FLOAT
The $5 black Columbian (Scott 245) with the portrait of Columbus - the crown of the World's Columbian Exposition set this constituent prices.

US 1893 Columbian $5 'Columbus'

Maker
United States (USPOD)
Year
1893
Rank
37 of 100

US 1893 Columbian $5 'Columbus'

US 1893 Columbian $5 'Columbus' by United States (USPOD) (1893) is ranked 37 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It carried a price-guide value of $7,500 on 1 January 2026, which is not a sale. The crown of America's first commemorative set — the $5 black Columbian is the most coveted single of the 1893 series.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The crown of America's first commemorative set — the $5 black Columbian is the most coveted single of the 1893 series.

Scott 245, $5 black, portrait of Columbus; the crown of the 16-value Columbian set; MNH

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$7,500
Kind
Price-guide value, not a sale
Date
1 January 2026

Scott catalogue: used ~$1,200-1,400; mint-NH ~$7,000-7,500. Guide-value (no clean dated single realized figure isolated).

This is not a sale. It is what the market was asking, and no transaction is recorded behind it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08