Benjamin Franklin, the first Postmaster General of the United States, was celebrated on this stamp featuring the first stamp issued by the Post Office Department. [Stamps on stamps, thrills!] Of course, Franklin was PMG at a time when there were no pre-paid postage stamps (he served from July 26, 1775, to November 7, 1776, under the Continental Congress), and he had a few other things on his plate at the time (sowing revolution, eating croissants, that sort of thing). It didn't take long after the introduction of pre-paid postage stamps around the world for people to start collecting them (humans, it would seem, have a natural predisposition to collect), and philately was born! [Terry Pratchett wrote a FANTASTIC tome detailing the creation of postage stamps on Discworld, and the overnight invention of stamp collecting, called Going Postal. For a more academic look at the early stages of philately and some of the rarer stamps to keep an eye out for, read Helen Morgan's Blue Mauritius: The Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Stamp.]
Stamp details: Issued on: November 17, 1972 From: New York, NY SC #1474
