Normally, each year, the first day of sale is 

 July I, with the stamp remaining valid until 

 the end of the fiscal year on the following June 

 20. The beginning sale date has been set at 

 July 1 so that duck hunters who plan to be in 

 the marshes on the opening day of the water- 

 fowl season may buy their duck stamps well in 

 advance. 



The sale of these stamps in their first year of 

 issue amounted to 635,001. Since 1951, more 

 than 2 million stamps have been sold annually, 

 with thousands being purchased by persons who 

 never hunt. 



Scarcity of the early issues 



Early issues, previous to 1941, are exceedingly 

 rare. This is due to the fact that the law- 

 specified when the stamp was first issued in 1934 

 that all unsold stamps should be destroyed after 

 the year of issue had expired. The Depart- 

 ment of the Interior Appropriation Act for fiscal 

 year 1942, however, carried a provision which 

 permitted all unsold stamps to be turned over 

 to the Philatelic Agency of the Post Office De- 

 partment in Washington, D.C., and "Therein 

 placed on sale until disposed of or until the 

 Congiess otherwise provides." Private collectors 

 or stamp dealers are the only source of supply 

 for the early issues which now have a monetary 

 value far in excess of their original cost. 



Selection of the annual duck stamp design 



Annually the Fish and Wildlife Service con- 

 ducts a public contest open to all interested 

 artists for the purpose of selecting the new- design 

 for next year's duck stamp. The opening of 

 the contest is announced early in July and all 

 entries must reach the Service's headquarters 

 office in Washington, D.C., on or before the 

 first Monday of November, of each year." The 

 judging of the competition takes place some time 

 during November inasmuch as the design must 

 be in the Post Office Department by December 

 1 so that the Bureau of Engraving and Print- 

 ing can have plenty of time to work on making 

 the stamp. 



Artists are given a wide latitude in the choice 

 of medium — pen and ink, oil, watercolor, etch- 

 ing, pencil, etc., and in their subject. However, 



- A leaflet entitled "Rules for the Annual Federal Duck 

 Stamp Contest" may be obtained free of charge by writing 

 to the Oflice of Information, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Washington 25, D.C. 



all designs must be in black and white and not 

 larger than 5x7 inches. 



The design selected for each year's stamp is 

 chosen by a judging committee of art and water- 

 fowl authorities. Prior to 1949, outstanding 

 wildlife artists were invited to submit entries 

 and the selection was made from this limited 

 group. In 1949 these limitations were lifted 

 and a public contest was started to give all wild- 

 life artists a chance to compete. 



Although the winning artist does not receive 

 any direct compensation except an album con- 

 taining a sheet of the stamp he designed, the 

 distinction is unique and worthwhile. Many 

 of the winners have capitalized on their designs 

 by selling autographed prints. All such projects, 

 however, are subject to the terms of an agree- 

 ment which the artist must sign with the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service when he submits his con- 

 test entry. 



How the duck stamps are manufactured 



[This section has been prepared by George VV. Brett. Vice 

 President, Bureau Issues Association, Washington, D.C] 



After the design is selected by the judging 

 committee, it is sent to the Post Office Depart- 

 ment (on or before December 1 of each year) 

 which, in turn, sends it to the Bureau of En- 

 graving and Printing in Washington, D.C, for 

 the actual production of the stamp. 



One of the Bureau's artists first prepares a 

 model in stamp size which combines the win- 

 ning design with the necessary inscriptions. 

 When this model has been approved jointly by 

 the Postmaster General and the Fish and Wild- 

 life Ser\'ice (through its Bureau of Sport Fisheries 

 and Wildlife), a steel die is engraved, using the 

 approved model as a guide. When the die is 

 completed, proofs are taken from it in several 

 colors, as suggested by the service. After the 

 Service approves the color it deems best, the 

 Bureau of Engraving and Printing prepares the 

 necessary plates for printing. 



Printing was performed on 4-plate flatbed 

 power presses to and including the 1958-59 

 issue. Since that time printing has been per- 

 formed on new sheet-fed rotary presses which 

 carry two plates and can print either single- 

 color or multicolor, using from one to three inks 

 at one passage. All duck stamps to and includ- 

 ing the 1953-54 issue were printed by what is 

 known as the "wet process," and all those since 



