Columbian Exposition Issues (1893)

On February 24, 1890, Congress selected Chicago to host the fair. The following day, the New York Times reported, "If the New-Yorkers who have been striving in a dignified businesslike way to secure the World's Fair could have been in Chicago to-night their natural regret. . .would have disappeared. They would have realized then how much more Chicago desired the fair, and perhaps obtained some idea of how much the town needed it. Interest in the result, such as is rarely seen in Presidential elections, was apparent all day."

Within months of the announcement, the title 'World's Fair' was changed to the 'World's Columbian Exposition', embracing the decade-old idea to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage to the Americas. On December 24, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison announced, "In the name of the Government and of the people of the United States, I do hereby invite all the nations of the earth to take part in the commemoration of an event that is pre-eminent in human history, and of lasting interest to mankind."

The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as 'The White City,' opened on Chicago's lakefront on May 1, 1893. Over the next seven months, twenty-seven million visitors attended the fair. The Columbian Exposition commemoratives keep the fair alive for a small population of stamp collectors. The issue price for the set in 1893 was $16.34; in today's dollars the total face tops $300.00. The stamps are some of the most colorful and intriguing of the entire Classic Period of United States philately.

American Bank Note Company printed approximately 2,005,216,300 Columbian Exposition stamps, totaling over $40,000,000 in postage face value.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Alfred Jones was over seventy years old in 1892, when he began the engraving of the Columbian Exposition Issue. Born in England, he entered the United States while young and apprenticed for Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson until 1841, when he created his own firm. In 1859, after consolidation with another small business, Jones’s firm joined the American Bank Note Company (ABNCo).

As engraver at the ABNCo, he began work on the 1-cent Columbian Issue, using the painting by William Powell as his reference. He would engrave four other stamps in the series. This stamp was primarily used alone to pay the one-cent-per-half-ounce third-class printed matter rate. A total of 440,195,550 stamps were printed by the American Bank Note Company for this 1-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Both the 2-cent Columbian Issue stamp and the 15-cent 1869 Pictorial Issue stamp were inspired by the same painting, "Landing of Columbus," by John Vanderlyn. Though Douglas Ronaldson engraved the frames for both stamps, there are differences. An interesting example is the ‘broken hat’ variety. In the regular stamp, the man immediately to Columbus’s left in the image has a solid form hat; in the variety, a small ‘v’ appears cut from the hat’s top. Given the style of the day, the variety might have been intentional. Philatelist Lester G. Brookman remarked, "Much amusement has been given collectors by the fact that this stamp shows Columbus with a beard whereas the one cent stamp, which purports to show Columbus one day earlier, shows him to be clean shaven!" [Brookman, Lester G. The 19th Century Postage Stamps of the United States, Vol. II. New York: H. L. Lindquist, 1947, p. 152.] The stamp is the most common of the entire issue. There are two major reasons for this. The first is that the stamp paid the first-class rate for domestic mail. The second is that a total of over two billion stamps were issued among all the denominations of the Columbian Issue, and seventy-two percent of these were 2-cent stamps.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

In celebration of Columbus’s discoveries, it was only fitting that a stamp in the Columbian Exposition Issue be devoted solely to his flagship, the Santa Maria. It is widely believed that the source for the American Bank Note’s image for the 3-cent stamp was a Spanish engraving. The stamp does not fulfill any predetermined rate; it was meant to be used with other stamps to fulfill any number of other domestic and foreign-destination rates. A total of 11,501,250 3-cent stamps were printed.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The origin of this stamp's design is obscure. Many publications attribute the design to a Spanish engraving, but in his Chronicle article on this stamp, George B. Arfken referenced an article in "Essay Proof Journal" that noted the appearance of a similar design in an American book published in mid-1892. This would have been six months before the Columbian Exposition Issue was released. There were striking similarities between the two images. In the end, the authors of both articles could not say conclusively that American Bank Note Company engravers had used the book’s design for the stamp image.

The Columbian Exposition Issue's one major error appears on the 4-cent Fleet of Columbus. It is a color error: the ultramarine-colored ink of the normal printing was mistakenly replaced by a blue-colored ink, similar but not identical to the color of the 1-cent Columbian. Two sheets of the error were supposedly purchased by the public before being discovered.

The 4-cent Columbian Exposition stamp most often paid the double-weight, first-class mail rate. But two 4-cent stamps would conveniently pay the registered mail fee or, in combination with other denominations, any number of other domestic and foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total of 19,181,550 stamps of this 4-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

In 1476 Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) and his brother Bartolomeo traveled to Lisbon, Portugal, determined to enhance their seafaring, navigation, and mapmaking skills. Within a few years, the visionary Columbus believed it possible to sail west from Europe to Asia, a distance he calculated as 2,400 nautical miles. Such a route, he argued, would eliminate the need of sailing south around the tip of Africa, a long and dangerous trip. To prove his calculation correct, he needed financial backing. In his search for a sponsor, Columbus appealed to King John II of Portugal, who refused. He then appealed to the Spanish court of Queen Isabella. While waiting for a summons from the Spanish court, he lobbied unsuccessfully for support from England's Henry VII. Isabella initially rejected his proposal, but upon urging from a trusted advisor, she reconsidered. This second review led to the Spanish monarchy's granting financial and material support to Christopher Columbus for his expedition across the Atlantic.

The image of Columbus soliciting Isabella’s aid presumably derived from a January 2, 1492, description. In 1884 Vaclav Brozik completed a painting titled ‘Columbus at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella’ which, less than a decade later, inspired Alfred S. Major's image for the 5-cent Columbian Exposition Issue. The primary purpose of the 5-cent stamp was to pay the Universal Postal Union half-ounce international rate. American Bank Note Company printed a total 35,248,250 stamps of this issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

As Supervising Engineer of the Capitol Extensions, Captain Montgomery C. Meigs approached American-born artist Randolph Rogers to design the House Wing doors of the United States Capitol building. Rogers chose to portray the chronology of Columbus’ voyage to the Americas and completed the models for the door panels at his studio in Rome in 1857. He then shipped them to Munich for casting. Production delays and transportation problems (due to the Civil War) delayed their installation until 1863. Since then the doors have been moved twice, once in 1871 and again in 1961, when they were hung at the east entrance to the Capitol.

Rogers had created eight panels that were ultimately arranged in a confusing order on the doors. One large panel depicting the “Landing of Columbus in the New World” stretched above the doors. The seventh panel in this ordering inspired the 6-cent Columbian Exposition stamp. The image depicts the return of Columbus from his first voyage. He traverses the streets of Barcelona on horseback, heading toward the gates of the city. King Ferdinand stands to the left of the design, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, to the right. The 6-cent stamp is the only Columbian Exposition Issue stamp that reflects Rogers’ creation and the feel of three-dimensional relief in the figures.

Randolph Rogers died in 1892 on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage. The stamp was not issued with a specific single use in mind, though it conveniently paid the three-times-single-weight rate. In combination with the 4-cent Columbian Exposition stamp, it paid the first-class letter rate and registered fee or the double-weight Universal Postal Union rate. American Bank Note Company printed a total of 4,707,550 stamps of this 6-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The lower value denominations of the Columbian Exposition Issue of 1893 were released right after the New Year. The 8-cent ‘Columbus Restored to Favor’ stamp was issued in March 1893. Like the 8-cent Grant of the 1890 Issue, this 8-cent stamp was specifically created to pay the new, lower registered mail fee that was enacted on January 1, 1893. The 8-cent Columbian Exposition stamp was released before the 8-cent 1890 Issue by a few weeks.

Based on the painting by Francisco Jover y Casanova, the stamp depicts Columbus being restored to favor by the king and queen of Spain. Queen Isabella is taking the hand of the kneeling Columbus. Unlike many other denominations of this issue, the 8-cent stamp (as described above) served a direct purpose: In combination with the very common 2-cent stamp, it paid the first-class rate and the registered mail fee. The American Bank Note Company printed 10,656,550 of this 8-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Through his contacts at the Vatican, Italian painter Luigi Gregori learned of a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame, and in 1874 he arrived in South Bend, Indiana, to chair the Art Department. Five years later (1879), a fire destroyed the main administration building. The 1865 structure was subsequently rebuilt, and between 1882 and 1884 Gregori was tapped to paint a series of twelve paintings to adorn the second-floor entrance hall. The theme would be identical to the Randolph Rogers engravings for the U.S. Capitol installed twenty years earlier—the life and voyages of Christopher Columbus. The Post Office Department modeled the engraving for 10-cent Columbian Exposition stamp on one of Gregori's paintings.

As with the 10-cent 1890 Issue, the 10-cent Columbian was created specifically to pay the registered mail fee that had been in place since July 1, 1875. When the fee returned to the pre-July 1, 1875, amount of eight cents on January 1, 1893, the Post Office Department issued a new stamp for that amount to simplify public usage. The 10-cent Columbian Exposition stamp now had a new function: it paid the combined first-class rate and registered mail fee which totaled ten cents. The American Bank Note Company printed a total 16,516,950 stamps of this 10-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

After thirty-three days at sea, Christopher Columbus spotted land in what is now known as the Bahamas. The date—October 12, 1492. On his return to Spain, Columbus presented his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The 15-cent Columbian Exposition Issue highlighted the royal court appearance in which Columbus stands in front of kneeling natives—trophies from his first voyage. A painting by the Spaniard Ricardo Baloca y Cancico may have inspired the final stamp design. Unfortunately, it is lost and presumed to be a casualty of the Spanish Civil War.

The 15-cent Columbian Exposition stamp could have paid the Universal Postal Union rate and the registered fee. At the time of its issuance, however, the registered rate was reduced to eight cents. The stamp could still pay the triple-weight U.P.U. rate or, in combination with other denominations, more expensive domestic weight or international rates. American Bank Note Company printed 1,576,950 stamps of this issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The 30-cent Columbian Exposition Issue depicts Columbus at the Franciscan monastery at La Rabida, where monks restored his confidence in his proposed expedition. His confidence shaken by several failures to win sponsorship, in 1490 Columbus intended to the Royal Court of France for funding. The monks of La Rabida and local monastery patrons, however, convinced him to appeal to the Spanish Court a second time. Meanwhile, King Ferdinand's advisor(s) had fortuitously convinced Queen Isabella to reconsider his appeal.

Felipe Maso's painting 'Columbus before the Franciscans at La Rabida' inspired the design for the 30-cent Columbus stamp, which was typically used in combination with other denominations to pay expensive foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total of 617,250 of these 30-cent stamps.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The 50-cent Columbian Exposition issue was the first U.S. stamp of that denomination. During the Bureau Period, the 50-cent denomination became a staple of most large stamp series.

The 30- and 50-cent stamps of the Columbian Exposition Issue present a sequence of events that is slightly skewed. The mule or ass on which Columbus sits in the 50-cent stamp was not provided by the Franciscan monks or their patrons at La Rabida. Before arriving at La Rabida, Columbus had purchased the animal with money that Isabella, Queen of Spain, had dispensed to reimburse him for the expense of his first unsuccessful audience with the Spanish Court.

This 50-cent stamp, in combination with other denominations, paid expensive heavyweight foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total 243,750 stamps of this 50-cent issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Though the subject of the Columbian Exposition Issue's 1-dollar stamp suggests that Queen Isabella sold her jewels to fund Columbus's expedition, in reality the Spanish nobility also provided the adventure considerable support. For decades the finances of northern Spain had been vested in the struggle to re-conquer the Moor-controlled south, a battle won in 1492. The triumph assured, Isabella's willingness to sell her own jewels to underwrite the expedition prompted many noblemen to follow suit.

The collecting community considers the 'dollar-value Columbians' the jewels of the Columbian Exposition Issue. Their denominations constitute $15 of the set's total $16.34 face value. As the 'jewels', they are less attainable than the 1- to 50-cent denominations that typically fill a collector's album.

Until 1893 the highest denomination of any single U.S. stamp was ninety cents. Every company from Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. to American Bank Note had printed at least one stamp of this denomination, all with defined uses. But when the 'dollar-value Columbians' were conceived, none was intended to pre-pay a specified rate on its own. The stamps' functions seem to have been to publicize the Columbian set and to generate revenue for the Post Office Department. In other words, the issues were intended as collectibles, not postage 'work horses'. Printing costs were essentially the same for any denomination of the Columbian Issue, so the dollar-value stamps offered a high margin of profit.

As expected, stamp collectors and dealers, who saw the opportunity to create collectible covers, used the issues to drastically overpay the usually low domestic rates. The stamp could also have paid expensive heavyweight foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total 55,050 stamps of the 1-dollar issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

Of the sixteen stamps in the Columbian Exposition Issue, nine portray historical scenes in Spain and three portray scenes on the Atlantic Ocean. The issue's 2-cent and 2-dollar stamps depict events in the New World.

The 2-dollar stamp depicts Columbus as a prisoner in San Domingo on the island of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Adm. Don Francisco de Bobadilla had charged him with administrative misconduct. De Bobadilla returned Columbus to Spain to stand trial, where he was acquitted.

The stamp could have paid expensive heavyweight foreign destination rates. Stamp collectors and dealers who saw the opportunity to create speculative, collectible covers also used it to drastically overpay the usually low domestic rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total 45,550 stamps of the 2-dollar issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The scene depicted on the 3-dollar stamp occurred after Columbus was acquitted of administrative misconduct.

Three principle vignette engravers worked on the Columbian Exposition stamps—Alfred Jones, age 74 at the time of the Columbian set issuance; Charles Skinner, age 48, and Robert Savage, in his early twenties. Alfred Jones and Charles Skinner worked independently on some vignettes and collaborated on several others. Robert Savage is credited with engraving the vignettes for the 3-, 6-, and 10-cent, 1-dollar, and 3-dollar Columbians. That someone so young engraved five of the sixteen dies without collaboration suggests his virtuosity.

The Columbian Exposition stamps engraved by Savage had a total face value of $4.19 when first issued in 1893. Though the entire Columbian set often sold below face value after the Exposition closed, by 1943 (the year Robert Savage died) Scott Catalogue listed Savage's five stamps in mint condition at $75.00, almost eighteen times their face value.

Stamp collectors and dealers who saw the opportunity to create collectible covers used the 3-dollar Columbus to drastically overpay the usually low-value domestic rates. In a few cases, it paid expensive foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total 27,650 stamps of the 3-dollar issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The 4-dollar Columbian Exposition Issue was the first U.S. stamp to bear the portrait of a woman, Queen Isabella of Spain. Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, thus uniting their two kingdoms. They spent most of the years of their union fighting to expel the Moors from the southern reaches of the Iberian Peninsula, a feat accomplished in 1492. In the same year she agreed to finance Christopher Columbus's expedition of discovery. That same year she moved to purge the nation of Sephardic Jews in what became known as the 'Spanish Inquisition'.

After the 4-dollar stamp's 1893 debut, women of social and political significance slowly gained recognition on stamps. Martha Washington, wife of the country's first president, was honored on a 1902 postage stamp. Then in 1907, the Indian princess Pocahontas was featured on a 5-cent stamp to memorialize her contribution to peace in the early Virginia colony. In 1936 a stamp honored Susan B. Anthony for her work in the woman suffrage movement.

Stamp collectors and dealers who saw the opportunity to create collectible covers used the 4-dollar stamp to drastically overpay the usually low-value domestic rates. But in a few cases, it paid expensive heavyweight foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total 26,350 stamps of this issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum

The United States issued its first commemorative stamps—the Columbian Exposition Issue—in 1893. The issue's most famous stamp is the 5-dollar denomination, which features a bust of Christopher Columbus. Prized more than any other, the stamp has an almost mystical aura in the United States philatelic community. In cooperation with the U.S. Post Office Department, the United States Mint also issued a commemorative Columbus half-dollar coin.

Alfred Jones engraved the Columbus portrait for both the stamp and coin; Charles Skinner engraved the two figures on both sides of the stamp vignette. Columbus faces a different direction in each-to the right on the stamp, to the left on the coin. The back of the half-dollar coin displays a ship and the words "World's Columbian Exposition Chicago 1892."

Collectors and dealers who saw the opportunity to create collectible covers used the 5-dollar stamp to drastically overpay the usually low-value domestic rates. But in a few cases, it paid expensive heavyweight foreign destination rates. American Bank Note Company printed a total 27,350 stamps of the 5-dollar issue.

Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum