U.S. #3647A
$3.85 Jefferson Memorial
2003 Priority Mail
Issue Date: November, 2003
City: Washington, DC
Printed By: American Packaging Corporation for Sennett Security Printers
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 11 x 10 ¾
Color: Multicolored

This stamp was issued in November 2003 as the third stamp in the National Monuments Series, featuring a photographic image of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. The stamp includes a hidden security feature, showing Thomas Jefferson's signature at the lower left when viewed through a special decoder lens, a printing technique used to help prevent counterfeiting on higher value stamps. This high denomination stamp was designed for use on Priority Mail packages, which required a greater postage value than standard first class stamps.

The memorial itself was authorized by Congress in 1934 as part of a broader beautification effort for the nation's capital and was built to honor Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. Architect John Russell Pope designed the building in 1925, drawing inspiration from the Pantheon in Rome, a style Jefferson himself favored and had used in his own architectural work at Monticello and the University of Virginia. Construction began in 1938 and continued despite the United States' entry into World War II, with President Franklin Roosevelt dedicating the completed memorial on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth.

Wartime metal restrictions meant the memorial initially featured a painted plaster statue of Jefferson rather than the bronze version originally planned. The permanent bronze statue, sculpted by Rudolph Evans and standing nineteen feet tall, was finally installed in 1947 once the war had ended and metal became available again. Situated on the Tidal Basin and surrounded by Japanese cherry trees, the memorial has remained one of the most recognizable landmarks in Washington, D.C., serving as the southern anchor of the city's monumental core alongside the Capitol, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial.

U.S. #3647A
$3.85 Jefferson Memorial
2003 Priority Mail
Issue Date: November, 2003
City: Washington, DC
Printed By: American Packaging Corporation for Sennett Security Printers
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 11 x 10 ¾
Color: Multicolored

This stamp was issued in November 2003 as the third stamp in the National Monuments Series, featuring a photographic image of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. The stamp includes a hidden security feature, showing Thomas Jefferson's signature at the lower left when viewed through a special decoder lens, a printing technique used to help prevent counterfeiting on higher value stamps. This high denomination stamp was designed for use on Priority Mail packages, which required a greater postage value than standard first class stamps.

The memorial itself was authorized by Congress in 1934 as part of a broader beautification effort for the nation's capital and was built to honor Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. Architect John Russell Pope designed the building in 1925, drawing inspiration from the Pantheon in Rome, a style Jefferson himself favored and had used in his own architectural work at Monticello and the University of Virginia. Construction began in 1938 and continued despite the United States' entry into World War II, with President Franklin Roosevelt dedicating the completed memorial on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth.

Wartime metal restrictions meant the memorial initially featured a painted plaster statue of Jefferson rather than the bronze version originally planned. The permanent bronze statue, sculpted by Rudolph Evans and standing nineteen feet tall, was finally installed in 1947 once the war had ended and metal became available again. Situated on the Tidal Basin and surrounded by Japanese cherry trees, the memorial has remained one of the most recognizable landmarks in Washington, D.C., serving as the southern anchor of the city's monumental core alongside the Capitol, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial.