Federal Reserve Eagle, Washington, DC - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Along with Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” and comedian Charlie Chaplin, this marble eagle helped celebrate the years 1910-1919 on a set of postage stamps issued in 1998. The set of stamps was part of a larger series, issued in conjunction with the new millennium, commemorating the people and events of the twentieth century. Specifically, this stamp commemorated the Federal Reserve System, established by an act of Congress in 1913.

The Federal Reserve was the third attempt at establishing a central bank in the United States. There is no provision in the U.S. Constitution for a central bank due largely to bad experiences with paper money during the Revolutionary War. Early attempts to establish one met with failure when their charters were not renewed by Congress. The 1913 act established the Federal Reserve primarily as a means to stabilize financial systems. (It was a direct result of the particularly severe Bank Panic of 1907.)

Unlike the aforementioned Duchamp painting, the marble eagle shown on the stamp was not a product of the 1910s but rather of the 1930s. The Great Depression gave the government the opportunity to rethink the organization of the Federal Reserve System. The Banking Act of 1935, besides giving new names to almost every position at the Fed, established a much more centralized governing structure. This, of course, meant that they needed their own building in Washington DC. (Up until this time, the Federal Reserve System consisted of bank buildings located in different cities across the U.S. and a few offices in the Treasury Building near the White House.)

The new Federal Reserve Building was designed by Paul Philippe Cret who won a design contest held in the spring of 1935. Cret also designed the nearby Pan-American Union Building (now OAS) which appeared on an earlier U.S. postage stamp. Nationally recognized artists were brought in to design the building’s ornamentation. Sculptor Sidney Waugh designed the large marble eagle that sits above the main entrance on Constitution Avenue (and on the postage stamp). The new building was dedicated on 20-Oct-1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Though still commonly called the Federal Reserve Building, in 1982 it was officially named after Marriner S. Eccles who was the Federal Reserve Chairman during the building’s construction. Today, besides its charge to ameliorate risk to financial institutions, the Federal Reserve serves as a depository for federal funds, establishes monetary policy and provides oversight to the banking industry.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 3-Feb-1998 Denomination: 32c Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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