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1940 Famous Americans series

The original series included seven sets of famous Americans in order by birth date, with five values in each set. Additional 3¢ values were added with similar designs in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950, and are sometimes included with the original issues.

Only two plates were prepared for each issue.

Authors

Scott 859, 1¢ Washington Irving, plate number 22475

Scott 859P var, proof plate number 22476 photographically cropped from the unique press sheet. Plate 22476 never went to press.

(Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 860, 2¢ James Fenimore Cooper, plate number 22477

Scott 860P var, proof plate number 22477, erroneously printed in the wrong shade of red.

(Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 861, 3¢ Ralph Waldo Emerson, plate number 22491

Scott 861P var, proof plate numbers 22480 and 22491, erroneously printed in the wrong color (purple instead of red violet)

(Images courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 960, 3¢ William Allen White (issued 1948), plate number 23856

Scott 960P, proof plate number 23858 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 960 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 23858 (Image courtesy of Bill Langs)

Scott 960 var, misperfed horizontally, plate number 23857 (Image courtesy of eBay / ckstamps)

Scott 980, 3¢ Joel Chandler Harris (issued 1948), plate number 23883

Scott 980P, proof plate number 23882 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 980 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 23883

Scott 862, 5¢ Louisa May Alcott, plate number 22483

Scott 862P var, proof plate numbers 22483 and 22484, photographically cropped from the unique press sheets erroneously printed in the wrong color (blue and light blue instead of ultramarine)

(Images courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 863, 10¢ Samuel L. Clemens, plate number 22488

Scott 863P, proof plate number 22488 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 863P var, proof plate number 22487 erroneously printed in the wrong color (yellow brown instead of brown). Plate 22487 never went to press.

(Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Poets

Scott 864, 1¢ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, plate number 22503

Scott 864P, proof plate number 22503 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 865, 2¢ John Greenleaf Whittier, plate number 22505

Scott 865P, proof plate number 22506 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 866, 3¢ James Russell Lowell, plate number 22508

Scott 866P, proof plate number 22508 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 986, 3¢ Edgar Allan Poe (issued 1949), plate number 24144

Scott 986P, proof plate number 24143 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 986 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 24146 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott 986 var, over-inked, plate number 24144 (Image courtesy of Stuart Katz)

Scott 986 var, fake local precancel, plate number 24145

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- The stamp was issued in 1949 when the abbreviation for Nevada was "Nev." -- the 2-character NV was not used until ZIP Codes were introduced in the 1960's
- Fallon has fewer than 4,000 people and no major industries or other legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually (and rather carelessly, in this example) to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other suspicious Fallon local precancels on stamps spanning a quarter century

Scott 867, 5¢ Walt Whitman, plate number 22511

Scott 867P, proof plate number 22511 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 868, 10¢ James Whitcomb Riley, plate number 22515

Scott 868P, proof plate number 22515 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Educators

Scott 869, 1¢ Horace Mann, plate number 22522

Scott 869P, proof plate number 22522 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 870, 2¢ Mark Hopkins, plate number 22525

Scott 870P, proof plate number 22524 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 871, 3¢ Charles Eliot, plate number 22527

Scott 871P, proof plate number 22527 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 872, 5¢ Frances E. Willard, plate number 22532

Scott 872P, proof plate number 22532 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 873, 10¢ Booker T. Washington, plate number 22533

Scott 873P, proof plate number 22533 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scientists

Scott 874, 1¢ John James Audubon, plate number 22546

Scott 874P, proof plate number 22546 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 875, 2¢ Crawford W. Long, plate number 22549

Scott 875P, proof plate number 22549 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 876, 3¢ Luther Burbank, plate number 22552

Scott 876P, proof plate number 22553 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 953, 3¢ George Washington Carver (issued 1948), plate number 23653

Scott 953P, proof plate number 23654 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 877, 5¢ Walter Reed, plate number 22555

Scott 878, 10¢ Jane Addams, plate number 22558

Scott 878P, proof plate number 22558 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Composers

Scott 879, 1¢ Stephen Foster, plate number 22564

Scott 879P, proof plate number 22564 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 880, 2¢ John Philip Sousa, plate number 22568

Scott 880P, proof plate number 22567 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 880 var, over-inked, plate number 22567

Scott 881, 3¢ Victor Herbert, plate number 22570

Scott 881P, proof plate number 22570 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 882, 5¢ Edward A. MacDowell, plate number 22575

Scott 882P, proof plate number 22575 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 883, 10¢ Ethelbert Nevin, plate number 22576

Scott 883P, proof plate number 22576 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Artists

Scott 884, 1¢ Gilbert Charles Stuart, plate number 22588

Scott 884P, proof plate number 22588 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 884 var, 1¢ with fake local precancel (Loma Linda, Calif.), plate number 22587

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- No legitimate local precancels are known for any of the Famous Americans stamps
- The stamp was issued in 1940 but Loma Linda was not incorporated as a city until 1970
- In 1940 the town had a low population and no major industries or other legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually (and rather carelessly, in this example) to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning nearly a half century

Scott 885, 2¢ James A. McNeill Whistler, plate number 22594

Scott 885P, proof plate number 22603 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 886, 3¢ Augustus Saint-Gaudens, plate number 22594

Scott 886P, proof plate number 22593 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 887, 5¢ Daniel Chester French, plate number 22597

Scott 887P, proof plate number 22596 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 888, 10¢ Frederick Remington, plate number 22599

Scott 888P, proof plate number 22599 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Inventors

Scott 889, 1¢ Eli Whitney, plate number 22620

Scott 889P, proof plate number 22619 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 889 var, 1¢ with local precancel (Loma Linda, Calif.), plate number 22620

Clues:
- Local precancels were generally only authorized for definitive size stamps
- No legitimate local precancels are known for any of the Famous Americans stamps
- The stamp was issued in 1940 but Loma Linda was not incorporated as a city until 1970
- In 1940 the town had a low population and no major industries or other legitimate need for precancels
- The quality appears to be more typical of a rubber handstamp applied manually (and rather carelessly, in this example) to a single stamp, rather than of an overprint-type mat with high quality ink applied in a grid to a block of stamps by a professional printer
- No example is known on cover. The precancellations appear to have been applied long after any possible contemporary usage
- The stamp was offered along with a number of other suspicious local precancels on stamps spanning nearly a half century

Scott 890, 2¢ Samnuel F. B. Morse, plate number 22622

Scott 890P, proof plate number 22622 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 891, 3¢ Cyrus McCormick, plate number 22625

Scott 891P, proof plate number 22626 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 945, 3¢ Thomas A. Edison (issued 1947), plate number 23559

Scott 945P var, proof plate number 23562, erroneously printed in the wrong shade of red violet.

(Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum)

Scott 892, 5¢ Elias Howe, plate number 22629

Scott 892P, proof plate number 22628 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 893, 10¢ Alexander Graham Bell, plate number 22632

Scott 893P, proof plate number 22631 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Leaders

Scott 965, 3¢ Harlan Fiske Stone, Supreme Court justice (issued 1948), plate number 23890

Scott 965P, proof plate number 23890 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Stone was Attorney General under Calvin Coolidge, who later appointed him to the Supreme Court. Franklin Roosevelt appointed him Chief Justice in 1941. He was the first chief justice never to have served in an elective office.

Scott 975, 3¢ Will Rogers, entertainer (issued 1948), plate number 23944

Scott 975P, proof plate number 23943 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

Scott 975 var, misperfed vertically, plate number 23944 (Image courtesy of eBay / sheetguy2)

Scott 988, 3¢ Samuel Gompers, labor leader (issued 1950, 100th anniversary of his birth), plate number 24166

Scott 988P, proof plate number 24166 (Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum)

While this stamp is part of the Famous Americans series, Gompers was actually born in London. He immigrated to New York City with his family in 1863.

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This page last updated September 3, 2025.

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