This Official First Day Cover bears the 13¢ Maryland Bicentennial stamp issued February 23, 1976, and canceled in Washington, DC. The cachet portrays the statue of John Hanson alongside the Maryland state flag and commemorates Maryland’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788.
John Hanson (1715–1783) served as the first “President of the United States in Congress Assembled” under the Articles of Confederation, presiding over the Continental Congress from 1781 to 1782 before the Constitution created the modern presidency.
A notable detail is the cachet’s dual focus on Hanson’s Confederation-era role and Maryland’s later place as the seventh state to ratify the Constitution, tying the 1976 Bicentennial celebration to both Revolutionary and Constitutional history.
Collectors will appreciate the clean Washington, DC postmark, the crisp cachet artwork, and the strong appeal for Bicentennial, presidential, and Maryland topical collections.
