#698 – 1931 20c Golden Gate

Issue Date: September 8, 1931
First City: Washington, DC

 

The Golden Gate is a narrow passage of water that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Formed by the erosive water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers during the Ice Age, the deep channel features powerful tidal currents. Dense fog forms over the region as cool, moist, ocean air travels inland and meets warmer temperatures. The usual thick fog may help to explain why several seasoned explorers failed to discover the Golden Gate until 1769. Originally named the “Boca del Puerto de San Francisco,” the Golden Gate was given its current name by American explorer John C. Frémont during the 1840s.

 

Issued as the U.S. spiraled into the Great Depression, the beautifully engraved Series of 1926-31 captures the spirit of America – the wisdom of our greatest leaders, the power of the majestic Niagara Falls, and the romance of the Wild West.  This achievement is even more impressive when one considers the limitations the Bureau of Engraving and Printing worked with during the worldwide Depression. 

 

“This series of definitive stamps represents, if not perfection, then at least a high degree of achievement by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.” – Noted philatelic author Gary Griffith

 

The Series of 1926-31 features the historic designs and patriotic symbolism of the Series of 1922.  However, the new series was printed on a rotary intaglio press, saving time and money as it was printed in continuous rolls.   The rolls were then threaded into a perforator, pulled through the machine under high tension, and perforated horizontally and vertically in a single step.  A 10-gauge perforation had been the standard used to prevent the paper from tearing during production.   To overcome complaints that stamps perforated 10 gauge were hard to separate, a quantity of the 2¢ stamps (U.S. #634, the first Series of 1926-31 denomination to be issued) were given experimental perforations of 11 x 101/2. 

 

The experiment was a success – the stamps were sturdy enough to withstand the production process yet easy to separate for postal use.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing applied the compound perforations to the entire Series of 1926-31.  In fact, the compound perforation stamps were so successful the format was used for the next 10 years, including the 1938 Presidential and 1954 Liberty Series.