About This Stamp
The Department issued this 3-cent stamp through the Sacramento, Calif., post office on September 9, 1950, to mark the 100th anniversary of the admission of California to statehood. The central design of the stamp portrays a miner panning gold, to the right of which is a pioneer man and woman standing before a covered wagon drawn by oxen. Located centrally in the upper portion of the stamp are the words "California Centennial of Statehood 1850 1950," arranged in four lines. In a vertical panel to the left are citrus fruits above a reproduction of the steamship Oregon which brought the news of statehood to the western territory. Oil derricks show faintly in the distance in the extreme upper right corner. A shaded rectangle in the lower left corner encloses the denomination numeral "3c" in white Gothic with "United States Postage" in a narrow shaded panel across the bottom of the stamp in the same style lettering.
The stamp was printed by the rotary process, electric-eye perforated, and issued in panes of 50 each. The printing of 115 million copies of this stamp was authorized.