1998 $1.00 Flora & Fauna Series: Red Fox

US #3036
1998 Red Fox

• Has scrambled indicia
• Part of Flora and Fauna series

Stamp Category:  Definitive
Set:  Flora and Fauna
Value:  $1
First Day of Issue:  August 14, 1998
First Day City:  Washington, DC
Quantity Issued:  200,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Pane of 20
Perforations:  Die Cut 11.5 X 11.25

Why the stamp was issued:  The Red Fox stamp was issued to replace the previous $1 Surrender of Burgoyne (#2590) stamp.

About the stamp design:  Robert Giusti prepared a series of wildlife paintings for the USPS.  The red fox was one of these paintings.  The original painting was of the entire fox and was intended to be used on a commemorative-sized stamp, like the $2 Bobcat issued in 1990.  The stamp size was reduced to definitive size, and the front half of the red fox was used.

Special design details: “USPS” and “RED FOX” are microprinted on the branch beneath the fox.  A scrambled indicia image of a fox is also in the design and is only visible using a special decoder lens.  This security feature “scrambles, distorts, intertwines, overlaps, or otherwise manipulates images making encoded information on them unreadable by the naked eye, and non-copyable by current color copiers and digital scanners” according to the inventors.

First Day City:  The USPS announced the release of this stamp the day before it was issued.  No ceremony was held.

About the Flora and Fauna series:
The Flora and Fauna stamps picture plants and animals found in the United States.  The definitives were originally called the “Wildlife” series, which replaced the Great Americans series.  The first stamp in the series was the $2 Bobcat issued in June 1990.  The first time the term “Flora and Fauna” was used for the series was nine years later, when the Red-Headed Woodpecker stamp was used.
The series contained 36 face-different stamps.  The flora stamps pictured flowers, berries, fruit, and a pinecone.  The fauna stamps mostly depicted birds but also included four-footed animals, a honeybee, and a sunfish.  The final stamps in the series were issued in 2001.

History the stamp represents:  A popular character in countless fables and legends, the red fox has long been considered the embodiment of craftiness.  During the 11^th century, French folklore bestowed the name Reynard upon the animal, which means “unconquerable through his cleverness.”  One of Aesop’s more famous tales concerns Reynard and an ape.  The ape had recently been elected king of all animals.  But Reynard saw the folly of this decision and decided to expose the ape.  The fox told the ape of a fabulous prize to be had down by the river, whereupon the clumsy beast went to investigate and caught his hand in a trap.  Seeing this, “…Reynard laughed heartily; and going off, added, with a sneer, You a king and not understand trap!”
How the fox earned his crafty reputation, however, is something of a mystery since naturalists suggest that it may not be deserved.  For example, the fox is readily attracted by hunters imitating its call.  When chased by hounds, a fox will rarely run into water, where it could easily erase its scent trail.  Furthermore, the fox – unlike its story-book peer – will often fail to leap into a suitable hole and wait until danger has passed.
Regardless of its actual behavior in the wild, the charismatic fox will doubles continue to entertain children in many heart-warming fables and stories.