Height x Width: 1 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (3.18 × 3.18 cm)
Type:
Postage Stamps
Place:
Maryland
United States of America
Date:
June 30, 2004
Description:
The Postal Service issued a 37-cent USS Constellation commemorative stamp on June 30, 2004, in Baltimore, Maryland. The stamp was designed by Howard Paine of Delaplane, Virginia, and illustrated by Richard Schlecht of Arlington, Virginia.
With the issuance of the USS Constellation, the Postal Service commemorated the 150th anniversary of the last all-sail-powered warship built by the US Navy and the last Civil War-era naval vessel still afloat. Built at Gosport Navy Yard (now the Norfolk Naval Shipyard) near Norfolk, Virginia, and launched on August 26, 1854, Constellation actively served the nation for nearly a century. Today, the ship is a floating museum anchored in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The stamp is a photo engraving based on a print in the collection of the US Naval Historical Center. The print is believed to date to 1893. Ashton-Potter (USA), Ltd., printed 45 million stamps in pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) panes of twenty.
