About This Stamp
The 5-dollar Head of Freedom Statue stamp, which features the head of the sculpture atop the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is bi-colored, the vignette in blue and the frame in red. The Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford was erected on December 2, 1863, atop the Capitol. This was, of course, in the midst of the Civil War. Clair Aubrey Huston designed the stamp. The vignette, incorrectly labeled "America" was engraved by John Eissler. Edward M. Hall and Joachim C. Benzing engraved the frame. It was issued at Washington, D.C., on March 20, 1923.
Being a bi-colored stamp, this stamp required the manufacture of two plates, one for the vignette and one for the frame. The stamp, which was printed only on the flat plate press, required two independent passes through the press, once for the printing of the frame and another for the printing of the vignette.