FREE: 1898 10¢ Hardships of Emigration - US Scott # 290

The listing, 1898 10¢ Hardships of Emigration - US Scott # 290 has ended.

Used, lightly canceled.
Very nice condition!!!

U.S. #290
1898 10¢ Trans-Mississippi Exposition

First Day of Issue: June 17, 1898
Quantity issued: 4,629,760 (unknown quantity later destroyed)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Method: Flat Plate in sheets of 100 subjects
Watermark: Double-line watermark USPS
Perforation: 12
Color: Gray violet

For a series that was supposed to encourage the progress and development of the American West, the design of the 10¢ denomination is a bit puzzling. Entitled “Hardships of Emigration,” the stamp pictures a family traveling across the prairie in a covered wagon. One of the horses has collapsed and the man is trying to revive it. The scene is based on a painting by Augustus Goodyear Heaton. (Heaton’s “The Recall of Columbus” was the basis of the 50¢ Columbian stamp.)

The 10¢ stamp features the same border as the rest of the values. Unlike the 1893 Columbian series, the Trans-Mississippi Exposition commemoratives didn’t include the name or dates of the event. Instead, each stamp features a caption with the name of the photograph or painting upon which its design is based.

Printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
The Trans-Mississippi commemorative stamps were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Original plans called for the series to be printed in bi-color. However, the Spanish-American War strained the resources of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which was overburdened by the demand for revenue stamps to fund the war. The Trans-Mississippi commemoratives were printed in a single color, with the 10¢ denomination printed in gray violet ink.