$1 Red Fox single

Object Details

Description

The 1-dollar multicolored Red Fox (Scott 3036) definitive was announced by the United States Postal Service on August 13, 1998, and issued the following day. It was the first definitive to contain a 'Scrambled Indicia' image that can only be seen through a special acrylic decoder lens.

Robert Giusti designed the black, cyan, magenta, and yellow self-adhesive stamp, which was printed on the Banknote Corporation of America's Goebel 670 offset press and distributed in panes of twenty, four stamps across and five down on the pane. Offset printing plates of 240 subjects were used to print the stamp. One set of four offset plate numbers preceded by the letter ‘B’ appeared in the selvage above or below each corner stamp. The stamp had die-cut simulated perforations, 11½ x 11¼, cut on the Arpesco/Innotech rotary die cutter.

As a security measure, BCA incorporated a 'Scrambled Indicia' image in the stamp--a small silhouette of a fox printed in the lower left corner of the design. In addition, microprinting was also incorporated in the design: “RED FOX” can be found on a branch at the bottom of the design and “USPS” is on the splintered end of the limb on which the fox is lying. “©/USPS/1998.,” “$1.00/x20/$20.00.,” “PANE POSITION,” and an accompanying pane position diagram were printed in the selvage.

The red fox ranges more widely than any terrestrial carnivore, spanning most of North America and Eurasia, with several populations in North Africa. Red foxes are found in a variety of biomes, from prairies and scrubland to forest settings. Though best suited to lower latitudes, they sometimes venture considerably farther north.

Red foxes are most commonly a rusty red with white underbelly, black ear tips and legs, and a bushy tail with a distinctive white tip. They might reach an adult weight of nine to twelve pounds. They vary greatly in size, with red foxes in Europe being larger on average than those in North America. They eat rodents, insects, fruits, worms, eggs, mice, birds, and other small animals.

The red fox is the state land mammal of Mississippi (1997).

The American red fox (Vulpes fulva) was previously depicted on a stamp (Scott 1757g) on the Capex ’78 souvenir sheet.

References:

Linn’s U.S. Stamp Yearbook 1998

NETSTATE.com (http://www.netstate.com/states/tables/state_mammals.htm)

Scott 2005 Specialized Catalogue of U.S. Stamps and Covers

Credit line

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

August 14, 1998

Object number

2000.2013.52

Type

Postage Stamps

Medium

paper; ink ( ) / lithographed; adhesive

Dimensions

Height x Width: 7/8 x 1 in. (2.3 x 2.5 cm)

Place

United States of America

See more items in

National Postal Museum Collection

Title

Scott Catalogue USA 3036

National Postal Museum

Topic

Animals

U.S. Stamps

Record ID

npm_2000.2013.52

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8f7582b5b-3d94-4d8d-8d0b-ea8ff7df6204