# 235 - 1893 6c Columbian Commemorative: Columbus Welcomed at Barcelona

US #235
1893 6¢ Columbus Welcomed at Barcelona – 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 three times single weight rate or could be combined with other stamps to pay additional rates

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Columbian Exposition Issue
Value: 6¢ three times single weight rate
First Day of Issue: January 1-2, 1893
Quantity Issued: 4,707,550
Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Printing Method: Engraving
Format: Plates of 100 in two panes of 50
Perforations: 12
Color: Purple

Why the stamp was issued: To publicize the upcoming Columbian Exposition and to cover three times single weight rate or combined with other stamps to pay additional rates.

About the stamp design: Vignette pictures an engraving by Robert Savage based on Randolph Rogers’ design on the seventh panel of the bronze doors of the US Capitol Rotunda. The design shows Columbus on his way to the Palace of the Counts of Barcelona in 1493 to receive his Coat of Arms from King Ferdinand. King Ferdinand appears on the left side of the central vignette while Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (discoverer of the Pacific Ocean) appears on the right. 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.