#550 - 1920 5¢ Pilgrim Issue

5¢ Blue, deep blue, indigo

Subject: Signing of the compact
Perforations: 11
Watermark: None
Scott #: 550
Quantity Issued: 11,000,00
Issued: December 21st, 1920

Used
$1 - $2
No postmark with gum (MH)
$5 - $10
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$30 - $50

These were the only stamps issued in the USA without the country name. At the time there was much criticism of the design and it was not popular. It was considered that the subjects of the vignettes were too crowded into the frame, particularly the 2¢.

The vignette is from George E. Perine's, Signing of the Compact in the Cabin of the Mayflower, n.d., hand-colored lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum