Scotts #296 US stamps

#296 - 1901 4¢ Pan American

4¢
Brown and black, deep brown and black, bright brown and black

Printing Method: FLAT PLATE
Subject: The Krieger Electric Vehicle
Number issued: 5,737,100
Perforations: P12
Watermark: Double Line USPS
Scott #: 296
Issued: May 1st, 1901

Value of #296

Used
$1 - $3
No postmark with gum (MH)
$12.50 - $22.50
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$35 - $65

#296a

296a - Inverted vignette

Value of #296a

Used
No sales recorded
No postmark with gum (MH)
$8,000 - $14,000
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
No sales recorded

A proof used to produce a counterfeit of #296a

Bisects

An unofficial bisect of #296 on cover

#296 Plate #'s

#296 was issued with the following plate #'s

Frame plates:
1145
Vignette plates:
1142

Half sheet of #296

Two panes of #296. Each pane had 100 stamps, there were two panes to a sheet of 200

The Inspiration for the Design

For the vignette was based on this engraving in this B & O advert.

A century ahead of its time, the 1903 Kreiger electric vehicle was the featured vehicle in the advert seen above. Kreiger was of French manufacture (Société des Voitures Électriques Système Kriéger) and at the time of the advert only 65 vehicles had been produced. It had a claimed range of 65 miles and could travel up to 21 mph. A year later the company produced the first hybrid vehicle. Alas, the idea of EV's did not catch on and the company wound up in 1909.

A Krieger EV at an electric charging station
(Pre Tesla Days)

Off Center Vignettes

This issue was the first bi-color stamps since 1869. The process has not been perfected and the second color, the black of the vignette was sometimes mis-aligned. These stamps command a slight premium, the degree of which depends on how off centre the vignette is.

Offset to the left

Offset to the right

Offset to the top

Counterfeits

The vignette of a standard #296 has been inverted to give it the appearance of #296a. In order to complete the deception the forger has added to the vignette design where it overlaps the frame.

Essays and Proofs

Enlarge

296-E1

Enlarge

296-E2

Enlarge

Counterfeit

Enlarge

296-P2

The Pan American Exposition

The Pan American Exposition was originally planned for 1898 but due to the outbreak of the Spanish American War it was delayed. The Exposition was going to be located at Niagara falls, however due to the mist from the falls, access only being by boat and the size of the site being too small for the envisioned crowds, it was decided to move the Exposition to nearby Buffalo, NY, Buffalo was much better suited to the event. It was held from May 1 through November 2, 1901.

Construction was started in 1899 over a 350 acre site. The videos below don't show the fact that it was a very colorful exposition, the idea being it was to be a 'Rainbow City' in the Spanish Renaissance style. The whole expo was lit up at night, which was quite a feat as the electric light had only recently been invented. This was recorded by Thomas Edison, the video can be seen below.

The Exposition is probably best known for being the scene of President McKinley's assassination. The site of the Expo was on farmers land who has promised that the land would be returned to him in the state they found it, after the Expo had finished. For this reason all the buildings were demolished and the canals filled in. The Exposition should have been a great success, but bad weather and the assassination put a damper on things and it ended up in debt.

Thomas Edison's 1901 film of the Exposition

Thomas Edison's tour of the canal at the Exposition

President McKinley gives speech at the Pan American Exposition. The next day he was assassinated.

The only building to still remain today from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition is the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, it was originally called the New York State Pavilion