1988 25c Explorers Palmer/ Wilkes

1988 25¢ Palmer and Wilkes

Antarctic Explorers First Day Covers

Issue Date: September 14, 1988
City: Washington, D.C.

Printed By: American Bank Note Company
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 11

Color: multicolored

The stamps on this First Day Cover are from a block of four issued as a companion to the 1986 Arctic Explorers stamps. The block was issued one month prior to Admiral Richard Byrd's 100th birthday and also honors Nathaniel Palmer, Charles Wilkes and Lincoln Ellsworth.

Nathaniel Palmer first traveled to the Antarctic in 1810 as a seal hunter. By the age of 22, he and his crew were the first Americans to discover the Antarctic Peninsula. Several places are named in his honor, including Palmer Land and the Palmer Archipelago.

Charles Wilkes led the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-42. The purpose was to explore “the Southern Ocean and determine the existence of any islands and shoals.” He sailed into the Antarctic Ocean in December 1839, and reported the discovery “of an Antarctic continent.”