US #233
1893 4¢ Fleet of Columbus – Columbian Exposition Issue
• Part of the Columbian Exposition Issue – America’s very first commemorative stamps
• The last stamps produced by a private printing firm before the Bureau of Engraving took over stamp production for many years
• Covered the double-weight, first-class mail rate
Stamp Category: Commemorative
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US #233
1893 4¢ Fleet of Columbus – Columbian Exposition Issue
• Part of the Columbian Exposition Issue – America’s very first commemorative stamps
• The last stamps produced by a private printing firm before the Bureau of Engraving took over stamp production for many years
• Covered the double-weight, first-class mail rate
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Columbian Exposition Issue
Value: 4¢ double-weight first-class mail rate
First Day of Issue: January 1-2, 1893
Quantity Issued: 19,181,550
Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Printing Method: Engraving
Format: Plates of 100 in two panes of 50
Perforations: 12
Color: Ultramarine
Why the stamp was issued: To publicize the upcoming Columbian Exposition and to be used on double-weight first-class mail.
About the stamp design: Vignette pictures an engraving by Charles Skinner based on models of Columbus’s ships held at the Smithsonian Institution. The design shows La Niña, La Pinta, and Santa Maria. The stamp frame and lettering were engraved by G.H. Seymour.
About the Columbian Exposition set: The 1893 Columbians are some of America’s most famous and sought-after stamps. They’re also the first US commemorative stamps. They’re an important part of philatelic history. So much so, in fact, that well-known stamp author Max Johl said that the degree of completion of the Columbian set is often the “yardstick by which a US collection is measured.”
The Columbian stamps were created to promote the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois from May 1 to October 30, 1893. The exposition was a world’s fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World.
The American Bank Note Company held the US postage stamp contract in 1893, but a special contract had to be negotiated for the Columbians because of their large size. The contract allowed the printer to charge 17¢ per thousand stamps, significantly more than the 7.45¢ per thousand they charged for the 1890 definitives.
The first 15 Columbian stamps were placed on sale on January 1, 1893, in New York City and Boston. Most other post offices across the country were closed that day, so they began their sales on January 2. The 8¢ stamp was issued in March to meet a new registration fee.
The Columbian stamps created a worldwide phenomenon. Collectors eagerly awaited the set, forming long lines to purchase the stamps. Yet few could afford to own the complete set. The series included the first US postage stamps with face values over 90¢, and the total cost of the set was $16.34, comparable to about $3,170 in today’s wages.
Some postal clerks refused to sell Columbian stamps because demand far exceeded supply. The craze for Columbian stamps was even more pronounced in Europe. Collectors hounded American tourists and begged for stamps from their mail. A corner of Hamburg’s stock exchange was devoted to trafficking Columbian stamps. On August 11, 1893, The New York Times reported these transactions were conducted “as carefully as they handled the highest gilt-edged securities.”
The Columbians were on sale at post offices until April 1894. They were the final stamps printed by a private firm before the Bureau of Engraving and Printing took over stamp production for decades.
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