Liberty Bell Stamps

This post in honor of Independence Day in the United States features Liberty Bell stamps. I have made the point repeatedly on this blog that stamps, like money, are political documents. Even though the United States historically has few music stamps, the 1940 stamps featuring composers was very much a political statement. The bicentennial celebrations were a big opportunity for the United States to send patriotic messages to citizens. Consequently, there were several stamps and coins issued in honor of this important anniversary. Some even have musical topics such as the set of stamps known as the Spirit of ’76.

Of course, patriotic stamps, featuring historical American figures such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and many others date back to the very beginning of stamps made by the United States. Another musical stamp that is very much in this patriotic vein is the Francis Scott Key stamp from 1948. This post features the very patriotic musical instrument known as the Liberty Bell and the various stamps from the United States and other countries featuring this iconic American object.

The Liberty Bell

City bells were an important way of alerting the public to danger or for making important proclamations. Although church and cathedral bells were also rung for such occasions, many cities also had civic bells that were rung for these purposes. Philadelphia had a city bell soon after its founding in 1682. Tradition states that the original Philadelphia bell was brought there by the city founder William Penn. The bell hung on a tree behind the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall. In 1751, a bell tower was added to the building and a new and larger bell was necessary. The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly ordered a bell of approximately two thousand pounds from the London bell founders Lester and Pack. This is now the Whitechapel bell Foundry, one of the most famous bell foundries in the world. The bell came to Philadelphia in 1752.

The inscription on the bell comes from Leviticus 25:10 and reads: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”

When the bell was tested in Philadelphia (before going into the tower), the bell rim cracked. Instead of sending the immense bell back to London, two local founders recast the bell. However, the two founders, John Pass and John Stow, had no experience casting bells. At Stow’s foundry, the bell was broken into small pieces, melted down, and cast into a completely new bell. They thought the reason for the crack was that the metal was too brittle, so they added more copper. However, when their bell was complete, it was rung and the sound was disagreeable to the public. The bell became a joke and the two founders took it and recast it a second time. It was only in June of 1753 that the bell was ready and satisfactory.

The Bell’s Use

Even after its second casting, the bell was never exactly right. The Pennsylvania legislature wanted the London bell foundry to replace it for free. That didn’t happen, but the city did buy a second bell. The two bells both hung in the tower, with the second one becoming the primary bell for the Colony of Pennsylvania and for the City of Philadelphia. The Pass and Stow bell became a secondary instrument rung for special occasions, particularly to mark the opening of a legislative assembly.

One of the legends about the bell is that it rang on July 4, 1776, to announce the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the announcement of that document only took place four days later on July 8. At that time, there was a general ringing of bells throughout the city and it is likely that the bell also rang as a part of that larger celebration. Famously, the bell was moved to Allentown during the Revolutionary War in order to keep it out of the hands of the British Army.

Following the Revolutionary War, the bell rang for the Fourth of July, on election days, and for Washington’s birthday. When the capitol moved to Lancaster in 1799, the City bought the State House, including the bells at that time. In 1828, the later bell was sold to St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic church. It was destroyed when the church was set first to by an anti-Catholic mob in 1844.

The Crack

The earlier bell, recast by Pass and Stowe, is partially famous because of its large and easily identifiable crack. It is important to differentiate this crack from the original damage to the bell made in London. While officials in Philadelphia always said the bell was defective, the London bell foundry said the original damage was done by the bell ringer. The bell should have been struck on its body. However, the bell ring instead applied a heavy blow directly to the bell’s rim, its weakest point.

Its obvious that Pass and Stowe were not expert bell founders, especially as they had to recast the bell twice given the first time its sound was unattractive. It is likely that their inexperience, and the fact they changed the metal alloy is what led to subsequent structural problems.

The larger, iconic crack that is now famous, developed at some point between around 1817 and the 1840s. Tradition states that it happened while ringing to mark the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. Whatever the reason, the crack now makes the bell unplayable.

Achieving Fame

The Pass and Stowe bell became famous as the “Libery Bell” in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The bell was already well-known, in part because of its presence in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Abolitionists seized on its inscription as a motto that could be used in their fight to abolish slavery. Then George Lippard wrote a short story in 1847 titled the “Fourth of July, 1776.” In this fictional account, the bell and its bell ringer play a central role in the events around the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence. It was a hugely popular story and ever since, the Liberty Bell has been associated with the Fourth of July and the Declaration of Independence.

As the Liberty Bell was unusable, the City of Philadelphia had it mounted on a pedestal. In 1848, it was placed in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed. There several presidents visited it, and Abraham Lincoln’s body laid in state after his assassination, with his head near the Liberty Bell. It was also an important symbol of the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.

Beginning in 1885, the bell made seven tours to various celebrations and expositions across the United States. However, because of its increasing fragility (and worsening of the crack) its last trip was to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Since then, it has remained in Philadelphia.

United States Stamps

The very first United States stamp featuring the Liberty Bell is a two-cent stamp from 1926. In that year, the country celebrated its 150th anniversary, and the stamp bears the dates 1776 and 1926. Of course, 1776 is the year of the Declaration of Independence, showing the firm link between the bell and the events of that year. Never mind that the bell is from the 1750s and was only one of the bells that may have rung on July 8, 1776. This stamp is a beauty and my favorite of all the United States issues featuring the Liberty Bell.

In 1960, the Liberty Bell again made an appearance on United States stamps. This time, the bell was the image on a pair of Airmail stamps for ten and thirteen cents apiece.

The bell made a couple of additional appearances in the 1970s. It was on a 1974 stamp that i do not have in my collection, and then on this beauty from 1977. I think this is an attractive stamp showing details of the bell and then the words from its inscription “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All The Land.”

In the 2000s, the Liberty bell was a definitive Forever stamp. My example from a 2008 cover is the most recent stamp in my collection and I know that there are some other United States Liberty Bell variations that I will need to acquire.

Liberty Bell Stamps from Other Countries

Quite wonderfully, the Liberty Bell appears on a number of stamps from other countries. These stamps were made to honor the United States bicentennial in 1976 and all date to around that time. They are a kind of diplomatic stamp, made primarily by allies of the United States, though certainly they were also produced for the philatelic market. Here are the ones in my collection although there are others I need to acquire: