So, you found a green stamp. You’re looking at George Washington’s profile, and it says "one cent" at the bottom. Your first thought is probably: Is this the one? You've likely seen those headlines about rare stamps selling for the price of a suburban home. It’s a rush. But honestly, the world of the one cent George Washington postage stamp is a messy, confusing, and often heartbreaking place for the uninitiated.
Most are worth exactly one cent. Maybe five cents if you're lucky. But some? Some are genuine treasures.
The US Post Office has been putting Washington on one-cent stamps since the mid-19th century. They printed billions of them. Literally billions. Because they were so common, they became the canvas for every experimental printing technique, perforation change, and paper type the government could dream up. That’s where the value hides. It isn’t about the face; it’s about the "teeth" on the edges and the way the ink sits on the fibers.
The Washington-Franklin Chaos
If you want to understand these stamps, you have to talk about the Washington-Franklin Issues. Between 1908 and 1922, the Post Office released a series that looks almost identical to the casual observer. It’s a philatelic minefield. You have the Series of 1908, the Series of 1910, 1912, and so on.
They all look like the same green guy.
But collectors like Ken Lawrence or the experts at the Philatelic Foundation spend their lives distinguishing a Scott #405 from a Scott #538. Why? Because one was printed on a flat plate press and the other on a rotary press. One might have 12 perforations per two centimeters, while the other has 11. That tiny difference in the spacing of the holes can mean the difference between a stamp you use to scrap-book and a stamp you put in a bank vault.
The 1908-1922 era was a period of intense industrial transition. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was trying to keep up with a ballooning population. They were moving away from slow flat-bed presses to high-speed rotary machines. This transition created "accidents." Sometimes a sheet would go through the perforating machine the wrong way. Sometimes the paper had a different watermark—like the "USPS" single line or double line marks.
Identifying the "Big" One: The 1923 Green Washington
One of the most famous examples people hunt for is the Scott #594 and #596. These are the "Holy Grails" of the one cent George Washington postage stamp world.
Here is the thing: they look exactly like the common #581.
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The rare ones are "waste" stamps. In 1923, the Bureau used leftover scraps from rotary press printings that were originally intended for coil stamps (the rolls) and perforated them like sheet stamps. Because the rotary press stretches the paper slightly, the design on a #594 or #596 is just a fraction of a millimeter wider or taller than the common version.
We are talking about $0.25$ mm. You can't see it with the naked eye. You need a precision gauge or a "template" stamp to lay over it. If you find a #596, you’re looking at a six-figure payday. But realistically? You probably won't. Only a handful are known to exist.
Perforations and the "Grill"
Before the Washington-Franklin madness, there were the 19th-century issues. The 1861 series is a classic. It’s a deep blue-green. These stamps are beautiful, showing Washington in a more ornate, oval frame.
Then there are the grills.
In the 1860s, the Post Office was terrified of people washing the cancellation ink off stamps and reusing them. To prevent this "fraud," they used a metal tool to emboss a pattern of tiny indentations into the paper. This broke the fibers, so the ink would soak in deep. These are called "grills."
If you have a 1867 one cent Washington with a "Z" grill, you are holding one of the rarest items in American history. There are only two known. One is in the New York Public Library. The other belongs to billionaire Bill Gross.
Why Condition Trumps Rarity
You could have a relatively rare stamp, but if it’s "hinged" or has a "short perf," the value craters.
"Hinged" means someone used a little piece of folded glassine tape to stick it into an album fifty years ago. That tiny bit of glue residue on the back? It kills the "Never Hinged" (NH) premium.
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Centering is the other killer. In the early 20th century, the machines that punched the holes weren't always aligned. If George Washington’s head is shifted to the left and the perforations are touching the design, it’s "off-center." Collectors want "Superb 98" or "Gem 100" grades, where the margins are perfectly equal on all four sides.
A perfectly centered, never-hinged common stamp from 1910 might sell for $50. The same stamp, slightly crooked with a hinge mark? Fifty cents.
The Secret of the Coil Waste
Let's talk about the #544. This is another one cent George Washington postage stamp that haunts auctions.
In 1922, the postal service was efficient—maybe too efficient. They had these massive rolls of stamps meant for vending machines. Sometimes the ends of the rolls were too short to be used. Instead of throwing them away, they turned them into sheets.
Because they were printed on a rotary press but perforated 11x11, they became a distinct variety. Most people threw them away. They were just "pennies" on an envelope. Today, a used #544 can fetch thousands because so few survived the trash bin. It's a reminder that rarity isn't always about a limited print run; sometimes it's about a limited survival rate.
Stop Looking for the Money (For a Second)
Honestly, if you're only looking at these stamps as a winning lottery ticket, you’re going to get frustrated.
There is a deep history in the ink. The 1851 1-cent blue (featuring Franklin, but often confused in the same collections as the Washingtons) and the subsequent Washington issues represent the first time the US tried to make postage affordable for everyone. Before this, sending a letter was an expensive luxury.
When you hold a one cent George Washington postage stamp from the 1870s, you’re holding a piece of Reconstruction-era tech. You’re looking at the exact same object a farmer in Ohio used to write to his brother in California. The "Bank Note" issues of the 1870s were printed by private companies like the Continental Bank Note Company. They even had "secret marks" hidden in the design to distinguish their work from previous contractors.
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How to Actually Check Your Stamps
Don't go to eBay first. eBay is full of people listing $1 stamps for $10,000 hoping to catch someone who doesn't know better.
- Buy a Scott Specialized Catalogue. You don't need a brand new one. An edition from three years ago is fine for identifying types.
- Get a perforation gauge. You can buy a plastic one for $5. It measures how many "teeth" are in a 2cm span. This is the first step in identifying Washington-Franklin issues.
- Use a watermark fluid. Safely dipping the stamp (if it’s not a certain type of fugitive ink) can reveal the "USPS" letters hidden in the paper.
- Check the "breath." Experienced collectors often look at the texture of the paper under a 10x loupe. Flat plate stamps look smooth; rotary press stamps often have slight ridges or "set-off" ink on the back.
Common Misconceptions
People often see the "1732-1932" commemorative stamps and think they’ve struck gold. Those are the Bicentennial issues. They are beautiful. They feature various portraits of Washington at different ages.
They are also incredibly common.
Almost everyone at the time knew they would be "collectible," so they saved them. You can still buy full sheets of them today for not much more than their original face value plus inflation. Age does not equal value. Rarity and demand equal value.
The 1938 "Prexie" (Presidential Series) is another one. It’s a simple, monochromatic profile. While collectors love "solo uses"—like a one-cent Washington on a specific type of third-class mail—the stamp itself is ubiquitous.
What to Do Next
If you’ve inherited a collection or found a stash of old envelopes, don't soak the stamps off the paper yet. Sometimes the "cover" (the whole envelope) is worth more than the stamp because of the postmark or the destination.
Look for a local chapter of the American Philatelic Society. Most long-time collectors are happy to look at a "green Washington" and tell you in thirty seconds if it’s a common #498 or something worth investigating.
Verify the perforation. Measure the design dimensions. Check for a watermark. If all three of those things align with a rare Scott number, then—and only then—should you send it to an expert for "certification." A certificate from the PSE (Professional Stamp Experts) or the APEX is the only way to actually sell a high-value Washington. Without that paper, it’s just a pretty piece of green paper.
Start by organizing them by color. Even within "green," there are "myrtle," "apple green," and "yellow green." The nuances are endless, which is exactly why people have been obsessed with this single penny for over a hundred years.