Benjamin Franklin - Green

Portrait of Franklin, from Houdon's bust, within an oval and partly inclosed in a panel which is supported on either side by acanthus scrolls. Above the portrait in a curved line appear the words "United States postage" in white Roman letters. On a ribbon below the oval is the name "Franklin" and under this, at the bottom of the stamp, appears the word "Cent." In both lower corners within ovals with dark backgrounds is the white numeral "1." The entire stamp is inclosed within a cross-line border with small triangular ornaments in both upper corners. Printed in green ink. The 1-cent stamp was first placed on sale at Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pa., on Franklin's birthday, January 17, 1923.

This series of postage stamps was issued to replace the regular issue of stamps, known as the "Series of 1912."

There are 21 denominations in this series, each having a different subject as the central design and with larger numerals denoting the denominations.

The designs are most artistic and were selected with the view of giving historical and educational interest to the stamps.

Three different border designs were used for this series of stamps, which are the same size, 75/100 by 87/100 inch, as the 1912 issue.

The border design for the first 13 denominations (1-cent to 14-cent) is identical. A different border design was used for the 15-cent denomination and still another border design for the remaining seven denominations (20-cent, 25-cent, 30-cent, 50-cent, $1, $2, and $5).