Popular Columbians were the first U.S. commemorative stamps

Back in 1893, a set of U.S. postage stamps honoring Christopher Columbus' trip to the Americas 400 years earlier became the country's first commemorative issue. Fifteen of the set's 16 stamps went on sale at post offices nationwide on Jan. 2, 1893, as the country prepared to celebrate Columbus' 1492 voyage to the New World. The 16th stamp — 8 cents to pay for the reduced registered letter fee — was issued in March. The stamps were valued from 1 cent to $5 with a total face value a whopping $16.34 — no small amount in 1893. It's the equivalent of $468.62 in 2020. Imagine paying that much money for a set of stamps today, when it usually costs about $100 to obtain one copy of every stamp issued in recent years. Despite the high cost, the stamps proved popular among collectors and attendees of the World Columbian Exposition, which ran from May 1 to Oct. 30, 1893. "Two billion commemorative Columbian stamps were sold for 40 million dollars and were credited as a factor in the Exposition's success," the book "History of the United States Postal Service" reported. Known as the Columbians, the beautifully engraved set of stamps continues to be eagerly sought by collectors today. Each stamp depicts artistic interpretations of some aspect of Columbus' voyage: "The Landing of Columbus," "Columbus Welcomed at Barcelona," and (Queen) "Isabella Pledging her Jewels," as well as portraits of Isabella and the explorer. The stamps were printed by the American Banknote Company, which had secured a four-year contract to produce U.S. stamps beginning Dec. 1, 1889. The horizontal shape of the stamps, approximately 1.42 inches wide by .84 inches tall, were larger than any other previous postage stamp. The size of commemorative stamps today continues to be based on that early measurement. The Columbians were the last stamps to be printed by a private company for 50 years as the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed virtually all stamps from 1894 until the late 20th century. Today all stamps are printed by private firms. Catalogue values for the $1, $2, $3, $4 and $5 stamps run quite high and are beyond the wallets of most collectors. Quantities of the dollar values are small, ranging from 55,050 for the $1 stamp to 26,350 for the $4 stamp. The lower face value stamps are more readily available. The 2-cent stamp, showing the Landing of Columbus paid the first-class letter rate at the time, is the most plentiful with more than 1 billion printed. Postal history collectors search for usages of Columbians on mail from the 1890s. As expected, lower values are common while the higher values are difficult to find. Four postal stationery items also are considered to be part of the Columbians. The set includes circular embossed 1-cent, 2-cent, 5-cent, and 10-cent values depicting the heads of Columbus and Liberty. Finally, a set of 10 postal cards was issued to commemorate the exposition. The specially printed picture cards show 10 exposition sites. However, the indicia, depicting Ulysses S. Grant, was not related to the show. They were sold individually and as a set in a paper wrapper. Ninety-nine years after the exposition, the U.S. Postal Service reintroduced the Columbians by reprinting them in a set of six souvenir sheets, using the dies of the original stamps. The beautifully designed set marked the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage. They were released as part of the World Columbian Stamp Expo '92 in Chicago. Italy, Spain and Portugal joined the U.S. in a joint issue of similarly designed souvenir sheets. Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.