Commemorative Postage Stamps of the United States First Issued in 1898
The Trans-Mississippi Issue - June 17, 1898 - Sometimes called the "Omaha" Issue
Double-line watermarked USPS · Perf 12 · 100 Subject Plates
One Cent Marquette on the Mississippi
70,993,400 issuedTwo Cent Farming in the West
159,720,800 issuedFour Cent Indian Hunting Buffalo
4,924,500 issued
Five Cent Freemont on Rocky Mountains
7,694,180 issuedEight Cent Troops Guarding Train
2,927,200 issuedTen Cent Hardships of Emigration
4,629,760 issued
Fifty Cent Western Mining Prospector
530,444 issuedOne Dollar Western Cattle in Storm
56,900 issuedTwo Dollar Mississippi River Bridge
56,200 issued
The Trans-Mississippi Issue of 1898As with the Columbian Exposition Commemoratives of 1893 and the commemorative stamps that followed in the next few decades, the Trans-Mississippi commemoratives were issued to promote an exhibition, the "Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition" held in Omaha, Nebraska from July through November 1898. To promote the exhibition, this set of stamps was issued a couple of weeks before the event began. Sometimes this issue is referred to as the "Omaha Issue" or simply the "Omahas".
The original designs called for bi-colored stamps, but the Spanish-American War had kept the Bureau of Engraving and Printing so busy producing the needed Revenue stamps, that it was decided to print the stamps in one color only. In 1998, the Bureau reissued these stamps in their original bi-colored designs.
Coming on the heels of the Columbian Commemoratives with the large number of high value stamps, in what was then considered a very brief interval between issues, there was some reluctance among collectors regarding the purchase of the high-value stamps for their collections. This fact is well manifested in the high prices the dollar stamps command today.
