A listing of postage stamps of United States of America depicting design errors.
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1885 October 1
United States of America
10-cent special delivery stamps with boy running has the design flipped left to right, as the stamp on the envelope in his hand is in the wrong corner. Same image used on issues of 1888, 1893, 1894, and 1895.
Catalog numbers: Scott E1; Stanley Gibbons E217
Approximate value: US$80.00 (Scott 2018).
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1898 June 17
United States of America
$1 stamp with caption "Western Cattle in Storm" does not depict a scene from the USA, but is from the painting "The Vanguard" by John A. McWhirter, of cattle in the West Highlands of Scotland.
Catalog numbers: Scott 292; Stanley Gibbons 298
Approximate value: US$725 (Scott 2018).
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1904 April 30
United States of America
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Saint Louis, Missouri, April 30 to December 1.
10-cent stamp depicts a map of the USA showing the area of the Louisiana Purchase. But the map omits the original bulge north above the 49th parallel north latitude, and includes a south-east patch extending into Spanish Florida land.
Catalog numbers: Scott 327; Stanley Gibbons 334
Approximate value: US$30 (Scott 2018).
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1926 October 18
United States of America
2-cent stamp depicts scene of the Battle of White Plains, October 28, 1776, but shows the "Stars and Stripes" flag of June 1777 at the left. Also, the "Liberty or Death" flag at the right should have a completely red background.
Catalog numbers: Scott 629; Stanley Gibbons 644
Approximate value: US$1.70 (Scott 2018).
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1945 September 28
United States of America
Achievements of the US Army in World War II.
3-cent postage stamp depicts an actual photo of American troops in front of the Arc de Triomphe in France. As there was no airplane flyover, their addition to the stamp design should not have been done.
Catalog numbers: Scott 934; Michel 539; Yvert 486
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1948 May 28
United States of America
3-cent stamp depicts the sinking of the US Army Transport Dorchester, but the ship sunk bow first, not stern first as pictured.
Catalog numbers: Scott 956
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1951 December 10
United States of America
175th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn.
3-cent postage stamp depicts General George Washington evacuating the army from the Brooklyn Hieghts to Manhattan. The stamp clearly shows a well-lit daytime scene with clouds in the sky, but the evacuation was done under cover of the night of August 29-30.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1003; Michel 621; Yvert 554
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1952 June 13
United States of America
3-cent stamp commemorates the arrival of the Marquis Lafayette in America in 1777, but depicts flags of USA and France current in 1952, rather than flags of 1777.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1010; Stanley Gibbons 1007
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1953 May 29
United States of America
50th anniversary of (manned) powered flight.
6-cent airmail stamp is captioned "50th anniversary of powered flight", but the word "manned" should be included, as powered flight was first achieved in 1848, 105 years before this issue date.
Catalog numbers: Scott C47; Stanley Gibbons A1018
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1959 June 17
United States of America
2 1/2-cent stamp depicts the Bunker Hill Monument on Breed's Hill. The stamp errs in the caption "Bunker Hill", rather than "Bunker Hill Monument" or "Breed's Hill".
Catalog numbers: Scott 1034
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1962 April 7
United States of America
100th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh.
4-cent stamp depicts a soldier with bayonet mounted incorrectly on the top of the rifle, which would interfer with proper aiming.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1179; Stanley Gibbons 1178
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1963 July 1
United States of America
100th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
5-cent stamp depicts two soldiers battling, but the bayonets on their rifles are not the type used in the US Civil War.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1180; Stanley Gibbons 1179
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1970 November 21
United States of America
6-cent stamp commemorates the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower landing in America. The flag on the ship is the Union Jack as of 1801, incorporating the red "X" of St Patrick's Cross.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1420; Stanley Gibbons 1416
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1973 July 4
United States of America
8-cent stamp depicts British 3-mast ship, with the Moon showing through breaks in the rigging.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1481; Stanley Gibbons 1502
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1975 October 6
United States of America
100th anniversary of American Bankers Association.
10-cent stamp depicts US $1 silver coin, of a type not struck until 1878.
10-cent stamp depicts US $20 gold coin without "In God We Trust" motto, meaning it is a type from 10+ years before ABA founding.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1577-1578; Stanley Gibbons 1576-1577
Approximate value: US$0.50 (Scott 2018).
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1976 February 23
United States of America
13-cent stamp depicts the state flag of Tennessee, upside-down. The state governor signed a resolution requesting a correction, but a new stamp was not issued.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1648; Stanley Gibbons 1628
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1980 February 1
United States of America
15-cent stamp commemorates the 13th Winter Olympic Games, depicting an ice hockey goalie at his net, but the net has no netting.
Catalog numbers: Scott 1798; Stanley Gibbons 1781
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1981 May 21
United States of America
18-cent stamp depicts astronaut standing on the Moon, showing two white spheres in space; what are they?
Catalog numbers: Scott 1912; Stanley Gibbons 1886
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1983 October 8
United States of America
20-cent stamp depicts a "Bobtail" horsecar, but this horse definately has a full tail, not cut short to be called "bobtail".
Catalog numbers: Scott 2061
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1989 October 1
United States of America
25-cent stamp depicts the Apatosaurus dinosaur, but labels it "Brontosaurus".
Catalog numbers: Scott 2425; Stanley Gibbons 2410
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1991 August 8
United States of America
19-cent stamp depicts fishing boat tied to pier with two loops of rope. The image was corrected to one loop of rope in 1994.
Catalog numbers: Scott 2529; Stanley Gibbons 2600
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1993 January 8
United States of America
29-cent stamp depicts Elvis Presley with caption "ELVIS". Five months later same stamp is issued with caption "ELVIS PRESLEY" as part of series of entertainers.
Catalog numbers: Scott 2721; Stanley Gibbons 2769
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1994 (month unknown)
United States of America
29-cent stamp with caption "Bill Pickett" actually portrays his brother Ben. The sheet of 20 different portraits was recalled and re-issued, but the originals with the error were sold at face value by the post office.
Catalog numbers: Scott 2870; Stanley Gibbons 2956
Approximate value: US$220 (Scott 2018).
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1995 April 20
United States of America
32-cent stamp depicts an electrical cord from the Sun with a male receptical, and a house with a female electrical receptical. This is backwards, or dangerous, or implies the Sun gets its power from the house.
Catalog numbers: Scott 2952; Stanley Gibbons 3018
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1995 September 1
United States of America
32-cent stamp depicts Louis Armstrong with denomination "32" in white and name in black. 15 days later the same stamp is re-issued with black "32" and white name, along with nine other 32-cent (in black) stamps depicting American musicians (with names in white).
Catalog numbers: Scott 2982; Stanley Gibbons 3093
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1997 October 14
United States of America
32-cent stamp marks the 50th anniversary of the first supersonic flight by US Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager, depicting his "Glamorous Glennis" Bell X-1 aircraft, but the microprinting misspells the name as "GLAMOROUS GLENNA". The lower word is also curved instead of straight.
Catalog numbers: Scott 3173; Stanley Gibbons 3368
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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2000 January 20
United States of America
60-cent airmail stamp depicts a mirror reversed image of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The correct orientation is re-released as a 28-cent stamp in 2010.
Catalog numbers: Scott C135; Stanley Gibbons A3601
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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2008 March 6
United States of America
41-cent stamp depicts Gerty Cori; the biochemical structure illustration is incorrect.
Catalog numbers: Scott 4224; WNS US004.08; Stanley Gibbons 4809
Approximate value: US$0.35 (Scott 2018).
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2008 April 18
United States of America
42-cent stamp shows US flag at night with 14 stripes instead of the correct 13 (7 stripes below blue canton instead of 6).
Catalog numbers: Scott 4229
Approximate value: US$0.40 (Scott 2018).
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2008 June 14
United States of America
42-cent stamp depicts flag of Colorado state and a mountain, but the mountain appears to be based on Mount Helen in Wyoming.
Catalog numbers: Scott 4280
Approximate value: US$0.30 (Scott 2018).
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2010 December
United States of America
1st-class stamp depicts close-up of face of Statue of Liberty, but uses the copy of the statue at the New York New York casino in Las Vegas. An indicator of this is the small rectangular plaque on the replica's center spike. The USPS press release indicated the statue in New York Harbor, with no mention of being the replica in Las Vegas.
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2015 April 7
United States of America
Maya Angelou stamp shows quote that is not hers, but is similar to one by Joan Walsh Anglund in a poem written in 1967.
Catalog numbers: Scott 4979
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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