This is a hand-addressed First Day Cover (FDC) for the 1939 Washington Inauguration Sesquicentennial issue, featuring a 3-cent stamp and a general purpose patriotic flag cachet.
Year of Issue: 1939.
Scott Number: Sc 854 (3c Sesquicentennial of Washington as First President).
Cachet: A generic, unbranded purple cachet featuring a draped American flag and the text "FIRST DAY COVER".
First Day of Issue Cancel: Postmarked with a circular datestamp from New York, N.Y., dated Apr 30, 9-AM, 1939, tying the stamp with a standard "FIRST DAY OF ISSUE" machine slogan.
Addressee: Hand-addressed in ink to Brooklyn, N.Y.
Released on April 30, 1939, this 3-cent stamp was issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of George Washington taking the oath of office as the first President of the United States. The historic inauguration ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City on April 30, 1789. The stamp design illustrates this iconic moment, which directly ties into the New York City First Day of Issue location.
This is a solid, representative cover for collectors of early American history topicals, Presidential issues, or pre-WWII First Day Covers.