About This Stamp
William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), the ninth president of the United States, appears on the 9-cent pink 1938 Presidential series issue. A bust displayed in the Rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol inspired the stamp's likeness of Harrison. The 9-cent stamp was printed only in sheet form and was issued on August 18, 1938.
Harrison, a hero of the Indian Wars and the War of 1812, was the first president to die in office. On Inauguration Day, 1841, Harrison caught a cold that developed into pneumonia, and he died 30 days later.
The 9-cent Harrison appears most frequently in solo usage paying triple the three-cent first-class rate (in effect July 9, 1934 through July 31, 1858). More difficult to find is the 9-cent stamp paying three times the three-cent-per-ounce Pan-American Union and Spain surface rate (in effect April 1, 1932, through October 31, 1953).