Columbus and Cabot in Same Boat
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Linn's
Weekly Stamp News,
in a recent note, called attention to the similarity of the ship shown
on the 3¢ Columbian stamp of the 1893 issue, and the stamp shown on
the 10¢ stamp of the Newfoundland Cabot issue of 1897. This
is an interesting discovery, surprising that it has not been noted
before.
A comparison of the two stamps will show that the ships are one and the
same, bank note engraver's license. The U. S. Columbian stamp
identifies
the ship as the "Flagship of Columbus," the Santa Maria,
while on
the Newfoundland stamp, the engraving is reduced in size and the ship
reappears
as "Cabot's Ship, the Matthew, Leaving the Avon." The U. S.
Columbian
issue, and the Cabot set of Newfoundland were both produced by the
American
Bank Note Co. No doubt when the Newfoundland printing order
was received
no picture of the Matthew could be located, so with
a change of
flags, the Santa Maria was pressed into service,
and re-christened
the Matthew. Since Columbus, whose first
voyage took place
in 1492, and Cabot's in 1497, were contemporaries, their vessels most
likely
resembled each other.
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George B. Sloane
Sloane's Column Stamps May 1, 1937 Posted September 24, 1999 Index of 508 Notes from the Past Note: If the link isn't returned the first try, try again. Comments? Send me an e-mail |