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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Charles Dickens Centenary Stamp
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Charles Dickens Centenary Stamp

Artifact IDMO 1997.15.72
Object Type Sticker
Maker (English, 1866 - 1959)
Date1912
Mediumpaper
Dimensionsoverall H 2 in x W 1 5/8 in (5.1 cm x 4.1 cm )
Physical DescriptionA single 1d (1 pence) non-postal cinderella stamp commemorating the centenary of Charles Dickens' birth. The black and off-white gummed stamp features a column design with an engraved portrait of Charles Dickens within an oval at the center. Text on the stamp reads: A TRIBUTE TO GENIUS / 1812 1912 / CENTENARY TESTIMONIAL / [reproduction of Dickens' signature].

The stamp came from inside a small Charles Dickens Centenary Stamp cover (see MO 1997.15.49).
Historical NoteFor the centenary celebration of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) in 1912, the Charles Dickens Centenary Testimonial Committee was established to collect funds for the benefit of the descendants of the writer. The committee published and sold sheets of a dozen 1 pence Dickens non-postal stamps.

Franklin Roosevelt was an avid, lifelong stamp collector who gathered over 1.2 million stamps into his personal collection during the course of his life. He began collecting stamps at the age of eight at the suggestion of his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, who passed on her collection to him.

After FDR's death, his personal stamp collection, including this stamp with its accompanying envelope (MO 1997.15.49), was sold at public auction in 1946 in accordance with his wishes.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDonated to the FDR Library by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in 1995.
Credit LineGift of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesStamp Collecting Materials (National Archives Identifier 749938)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Not on view