Exhibitions

Rarity Revealed: The Benjamin K. Miller Collection, Part II

November 5, 2007 – March 1, 2009

24c Curtiss Jenny invert single, National Postal Museum Collection

National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Ave., NE
Washington, DC

Philatelic Gallery, Lower Level, Southwest

See on Map Floor Plan

On view in Part II of this exhibition are U.S. stamps printed from 1894 to the 1920s from the Benjamin K. Miller Collection. Donated to the New York Public Library in 1925, the collection was the first complete collection of U.S. stamps ever assembled and has been called the "crown jewels" of U.S. stamp collecting for its variety, depth, and rare holdings.

Part II begins with stamps from 1894 when the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began issuing U.S. stamps, ending the printing of stamps by private companies. This rotation includes an "Inverted Jenny"—a misprinted 24-cent airmail stamp issued in 1918.