The Department issued this 3 cent stamp through the Sacramento, CA. post office on September 9, 1950, to mark the one-hundredth anniversary of the admission of California to statehood. The central design of the stamp portrays a miner panning gold, to the right of which is a pioneer man and woman standing before a covered wagon drawn by oxen. Located centrally in the upper portion of the stamp are the words "California Centennial of Statehood 1850 1950," arranged in four lines. In a vertical panel to the left are citrus fruits above a reproduction of the steamship Oregon which brought the news of statehood to the western territory. Oil derricks show faintly in the distance in the extreme upper right corner. A shaded rectangle in the lower left corner encloses the denomination numeral "3c" in white Gothic with "United States Postage" in a narrow shaded panel across the bottom of the stamp in the same style lettering.
The stamp was printed by the rotary process, electric-eye perforated, and issued in panes of 50 each. The printing of 115 million copies of this stamp was authorized.
Reference: Postal Bulletin (August 15, 1950)
Jeffrie H Lovell
