- published: 30 May 2013
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The Columbian Issue, often simply called the Columbians, is a set of 16 postage stamps issued by the United States to mark the 1893 World Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. The finely-engraved stamps were the first commemorative stamps issued by the United States, depicting various events during the career of Christopher Columbus and are today highly prized by collectors.
Fifteen of the stamps went on sale Monday, January 2, 1893. They were available nationwide, and were not restricted to the Exposition in any way. This was a larger number of stamps than the United States Post Office had ever offered in a definitive 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¢. As a result, the face value of the complete set was $16.34, a substantial sum of money in 1893. In approximate 2009 dollars, the set would cost almost $390. As a result, only a small number of the most expensive stamps, especially the dollar values, were sold. Unsold stamps were destroyed after the Columbian Issue was removed from sale on April 12, 1894. Over 2 billion stamps, whose total face value exceeded $40 million, were printed by the American Bank Note Company.