Stamp Desk / People and places
United States, 1898 (1 cent, Marquette)
An explorer standing among companions beside a river canoe.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs along the top: the full country name.
- 1UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- 2POSTAGE ONE CENT
- Inscription
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · MARQUETTE ON THE MISSISSIPPI · POSTAGE ONE CENT
- Meaning
- The full country name across the top; the caption names the scene and the bottom line gives the value in words.
- Issued by
- United States
- Today
- the United States Flag of United States
- Year
- 1898. Trans-Mississippi Exposition issue, Omaha, 1898.
- Made by
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing (government printing and engraving agency)
One fact
The Trans-Mississippi set of 1898 told the story of the American West; the one cent shows the missionary Jacques Marquette on the Mississippi.
Source and public-domain rule
United States, published before 1931. Published in the United States in 1898, before 1931. Works published in the United States in 1930 or earlier are out of copyright there (the longest term, 95 years from publication, ended on 1 January 2026 for 1930 works), and stamps made by the federal government itself are not protected at all. Under the EU comparison of terms a work from outside the EU is protected no longer than in its country of origin. Legal sources: Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105.
Scan: US stamp 1898 1c Marquette on the Mississippi.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1287822327), licence templates {{PD-USGov}}. Downloaded 2026-10-21, sha256 d789dd477e3b…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-22 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a second check of these rights by a person is planned, and a stamp that turns out not to be free to use will be removed. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
