20c Hawaii Statehood stamp

A 20-cent stamp honoring the silver jubilee of Hawaiian statehood was issued March 12, 1984, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held at the Honolulu City Hall.

Hawaii, which consists of 132 islands, is the youngest of the states. Although the legislation authorizing Hawaiian statehood was passed by both houses of Congress in March 1959, Hawaii did not officially become the fiftieth state until August 21, 1959. The First Day of Issue ceremony coincided with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the passage of the statehood bill by the Congress.

The stamp, which was designed by Herb Kane of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and modeled by Richard C. Sennett, features three principal elements: a Golden plover in flight, an Eastern Polynesian voyaging canoe, and an eruption of a volcano on the flank of Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcanic mountain.

The Hawaii Statehood stamp was the ninth produced in recent years by the American Bank Note Company. The plate numbering system, as with all stamps printed by American Bank Note, features the letter "A" as a prefix.

The stamp was printed in the photogravure process and issued in panes of fifty.

Reference: Postal Bulletin (February 16, 1984).

Scott Catalogue USA: 2080
mint

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 1999.2004.341