1941 Buy A Share In American Defense Savings Bonds and Stamps Henry Billings

Date: 1941
Artist: Billings, Henry
Size (in): 28” x 20”
Size (cm): 71.1 x 50.8
Condition: A-
Linen backed: No

This vintage original and rare WWII poster was created by the artist Henry Billings and issued by the United States Treasury Department in 1941. The poster’s simple design features the image of a man’s hand putting a silver dollar onto a sturdy looking steel coin bank with rivets around the edges in the shape of the United States under the title BUY A SHARE IN AMERICA.

The coin shown in the image is of the so called Peace Dollar design and dated 1941. These Peace Dollar coins were only minted by the US Treasury from 1921 to 1928 and from 1934 to 1935 and were never minted with a 1941 date but surely the discrepancy was intentional. The artist Henry Billings was a member of the art colony at Woodstock, New York and created several murals for the WPA during the 1930s including the series of five murals at the Lake Placid, New York post office depicting winter sports among others.

This rare early war poster is printed “Poster No. 4B” in the lower righthand corner and printed with the date 1941 in the lower lefthand corner. Billings’ name is signed in print on the right edge of the artwork. This vintage original poster was issued folded and does not appear to have ever been used. The poster is in excellent condition with just light handling wear including a small half inch tear on the top edge and slight bumping on left the edge near the bottom and modest toning from age.