A set of six 1893 Columbian Issue first day covers, one of only two complete true first day examples, is to auction at Robert A Siegel in New York on November 6 as a single lot with a $50,000-70,000 valuation.
The examples for sale are the famous "Burger" covers - addressed to CA Burger in New York and cancelled on Sunday, January 1, 1893.
As most post offices close on Sundays - January 2, 1893 is generally accepted as the first day of issue.
 The cover set is one of only two complete first day examples |
A few covers do exist that were mailed on the first however - two of which were prepared by the Burger brothers, a pair of New York City stamp dealers.
The covers feature the denominations 1c-5c and the 10c.
The Columbian issue were the first commemorative stamps ever distributed by the US government, released in 1893 to mark the World's Fair Exposition in Chicago.
They feature a series of depictions of scenes from the life of Christopher Columbus.
A 10c Columbian cover dated December 31, 1892 will also feature at the sale, and is offered as the only recorded example of a pre first day Columbian 10c.
Only five Columbian Issue covers - across three denominations - have emerged from 1892, making this example extremely rare and justifying its $10,000-15,000 estimate.
Two more of those rare pre-first day covers feature in the sale, a 1c and a 2c. They are selling as separate lots with identical estimates of $7,500-10,000.
An 1898 Trans-Mississippi cover will feature in the same sale.
We have a variety of investment grade stamps available to purchase.
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