David Sebben, from Rock Island, says he took his picture of the American Queen in 2015, and posted it on the photo sharing website Flickr.
"It was a photo of the American Queen when it was docked at the Isle of Capri Casino in Bettendorf. It was early morning, the sun was just barely up, and there was a beautiful reflection in the river of the boat."
But it wasn't until 2020 that an agency working for the Postal Service contacted him about using the photo.
The Mississippi River stamp series was formally introduced Monday (5/23) at a ceremony in Memphis, alongside the American Queen riverboat.
Sebben says photography is just a hobby, and he took this picture on the way to work one morning, but he does have a phone app that alerts him when riverboats travel through the Quad Cities.
The Illinois stamp, by Walter Blackledge, shows a sailboat passing limestone bluffs adorned with fall foliage - the location is not specified.