This ArtCraft First Day Cover features the 13¢ US Bicentennial stamp honoring the Marquis de Lafayette, issued June 13, 1977, and postmarked in Charleston, South Carolina—the port where Lafayette first arrived in America exactly two centuries earlier.
The Marquis de Lafayette, a young French nobleman, sailed to the colonies in 1777 to join the American Revolution. His military leadership and close alliance with George Washington proved invaluable to the patriot cause, and his return visits decades later cemented his status as a beloved figure in U.S. history. The 1977 bicentennial issue marked the 200th anniversary of that pivotal arrival.
The striking black-and-white cachet depicts a youthful Lafayette in military uniform beside a period sailing vessel, with the inscription “The Arrival In America of Marquis de Lafayette 1777–1977.” A block of four stamps appears on the right, each inscribed “US Bicentennial 13¢ Lafayette.”
A fine addition for collectors of Revolutionary War topics, ArtCraft cachets, or the 1976–1977 Bicentennial series, this cover remains in excellent condition with a crisp, fully legible first-day cancel.
