Correos Espana Quincentenary of Christopher Columbus' 1492 Arrival in America

CORREOS ESPANA on 1992 celebrated the Quincentenary of Christopher Columbus' 1492 arrival in America. Columbia, Spain, Portugal, Italy and U.S. issued a joint set of six First Day Cover souvenir sheets, which were based on the first U.S. stamps in commemorative format, engraved a century ago. The same designs and colours of the original 1893 stamps were maintained. The only design change was the date in the upper right corner of each stamp, which was altered from "1892" to "1992." The sheets consisted of stamps from the original series next to background images based on old engravings and illustrations. Venue for release of this set of souvenir sheets was World Columbian Stamp Expo '92, a large stamp exhibition in Chicago, venue of the 1893 extravaganza. The original Columbian Exposition series consisted of 16 stamps.