About This Stamp
A stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was issued on January 12, 1984, in Washington, D.C. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation headquarters building.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is an independent agency of the U.S. Government that was created under the terms of the Banking Act of 1933, enacted June 16, 1933. The FDIC guarantees deposits in insured banks up to the limit of $100,000 in the event of the failure of an insured bank. At the time the stamp was issued, the FDIC insured 14,802 banks, representing 97 percent of all of the banks in the country.
The stamp design, by Michael David Brown of Rockville, Maryland, depicts a pillar that includes a large dollar sign. The pillar was selected as the principal design device because it portrays the stability of American banking, thanks in large part to the role of the FDIC.
The stamp, modeled by Clarence Holbert, was printed in the photogravure process, with 50 stamps per pane. Its production was carried-out in an unusual fashion. The innovation involves the simultaneous production of four commemorative stamps on the same press. As a result, the FDIC stamp issue was printed in the upper left pane positions only. The three other commemorative stamps that were printed by this method were Soil and Water Conservation (upper right panes), National Archives (lower left panes), and Federal Credit Union (lower right panes).