Stamp Desk / Pounds and dollars
United States, 1898 (50 cents, prospector)
A prospector leading pack animals.
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 FIFTY CENTS
- Inscription
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · WESTERN MINING PROSPECTOR · POSTAGE FIFTY CENTS
- 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 fifty-cent value shows a prospector and his pack animals heading for the goldfields.
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: 50c Western mining prospector 1898 U.S. stamp.tiff on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1286813831), licence templates {{PD-USGov}}. Downloaded 2026-10-21, sha256 ae10183623bb…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-22 against source 1 and source 2. Open review note: Commons holds a 565×375 px TIFF; its lossless 500 px rendering is used, without upscaling.. 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.