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STATISTICS
Issued: The 50¢ was officially was issued on January, 1st 1893, a Sunday, and at Post Offices the following day.
Plate Size: Sheets of 100 subjects (2 panes of 50).
Printer: The American Bank Note Company.
Watermark: None.
Quantity Issued: 243,750.
Color: Slate blue or dull slate blue.
Common use: The stamp was most commonly used in combination with other values to pay heavyweight foreign rates.
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE DESIGN
The design is a copy of the A.G. Heaton 1882 oil ‘The Recall of Columbus’ This painting is now located in the U.S. Senate, A.G. Heaton also painted “Western Cattle in a Storm” used on the 1898 $1.
VARIETIES
There are no varieties of the 50¢ Columbian issue.
ESSAYS AND PROOFS
Despite the popularity of the Columbian series there are very few essays and proofs on the market.
- Brookman, Lester G., U.S. Postage Stamps of the 19th Century, Lindquist 1966
.comThe Swedish Tiger’s US Stamp Site An Illustrated Guide.
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