These presorted first-class mail coil stamps feature an artistic rendering of a detail of the Great Seal of the United States. In his 1782 design, Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, gave prominence to the American bald eagle. This majestic raptor, a native of North America, became a symbol of freedom as well as the emblem of our country. The designs for the stamps feature the head and outstretched right wing of the American bald eagle and a portion of the shield is on its breast, with the tip of the olive branch held in its right talon. The coil has ten versions of the eagle — in gold, green, blue, red, and gray — that appear against a background of a contrasting color.