- By Mike Sherman
That significant events in our nation's history would be celebrated on both postage stamps and commemorative coinage should not be surprising. What might raise an eyebrow though, is the number of times this has occurred.
The first commemorative issue, for both stamps and coins was the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. This event was marked by a major exposition and World's Fair in Chicago. Both a commemorative quarter (featuring Queen Isabella) and half dollar (with the portrait of Columbus) were issued during 1892-93. The post office issued a major 16-stamp series, with values ranging from 1¢ to the almost unheard of denomination of $5.00. In today's dollars, that stamp would have a face value of roughly $120!
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 provided another opportunity for both the Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to release commemorative issues. The gold dollar pieces featured Thomas Jefferson (President in 1804), and the recently martyred President William McKinley, while the five-stamp series included portraits of Livingston and Monroe in addition to Jefferson and McKinley.
The Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915, held in San Francisco, marked both the completion of the Panama Canal, and the 400th anniversary of Balboa's "discovery" of the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. mint pulled all the stops out, and struck a five-coin set, that featured a silver half dollar, a gold dollar, a gold quarter eagle, and two $50 gold pieces. The Post Office marked the event with a four-stamp set, featuring views of the Canal, the Golden Gate, the Discovery of San Francisco Bay and Balboa.
During the 1920s, the tercentenary of the Pilgrim and the Huguenot landings and the sesquicentennials of both the battle of Lexington-Concord and the signing of the Declaration of Independence provided highly significant events that were marked by joint coin and stamp issues. Note the extremely similar themes of both the coin and stamp designs.
The mid-1930s saw a number of additional releases, most of which were centered around anniversaries marked by individual states.
While the examples shown are the key "parallel" issues, there are many other events that have been captured on both stamps and coins, though not always at the same time. For example, in 1920, Maine celebrated its centennial with a commemorative coin, while the corresponding stamp issue waited for the sesquicentennial in 1970. Next time, we'll deal with some of these issues that are related, though not necessarily released simultaneously.
Following that, we will deal with the modern (post 1982) commemoratives. Over three dozen events are marked on both our modern coin and stamp issues.
A collection of these "Joint Celebrations" would be very interesting and attractive, not to mention a great link between the two most popular hobbies in our country.
Article provided by PSE at www.PSEStamp.com