USA - Columbian Issue - The $1 stamp

This design was based on a painting by Antonio Muñoz Degrain,and, like many others in the Columbian Issue, engraving for this design was done by Robert Savage. Prior to the printing of "Isabella Pledging Her Jewels", no United States postage stamp had been issued with a value above 90 cents. This stamp, like all five dollar-value stamps in the set, paid no specific rate at all. Although all five are known to have been used for heavy international shipments, there is speculation that they were primarily intended as Exposition advertising and as revenue for the Post Office Department. Most uses of the dollar-value Columbians were on philatelic covers.