WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service is honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “an icon of American culture” with a stamp in the new year.
The design, unveiled on Monday, is a painted portrait based on a photo of Ginsburg in a black robe with an intricate white collar, which became her trademark.
“After beginning her career as an activist lawyer fighting gender discrimination, Justice Ginsburg became a respected jurist whose important majority opinions advancing equality and strong dissents on socially controversial rulings made her a passionate proponent of equal justice,” the agency said in its announcement.
Ginsburg died in 2020 at the age of 87. The newly unveiled first-class “forever” stamp of the liberal icon will be available for purchase in 2023, although officials did not mention a specific date. A first-class stamp currently costs 60 cents, a price that will rise to 63 cents on Jan. 22, 2023.
Last month, a collection of about 75 items of Ginsburg's were sold to benefit charity. In total, bidders paid nearly $517,000 for items in the online auction.
A gold judicial collar made of glass beads sold for $176,775.
In addition to the collar, other items that were auctioned included: a gavel that sold for $20,400, a pair of Ginsburg’s opera glasses that sold for $10,837.50 and a shawl that sold for $12,750. A pair of her black lace gloves sold for $16,575 while a cream pair sold for $12,750.
The auction was conducted by Bonhams, which also conducted an online auction of her books that brought in $2.3 million. In April, some 150 items — including art Ginsburg displayed in her home and office — raised more than $800,000 for Washington National Opera, one of the late justice’s passions.
Proceeds from the latest sale will fund an endowment in Ginsburg’s honor benefitting SOS Children’s Villages, a organization that supports vulnerable children around the world. Ginsburg’s daughter-in-law, Patrice Michaels, is on the organization’s advisory board.
