You’re digging through an old cigar box of stamps at a flea market, or maybe you’ve inherited a dusty envelope from your great-aunt’s attic. Among the familiar red two-cent stamps and blue fives, you see it. It’s a fraction. A 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp. It looks like a typo, honestly. Who even uses half a cent?
Back in the day, the United States Post Office Department—the precursor to the USPS—actually had a very specific, very bureaucratic reason for these fractional values. They weren't just being difficult. Most people today look at these stamps and assume they’re worth a fortune because they’re "weird." That is the first mistake. Most of them aren't worth a down payment on a house, but their story is fascinating if you're into the nitty-gritty of American economic history.
The 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp: A byproduct of the "Golden Age" of mail
Let’s talk about the 1920s. The world was changing fast. The Post Office needed a way to handle massive quantities of third-class mail. Think of it as the birth of modern junk mail. Or, more politely, "bulk advertising."
In 1925, the government established a new rate for third-class mail that wasn't quite a penny but wasn't two cents either. To bridge the gap for nonprofit organizations and specific bulk mailers, they minted the 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp. Most famously, this was the "Harding" stamp. President Warren G. Harding had died unexpectedly in 1923, and the public was in a state of mourning that's hard to imagine now. They put his face on a brown 1 1/2 cent stamp as part of the Fourth Bureau Issue.
It was practical.
If you were a business sending out 10,000 circulars, that half-cent difference saved you fifty bucks. In 1925, fifty dollars bought a lot of groceries. So, these stamps were printed by the billions. Literally billions. That’s why, when you find one today, it’s usually not the "lottery ticket" find people hope for.
The Harding "Brownie" and the Chicago Perforation
Collectors get really sweaty over the 1 1/2 cent Harding. Most of them are common. You can buy a sheet for a relatively small amount of money. But there’s a catch. There is always a catch in philately.
✨ Don't miss: Bed and Breakfast Wedding Venues: Why Smaller Might Actually Be Better
If you find a 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp from the 1922-1931 series that is "imperforate"—meaning it has no holes around the edges—you might be onto something. Specifically, look for the ones with the "Schermack" private perforations. These were used in automatic mailing machines. Then there's the legendary "Harding Profile" variety.
The color is usually a light brown, often called "bister." It’s a drab color. It looks like the 1920s feel in a history textbook. But if you find one with a "precancel"—those black lines or city names printed over the stamp—it tells a story of a specific business in a specific town trying to save a fraction of a penny on every letter they sent.
Martha Washington and the Presidential Series of 1938
Harding wasn't the only one to grace the fractional denomination. When the Post Office decided to overhaul everything in 1938, they released the "Prexies." This was the Presidential Series. It’s a classic. Every collector knows the Prexies.
For the 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp in this series, they chose Martha Washington. She was the first woman to appear on a regular-issue US stamp, which happened way back in 1902, but her 1938 appearance is the one most people recognize. It’s a clean, yellowish-brown design.
Why Martha?
It wasn't just a nod to the First Lady. The 1 1/2 cent rate was still heavily used for drop letters—letters mailed and delivered within the same post office district that didn't have carrier delivery. It was the "local" rate. If you were walking your mail to the post office and the recipient was picking it up at that same office, why pay the full three-cent domestic rate? You wouldn't. You’d use Martha.
Misconceptions about value and "The Big Find"
I see it on Reddit and eBay all the time. Someone posts a photo of a 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp with a starting bid of $500. It never sells. Why? Because "old" does not equal "rare."
🔗 Read more: Virgo Love Horoscope for Today and Tomorrow: Why You Need to Stop Fixing People
To understand the value of these stamps, you have to look at the "centering." Is the image perfectly in the middle of the paper? Are the "teeth" (the perforations) all intact? Most importantly, is it used or unused? Interestingly, for some of these bulk-mail stamps, a "used" version on a rare, intact envelope (a "cover") is actually worth more than a mint condition stamp.
A mint 1 1/2 cent Martha Washington might be worth twenty cents. But that same stamp on a 1939 envelope from a defunct hotel in small-town Nebraska? That’s history. That’s what people pay for.
The Rotary Press vs. Flat Plate
Here is where it gets technical. And kinda boring if you aren't a nerd, but bear with me. During the production of the 1 1/2 cent Harding, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing used different types of presses.
- Flat Plate: These stamps are often a bit clearer but slower to make.
- Rotary Press: These are slightly stretched in one direction because the printing plate was curved.
If you have a 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp and it’s a specific measurement—we’re talking fractions of a millimeter—it could be a rare variety. For example, the Scott #582 is the rotary press version of the Harding 1 1/2 cent. It’s common. But if you find an imperforate version that was never supposed to leave the building? Now we’re talking.
Identifying what you actually have
If you’re staring at a brown stamp with a guy who looks like a stern 1920s grandfather, it’s Harding. If it’s a woman with a colonial-style bonnet, it’s Martha Washington.
Check the edges. If the edges are smooth like a piece of paper, don't cut them! That "imperforate" status is usually what drives the price up, provided it wasn't just someone cutting the teeth off with scissors (which is a common scam, by the way). Real imperforate stamps have wider margins.
💡 You might also like: Lo que nadie te dice sobre la moda verano 2025 mujer y por qué tu armario va a cambiar por completo
Also, look at the watermark. You’ll need some special fluid for this. If you hold the stamp up to a light or put it in a watermark tray and see "USPS" in the paper fibers, you’ve narrowed down the date significantly. But most 1 1/2 cent stamps from the 1920s and 30s don't have watermarks, as the government had mostly moved away from that by then to save money.
Why collectors still care about "fractionals"
There is something inherently quirky about a 1 1/2 cent rate. It represents a time when the value of a dollar was so high that a half-cent actually mattered to a business's bottom line. It’s a relic of a precise, analog world.
Today, we just slap a "Forever" stamp on everything. We don't think about the cost. But back then, mailing a catalog was a calculated risk. The 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp was the tool that built the modern direct-mail industry. Without this weird little fraction, the giant catalogs of Sears or Montgomery Ward might have looked very different.
How to handle your find
If you've found a collection, don't lick the stamps. Don't tape them into an album. Basically, don't touch them with your bare hands if you can help it. The oils on your skin are acidic and will ruin the paper over time. Use tongs—philatelic tweezers.
If you think you have a rare 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp, your next step isn't eBay. It's a catalog. Get a copy of the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. You can usually find these at your local library. Look up the 1 1/2 cent denominations under "United States."
Check the "perf" (perforation) gauge. This is a little tool that measures how many holes are in a two-centimeter span. If your measurement matches a rare sub-type listed in Scott, then—and only then—should you consider getting it "certified" by a group like the Philatelic Foundation or the American Philatelic Society (APS).
Actionable insights for the casual finder
- Identify the subject: Is it Harding (brown/bister) or Martha Washington (yellow-brown)?
- Check the condition: If it’s torn, thin, or missing its "teeth," the value drops to near zero for most common issues.
- Look for precancels: If there’s a city name like "Chicago, ILL" or "New York, NY" printed in black ink over the face, it was used for bulk mail. Some collectors specialize only in these.
- Keep it on the envelope: If the stamp is still on an old letter, leave it there. The postmark (the date and location stamp) often provides the context that makes the 1 1 2 cent us postage stamp valuable to a historian.
- Don't get your hopes too high: Remember, these were the "junk mail" stamps of their era. They exist in massive quantities. Enjoy them for the history, not the potential payday.
Most of these stamps are worth less than a dollar. But owning a piece of the 1920s or 1930s—a time of massive economic shift and the rise of the American middle class—is worth the effort of looking closer. Those tiny brown squares are more than just old paper; they are the literal receipts of a growing nation.