Stamp Desk / Name in plain sight
United States, 1893
Columbus landing in the Americas, under a heavy postmark.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA along the top.
- 1UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- Inscription
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · 1492 1892 · LANDING OF COLUMBUS
- Meaning
- The full country name runs along the top.
- Issued by
- United States
- Today
- the United States Flag of United States
- Year
- 1893. On sale from 2 January 1893.
- Made by
- American Bank Note Company (printing)
One fact
The Columbian Issue was the first set of US commemorative stamps. The 2-cent “Landing of Columbus” was printed more than a billion times.
Source and public-domain rule
United States, published before 1931. Published in the US in 1893. Works published in the United States in 1930 or earlier are out of copyright there (the longest term, 95 years from publication, ended on 1 January 2026 for 1930 works), and stamps made by the federal government itself are not protected at all. Under the EU comparison of terms a work from outside the EU is protected no longer than in its country of origin. Legal sources: Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105.
Scan: Stamp US 1893 2c Columbian.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1057804613), licence templates {{PD-USGov}}. Downloaded 2026-10-19, sha256 330de41900e0…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-19 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a human rights review is pending. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
