The 1932 Washington Bicentennial are postage stamps issued by the United States government in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of President George Washington's birth. Twelve stamps were issued as a collection, with each one depicting the President in a different period in his life.
The series was designed by Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) designers Clair Aubrey Huston and Alvin Meissner. The 1/2¢ through 10¢ values present portraits of Washington derived from paintings, engravings or sculptures made during his lifetime.
The selections were made based on recommendations made by the Washington Bicentennial Commission, The United States Post Office Department and the BEP. The original concept called for not only picturing Washington but also featuring significant events, locations and iconic images of his life and after death. This was later modified to featuring only portraits.
| ½¢- Scott #704 The likeness of Washington taken from a miniature painted by Charles Wilson Peale in 1777, the original of which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (87,969,700 issued) | |
| 1¢ - Scott #705 reproduction of the profile bust of Washington by Jean Antoine Houdon made in 1785 and now in Mount Vernon. (1,265,555,100 issued) | |
| 1½¢ - Scott #706 The likeness of Washington modeled from a painting known as the Virginia Colonel made at Mount Vernon in 1772 by Charles Wilson Peale, the original of which is now in Washington and Lee University. (304,926,800 issued) | |
| 2¢ - Scott #707 The likeness of Washington by Gilbert Stuart from a painting made at Germantown, Pa., in 1796, known as the Atheneum portrait, the original of which is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. (4,222,198,300 issued) | |
| 3¢ - Scott #708 The likeness of Washington in the uniform of a general with cocked hat reproduced from a portrait by Charles Wilson Peale painted at Valley Forge in 1777. The original portrait is now in the State Normal School at West Chester, Pa. (456,198,500 issued) | |
| 4¢ - Scott #709 The likeness of Washington taken from a painting by Charles Willson Peale. The painting was donated to the National Portrait Gallery by its former owner, Mr. William Patten, Rhinebeck, N.Y. (151,201,300 issued) | |
| 5¢ - Scott #710 The likeness of Washington from a painting by Charles Wilson Peale made in 1795, and now in the possession of the New York Historical Society. (170,565,100 issued) | |
| 6¢ - Scott #711 representing Washington in the uniform of a general reproduced from a painting by John Trumbull in 1792, now in Yale University. (111,739,400 issued) | |
| 7¢ - Scott #712 The portrait painted by John Trumbull in 1780, the original of which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (83,257,400 issued) | |
| 8¢ - Scott #713 The profile bust portrait of Washington facing to the left, reproduced from a crayon drawing made from life by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin at Philadelphia in 1798. (96,506,100 issued) | |
| 9¢ - Scott #714 The likeness of Washington modeled from a pastel portrait in the possession of the Masonic lodge of Alexandria, Va., for whom it was drawn from life by W. Williams in 1794. (75,709,200 issued) | |
| 10¢ - Scott #715 The portrait of Washington taken from a painting by Gilbert Stuart in 1795, now in the possession of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (147,216,000 issued) |
The bicentennial stamps were first placed on sale January 1, 1932, at the post office in Washington, D.C.
While the bicentennial issue presents many unfamiliar images of Washington, the Post Office took care to place the widely loved Gilbert Stuart portrait of the president on the 2-cent stamp, which satisfied the normal first-class letter rate and would therefore get the most use. Several months after the series appeared, however, the first-class letter rate was raised from 2 cents to 3 cents. Because the 3-cent bicentennial issue presents an image of Washington that is not only little-known but quite uncharacteristic, the Post Office chose not to encourage its wide use, and, instead, revamped the 2-cent Atheneum portrait issue as a 3-cent stamp (Scott #720), printing it in the standard 3-cent color.
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“The city of Washington is in some respects self-contained, and it is easy there to forget what the rest of the United States is thinking about. I count it a fortunate circumstance that almost all the windows of the White House and its offices open upon unoccupied spaces that stretch to the banks of the Potomac ... and that as I sit there I can constantly forget Washington and remember the United States.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)