, the Inverted Jennys on this sheet commemorate the many ways a single stamp can turn a moment in history upside down. The original engraved dies to produce the 1918 Inverted Jenny are being used in the design to produce the new stamps.