The American Credo postal issues (credo is "I believe..." in Latin) were a series of six commemorative postage stamps issued by the United States Post Office between 1960 and 1961. Issued over a one-year period, the 4-cent stamps feature famous quotes from prominent Americans which are considered to eulogize the principles on which the United States was founded. An opinion poll was taken which consulted one hundred distinguished Americans in public life, which included historians, and presidents of state universities, who collectively chose the given credos found on these stamp issues. The quotes inscribed on the stamps are from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Frances Scott Key, Abraham Lincoln, and Patrick Henry, and were released in that order. Each stamp bears an inscription of the signature of the man who uttered the credo.[1][2]
The American Credo stamps were printed by the U.S.Bureau of Engraving and Printing in sheets of fifty. Each of the American Credo stamps paid the postage for a one-ounce letter mailed within the United States.The symbols depicted by the stamp issues relate to the credo inscribed in the stamp designs.[3] Frank P. Conley of New York designed the stamp, issues and Charles R. Chickering modeled the designs. Robert J. Jones was the engraver the of stampdie's frame, and Howard F. Sharpless engraved the vignettes. The first day of issue for the individual stamps occurred at a city or location appropriate to background of the man who uttered the given credo.[1][2]
