FREE: 1893 5¢ Columbus Soliciting Aid - US Scott # 234

The listing, 1893 5¢ Columbus Soliciting Aid - US Scott # 234 has ended.

U.S. #234
1893 5¢ Columbian Commemorative

Issue Date: January 1, 1893
Issue Quantity: 35,248,250
Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Method: Flat plate
Watermark: None
Perforation: 12
Color: Chocolate

This stamp shows Columbus before the queen – seeking support for his grand plans to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. The king and queen did eventually support him. However, they first had Columbus investigated by a special committee, and this investigation delayed his maiden voyage for four years!

Printed by the American Bank Note Company
The 1893 Columbian Series was printed by the American Bank Note Company. The engraving was done by Alfred Jones and Charles Skinner. The stamps were printed in chocolate ink in sheets of 100 subjects on soft porous white wove paper and perforated 12.

About the Columbian Series
The Columbian Series is a milestone in American history. Its impact on stamp collecting was so great that the series’ degree of completion is often the “yardstick by which a U.S. collection is measured” (Max Johl, 1947).

The series was issued in advance of Chicago’s 1893 World Columbian Exposition, an international fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 arrival in the New World. The series was used to advertise the event – the first time postage stamps were used to promote a commercial event.

The 1893 Columbian Exposition stamp series was like nothing before it. The Columbians were the first U.S. commemorative stamps, and they created a worldwide phenomenon. Expertly engraved and generous in size, the Columbians are among the most sought-after of all U.S. stamps.