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54-610: The Columbian stamps were supplied by the American Banknote Company , which had a four-year contract for the production of United States postage stamps beginning December 1, 1889. However, where previous contracts had required printing companies to provide designs and plates at their own expense for any new stamps required by the Post Office, the 1889 contract specified that the Post Office would pay those costs. Indeed, Postmaster John Wanamaker (of department store fame) executed

108-524: A billion copies were printed, more than 70 percent of the total number of Columbian Issue stamps, in part because it paid the first-class rate for domestic mail. Damage to one transfer roll resulted in a chevron-shaped notch in the hat of the third man on Columbus' right on some copies of this stamp. This variety, known as the "broken hat", is no longer considered significant enough for the Scott catalogue to provide it with its own minor number listing, although

162-679: A copy for one of the stairwells in the north side of the Capitol building. The painting that emerged was created in a temporary studio in Washington, D.C. and larger than the original in Ohio. It was finished in 1873. William Henry Powell died six years later. During his lifetime, Powell was elected into the National Academy of Design . This article about a painter from the United States born in

216-437: A glut of stamps on the secondary market . However, as of 2006, depending on condition, a full set might be valued at $ 100,000 or more. It was not only in design and commemorative purpose that this issue proved a watershed in U. S. stamp history. The Columbians, like all previous U. S. stamps, had been produced by private security printers on limited-term contracts periodically presented for bidding. They proved, however, to be

270-519: A higher price—and Wilson Bissel, who became Postmaster General after Grover Cleveland reassumed the Presidency during March 1893, attempted to renegotiate the stamp contract on terms more favorable to the Post Office. Fifteen denominations of the series were placed on sale by post offices on Monday, January 2, 1893. They were available nationwide, and were not restricted to the Exposition in any way. This

324-406: A new business abroad. The company eventually supplied security paper and bank notes to 115 foreign countries. National Bank Note Company (1861-73) merged into ABN in 1873. In 1877 Congress mandated that the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing be the sole producer of all United States currency. The security printing industry, finding a good deal of its work had evaporated, accordingly underwent

378-553: A new contract with American Banknote specifically for the Columbian stamps without any competitive bidding process, which allowed the company to charge 17¢ per thousand stamps, in contrast to the 7.45¢ per thousand it had been collecting for stamps of the 1890 definitive series. This arrangement prompted considerable public criticism—not allayed by American Banknote's argument that the Columbians’ size (double that of normal stamps) warranted

432-544: A painting by Emanuel Leutze , is one of only two stamps in the series to depict Columbus on land in the New World (along with the 2-cent). Here, he is shown facing charges of administrative misconduct after his arrest in Santo Domingo by Francisco de Bobadilla . "Columbus Describing Third Voyage" was one of five designs engraved by Robert Savage. All of these were his sole work, engraved without collaboration with either of

486-411: A second major consolidation in 1879 and ABN absorbed Continental Bank Note companies in that year. At the time of the merger, Continental held the contract to produce U. S. Postage stamps, and this production continued under ABN. In 1887, ABN won the second four-year contract to engrave and print postal notes for the U.S. Post Office. (New York's Homer Lee Bank Note Company produced these notes during

540-626: A total face value exceeding $ 40 million. Opinion regarding the Columbian Issue at the time was mixed. The set sold well and did not have the sort of criticism that resulted in the withdrawal of the 1869 Pictorial Issue . However, approval was not universal. An organization known as the Society for the Suppression of Speculative Stamps (sometimes called the Society for the Suppression of Spurious Stamps)

594-579: A value above 90 cents. This stamp, like all stamps equal to or greater than a dollar in value in the set, paid no specific rate at all. Although all five are known to have been used for heavy international shipments, there is speculation that they were intended primarily as Exposition advertising and as revenue for the Post Office Department. Most uses of the dollar-value Columbians were on philatelic covers . "Columbus in Chains", its image derived from

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648-406: Is accompanied by text that cites the 500th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage and the upcoming 100th anniversary of the first commemorative United States Stamps. In all four countries, these sheets were offered for sale only between May 22 and September 27, 1992. American Banknote Company American Banknote Corporation (formerly American Bank Note Company ), trading as ABCorp ,

702-560: Is also listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places . The buildings were sold in 1988 and 1985, respectively. William Henry Powell William Henry Powell (February 14, 1823 – October 6, 1879), was an American artist who was born and died in New York City. Powell is known for a painting of the Battle of Lake Erie , of which one copy hangs in the Ohio state capitol building and

756-447: Is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newly formed First Bank of the United States to design and produce more counterfeit resistant currency. The company has facilities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1795, Robert Scot ,

810-407: Is awarded minor number status. While this stamp is normally described as yellow green, the variant is considered to be olive green. "Isabella and Columbus" was the first United States stamp to bear the portrait of a woman. Queen Isabella 's place on U.S. postage in that regard would not be equalled until Martha Washington was depicted on a 1902 definitive . The portrait of Columbus on the right

864-427: Is clean-shaven, and the 2-cent value, where he sports a full beard, despite the depicted events occurring only a day apart. John Vanderlyn 's painting The Landing of Columbus , originally commissioned by Congress, and already used on $ 5 banknotes and the 15-cent stamp from the 1869 Pictorial Issue, was again pressed into service. By a substantial margin, this is the most common stamp of the Columbian Issue. More than

918-475: The Columbian Exposition half dollar . The two framing figures were engraved by Charles Skinner . Some 27,350 were printed, of which 21,844 sold. A series of four envelopes , or preprinted postal stationery , was issued along with the stamp set. This series included 1-cent, 2-cent, 5-cent, and 10-cent values depicting the heads of Columbus and Liberty . A postal card was also issued to commemorate

972-619: The Panic of 1857 , seven prominent security printers merged to form the American Bank Note Company. The new company made New York City its headquarters. Less than two years later, the remaining handful of independent bank note printers merged to form the National Bank Note Company. To be close to the stock exchanges, brokerage firms, and banks in lower Manhattan, the American Bank Note Company established its headquarters in

1026-504: The United States Capitol building. The 6-cent value in the Columbian Issue, "Columbus Welcomed at Barcelona", was taken from one of those door panels, the seventh of Rogers's chronology. The framing figure on the left is King Ferdinand of Spain. The one on the right is Vasco Núñez de Balboa , a Spanish explorer inspired by Columbus's return. Robert Savage was the engraver for the printed design. Slight variations are known in

1080-496: The University of Notre Dame after it was rebuilt after an 1879 fire, and was one of five designs engraved by Robert Savage. This denomination was originally intended to pay the fee for registered mail. However, the change in registered mail fees that necessitated the introduction of the 8-cent Columbian also changed the most common purpose of this value; it instead paid the full postage for registered first-class mail, rather than just

1134-410: The 1-cent Columbian, also printed in blue, might be too similar for post office employees to distinguish quickly, resulting in confusion or underpayment for services. It is not clear if this problem ever actually occurred; no covers are known using a 1-cent Columbian to pay for the special delivery charge. However, the Post Office Department issued a new special delivery stamp, colored orange, to remedy

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1188-405: The 1893 U.S. Columbian stamps were replicated. The sets of all four countries had been designed jointly and proved largely identical, differing only in details relating to language and national postal usage. The American issues reproduced the original stamps almost exactly but altered the date in the upper-right corner from 1892 to 1992. Three stamp-images appeared on each of the sheets except for

1242-617: The Bureau subsequently resumed its exclusive role in production, only gradually relinquishing it over the next sixty years (U. S. stamp operations at the Bureau ceased entirely during 2005). Scholars believe that the Bureau's first task during 1894 was to finish some Columbian sheets printed by American Banknote; what makes this theory plausible is that, while many Columbian stamps are perfectly perforated, others are distinctly substandard in this regard, with partially punched chads and/or holes that are missing, ragged or misplaced—flaws that would also mar

1296-486: The Exposition. There were 10 different designs related to the Exposition. The cards were sold individually or as a set in a paper wrapper. One, depicting the Women's Building, is known in two slightly different versions. The preprinted stamp was not specifically designed for the Exposition, and was the same on all versions. The stamps used to pay the 10-cent special delivery fee were printed in blue. There were concerns that

1350-792: The Merchants Exchange Building at 55 Wall Street in Manhattan. The company moved its office and plant to 142 Broadway (at the corner of Liberty Street) in 1867, to another new facility at 78–86 Trinity Place in 1882, and again to 70 Broad Street in 1908. The first federally issued paper currency was circulated by the US Treasury Department following the outbreak of the American Civil War . Congress passed authorizing legislation for $ 60 million worth of these " Demand Notes " on July 17 and August 5, 1861. Under contract with

1404-845: The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania, Austria, Denmark, and Korea, ABCorp is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts , with North American manufacturing facilities located in Boston, Massachusetts and Toronto, Ontario, and distribution services located in Columbia, Tennessee. The company maintains international facilities in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. The American Bank Note Company Building and American Bank Note Company Printing Plant were both built in 1908 and are both designated New York City Landmarks . The former

1458-498: The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. , where U.S. stamps were still printed up into the 1990s. In 1933, the company printed the second series of Bank Melli Iran banknotes. In 1943, the U.S. Post Office launched a series of thirteen stamps honoring the countries that had been overrun by the Axis during World War II. Each stamp featured a full-color reproduction of

1512-474: The additional fee. "Columbus Announcing His Discovery" depicts his return to court from his first voyage. The original painting by Ricardo Baloca y Cancico is lost and is believed to have been destroyed during the Spanish Civil War . Originally intended to pay postage for international registered letters, the change in the registered mail fee left this stamp with fewer direct uses. Although it would pay

1566-511: The catalogue still tracks separate, slightly greater, prices for the variant, which is popular with collectors. Entitled "Flag Ship of Columbus", this value depicts the ship Santa Maria . It is generally believed that a Spanish engraving was the model for this stamp, but the source remains unknown. Regardless of its original source, Robert Savage performed the engraving used. Although more than 11 million were printed, this stamp also did not pay any standard postal rate during 1893. Instead it

1620-506: The cost for a triple-rate international letter, it was most commonly used in combination with other stamps to meet more expensive heavyweight charges. The title of painter Felipe Maso 's work, Columbus before the Franciscans at La Rabida was shortened to "Columbus at La Rabida" when it was adapted for use in the Columbian Issue. This value was most commonly used to pay for mail to expensive foreign destinations. A painting by A. G. Heaton

1674-457: The design for this stamp, entitled "Columbus Soliciting Aid of Isabella", basing it off an 1884 painting by Václav Brožík called Columbus at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella . This value was primarily used to pay the half-ounce Universal Postal Union international rate. During 1857, Randolph Rogers was commissioned to produce a number of door panels depicting Columbus's voyages, to be hung at

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1728-627: The discovery of the Mississippi River by Hernando de Soto as the subject of the painting and completed it in 1853. Its positive reception nationwide lead to the Ohio legislature requesting that Powell paint Oliver Hazard Perry 's victory in the War of 1812 . The result was the even more popular painting, Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie. The painting was so well received, that in 1865 the United States Congress requested that Powell paint them

1782-564: The first contract period.) ABN assigned Thomas F. Morris, its Chief Designer, the task of re-designing this early money order. The paper for this contract (as for all Postal Notes and a massive number of official U.S. high security documents) was produced by Crane and Co. of Dalton, Massachusetts. In 1891, ABN began producing a new form of negotiable instrument for a longtime customer: the American Express "Traveler's Cheque" demand notes. In its first year, American Express sold $ 9,120 worth

1836-422: The first official engraver of the U.S. Mint , founded Murray, Draper, Fairman & Company ( spelled Fairham in some sources), which was named for Scot's three partners. Its products included stock and bond certificates, paper currency for the nation's thousands of state-chartered banks, postage stamps (from 1879 to 1894), and a wide variety of other engraved and printed items. On April 29, 1858, following

1890-458: The flag of each of the occupied nations. While the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had previously issued bi-colored stamps, it did not have equipment for printing the necessary multi-colored flag images; and so, contracted with ABN to produce the stamps. Issued between June 1943 and November 1944, the Overrun Countries series reproduced the flags of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Luxembourg,

1944-639: The government, the novel paper money, called " greenbacks " by the public, was produced by the American Bank Note Co. and the National Bank Note Co. A total of 7.25 million notes were produced in denominations of $ 5, $ 10, and $ 20. American and National were also producing paper money for the Confederacy at the same time. Following the initial production of U.S. currency by the government's Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1862, ABN sought

1998-411: The imperforate images). On each of the first five sheets, the overall title "The Voyages of Columbus" is followed by an individual subtitle that ostensibly characterizes the sheet's background art and the trio of the stamp-subjects included on it: (It can not be said every stamp-image is consonant with its sheet's subtitle). The final sheet is titled simply "Christopher Columbus" and its single stamp

2052-408: The issue have stated that it is not possible to conclusively determine the origins of the design with the information known. The stamp itself paid the first-class rate for double-weight mail. The most significant collectible variety of the set also occurs on this value. The normal color of this stamp is a shade known as ultramarine. A very small number of 4-cent stamps were printed erroneously using

2106-482: The last U. S. stamps printed by a private company for many years. For during early 1894, the American Bank Note Company failed to secure a renewal of its stamp contract because the U. S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing submitted a lower bid; and the Bureau then enjoyed a monopoly on U. S. stamp production for decades thereafter. Not until 1944 would a private company again produce U. S. stamps (the Overrun Countries series , which required special multicolor printing) and

2160-407: The other two engravers working on the Columbian Issue. Engraving was based on a painting by Francisco Jover Casanova, the same artist whose work was adapted for the 8-cent stamp's design. The three highest value Columbians were printed in much smaller quantities than less expensive members of the set, 27,650 in the case of the 3-dollar value. As with the 6-cent Columbian, a color variety exists that

2214-663: The other, in the United States Capitol . Powell has a second piece of artwork displayed in the United States Capitol Rotunda , the Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto A.D. 1541 . William Henry Powell studied under artist Henry Inman in New York City prior to receiving a commission from the United States Congress in 1847 to paint the last large historical painting in the Capitol rotunda. Powell selected

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2268-413: The potential problem. Although not officially part of the Columbian Issue, this stamp is sometimes referred to as the "Orange Columbian" by collectors due to its origin. During 1992, in an international postal endeavor of unprecedented scope, the United States, Italy, Spain and Portugal (the four nations most closely associated with Columbus) each issued a set of six souvenir sheets on which all sixteen of

2322-518: The product. In 1894, ABN completed the final contract for the private printing of U.S. Postage stamps. Perhaps the most popular were the Columbian Issue , one cent to $ 5 issues commemorating the voyages of Christopher Columbus and the 1892–93 Columbian Exposition in Chicago (for which they also printed the admission tickets). On July 1, 1894, American delivered its entire stamp-producing operation to

2376-400: The purple color of this stamp. The most dramatic, a color called red violet, is considered significant enough to be given a minor number listing by Scott. However, this variation is not considered to be an error like the 4-cent blue and so does not command substantial premiums. When originally issued, there were only 15 stamps in the Columbian Issue. However, when the fee for registered mail

2430-472: The sixth, which was devoted entirely to the original $ 5 Columbian. The American and Italian sets each offered sixteen perforated stamps, denominated in sixteen values. The Spanish and Portuguese sets, by contrast, included many imperforate images, for only one stamp on each sheet was perforated, and in each of these two sets, all the perforated stamps bore the same denomination: respectively, 60 Spanish pesetas and 260 Portuguese escudos (no denominations appeared on

2484-524: The stamps of the first Bureau definitive issue, released later during 1894. Entitled "Columbus in Sight of Land", this lowest value in the set was based on a painting by William Henry Powell and was one of several to be engraved by Alfred Jones . This stamp was used primarily to pay postage on third-class mail. Because the images in the series were not based on the works of a single artist, Columbus's appearance changes dramatically between this stamp, where he

2538-409: The wrong color ink, a significantly darker shade that more closely resembles the blue of the 1-cent stamp. At least two error sheets, totaling 200 stamps, are thought to have been produced, although significantly fewer copies are known to have survived. The "4-cent blue" is thus considered a great rarity, selling for thousands of dollars; $ 15,750 in 2003 but only $ 9,000 in 2010. Alfred Major created

2592-471: Was $ 16.34, a substantial sum of money during 1893. In approximate 2009 dollars, the set would cost almost $ 390. As a result, of the most expensive stamps, especially the dollar values, only a small number were sold. Unsold stamps were destroyed after the Columbian Issue was removed from sale on April 12, 1894. In all, the American Banknote Company printed more than 2 billion Columbian stamps with

2646-474: Was a larger number of stamps than the United States Post Office had ever offered in a definite series, thanks to the unprecedented inclusion of stamps denominated $ 1, $ 2, $ 3, $ 4 and $ 5: no U. S. postage stamp previously issued had cost more than 90¢. A sixteenth stamp—8 cents, to provide for the newly lowered registered letter fee—was added during March. As a result, the face value of the complete set

2700-469: Was adapted from one by Lorenzo Lotto . Only 26,350 were printed, the least of any of the Columbians. As with the 6-cent Columbian, a color variant exists that is awarded minor number status. While this stamp is normally described as crimson lake, the variety is considered to be rose carmine. Alfred Jones engraved the "Columbus" portrait, which faced the opposite direction from his similar engraving work on

2754-468: Was considered a "make-up" stamp, meant to be used in combination with other small denomination stamps to pay higher rates. There is some dispute regarding the origin of the design of "Fleet of Columbus". Like the previous value, it is widely attributed to an unknown Spanish engraving. However, a similar image also appeared in an American book some six months before the Exposition. There are significant differences, however, and philatelic authors researching

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2808-671: Was created in protest of the creation of this set, deeming the Exposition in Chicago insufficiently important to be honored by postage, while some collectors balked at the Post Office Department 's willingness to profit from the growing hobby of philately . Ridiculing the $ 5 stamp, the Chicago Tribune stated that it could be used for only one purpose: mailing a 62½-pound package of books at the book rate. The Columbians did not immediately increase in value after being removed from sale, due partly to substantial speculation resulting in

2862-568: Was lowered on January 1, 1893, it necessitated the introduction of 8-cent stamps. A design was prepared based on a painting by Francisco Jover y Casanova , and this stamp, titled "Columbus Restored to Favor", was added to the Columbian Issue in March. The design for this stamp, "Columbus Presenting Natives", was modeled after one of the Columbus murals created by Luigi Gregori for the Main Building at

2916-513: Was the basis for "Recall of Columbus", the first 50-cent stamp issued by the United States. Like all high-value Columbians, it was primarily used in combination to meet the needs of heavyweight or international shipments. This design was based on a painting by Antonio Muñoz Degrain , and, like many others in the Columbian Issue, engraving for this design was done by Robert Savage. Prior to the printing of "Isabella Pledging Her Jewels", no United States postage stamp, as aforesaid, had been issued with

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