Scotts #647 US stamps

#647 2¢ Hawaii Issue 1928

2¢ - Rose Carmine

Printing Method: Rotary Press
Subject: Captain Cook
Number issued: 5,519,897
Perforations: 11
Watermark: Unwatermarked
Scott #: 647
Issued: August 13th, 1928

Value

Used
$1 - $1.50
No postmark with gum (MH)
25¢ - 50¢
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
50¢ - $3

Plate #'s

#647 was issued with the following plate #'s

Number only
18983-84
19054-55

First Day Cover

A first day issue of #647, dated August 13th, 1928

A full pane

A pane of 100 of #647, there were four panes to a sheet of 400

The story behind the stamp

Although this stamp is overprinted Hawaii, it is a US issue, and belongs in the USA, not the Hawaiian pages of an album.

Representatives pushed for two stamps to commemorate the landing of Captain James Cook on Hawaii on the August 13th, 1778. They suggested a portrait of Captain Cook and the monument erected at the place he was killed. The Post Office rejected this proposal with the comment that commemoratives belong to national interest issues, not local issues. This, despite the fact that Vermont got its own commemorative just the year before. Instead Hawaii got a stamp, overprinted with the word Hawaii, the year of Cooks landing and 1928. It was not a popular stamp and most were sold through the philatelic bureau in Washington DC.

Worse still, the stamps were mistaken by post offices throughout the US as pre-cancelled stamps and envelopes bearing them earned a 2¢ postage due stamp as a result.