1951 80c Stock Transfer Stamp, Bright Green

Scott #RD348 is an 80-cent bright green Stock Transfer revenue stamp from the Series 1951 issue, featuring a portrait of Roger B. Taney, the fifth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, who also served briefly as Secretary of the Treasury in 1833–1834 under President Andrew Jackson. The "Series 1951" overprint in black places this stamp in one of the final two years of the Stock Transfer program.

Roger B. Taney's appearance on a Stock Transfer stamp is a reminder that before his long career on the Supreme Court, he served in the executive branch. Jackson appointed Taney Treasury Secretary in 1833 largely to carry out his war against the Second Bank of the United States — specifically to remove federal deposits from the bank, a move Taney executed before the Senate refused to confirm him as a permanent appointee. Jackson later appointed him Chief Justice, and he served in that role from 1836 until his death in 1864. Taney is most remembered for writing the majority opinion in the 1857 Dred Scott decision, widely regarded as the worst ruling in Supreme Court history, which held that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens and that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in the territories.

The 80-cent denomination places RD348 in the mid-range of the 1951 Stock Transfer series, above the fractional-cent and single-dollar values used for routine small transactions, but below the high-denomination values used on major securities transfers. The 1951 issue is one of the final two years in the "dated greens" series before the program ended in 1952.