Columbian Exposition and the Nation's First Commemoratives

Topical Reference Page
refer to caption

Isabella Pledging Her Jewels, $1 stamp

The National Postal Museum celebrates the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the story of Christopher Columbus’s journeys to the New World as told through the nation’s first commemorative stamps, the 1893 Columbians.

1992 Columbian Exposition stamp sheet with portrat of Christopher Columbus
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage - Christopher Columbus
Exhibition
Learn more
$5 Christopher Columbus stamp
About U.S. Stamps - Columbian Exposition Issues (1893)
Exhibition
The World's Columbian Exposition 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.
Learn more
refer to caption
Philately and U.S. World's Fairs
The U.S. post office issued its first commemorative postage stamps for the 1893 Columbian Exposition, initiating a significant change in the postage stamp program.

Learn more About Philately and U.S. World's Fairs

$5 Columbian Exposition Panama-Pacific small die proof
The Nation’s First Commemorative Stamps
Exhibition

The 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s initial landing in the “New World” provided Chicagoans with an occasion to reflect, to celebrate, and to memorialize the adventurous Italian navigator. Though financial and construction problems postponed the celebration for one year, in 1893 city leaders hosted a magnificent international exhibition to commemorate both Columbus and the nation’s progress over those four centuries—the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. In keeping with the exposition’s celebratory theme, the U.S. Post Office Department issued the nation’s first commemorative stamps, the “Columbians”.

Learn more

Learn