This 1962 First Day Cover features the 4¢ Homestead Act stamp issued on May 20, 1962, in Beatrice, Nebraska. The Artmaster cachet depicts Abraham Lincoln signing the landmark legislation alongside an illustration of the first homestead near Beatrice.
The Homestead Act of 1862 opened vast tracts of public land to settlers, granting 160 acres to any adult who would live on and improve the claim for five years. It fundamentally shaped westward expansion and American agricultural history during the Civil War era.
A notable detail is the block of four stamps canceled on the first day, with the cachet highlighting both the legislative moment and the actual sod house that became the first homestead claim in the United States.
The cover is addressed to Murray Ludmer in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, a small borough in Bergen County with deep roots in early 20th-century suburban growth.
A clean, well-centered Artmaster FDC that makes an excellent addition for collectors of presidential, westward expansion, or mid-century U.S. postal history topics.
