This First Day Cover features the 13¢ Colorado stamp issued May 21, 1977, and postmarked in Denver, Colorado on the official first day of issue. The stamp depicts the Rocky Mountain columbine, Colorado’s state flower, against a dramatic mountain landscape with the inscription “THE CENTENNIAL STATE.”
Colorado entered the Union on August 1, 1876, exactly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence, earning its nickname as the Centennial State. The 1977 stamp commemorates that milestone and highlights the state’s natural beauty during America’s bicentennial era, when many states received similar commemorative issues.
The cover carries a clean, official-style “FIRST DAY OF ISSUE” handstamp directly beneath the stamp, typical of U.S. Postal Service philatelic cancels of the period. No additional cachet artwork appears, giving the cover a crisp, documentary appearance prized by collectors who prefer the postmark itself as the focal point.
Addressed to a collector in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the cover traveled from the Centennial State to one of the nation’s original thirteen colonies—an interesting cross-country postal journey between two historically significant American cities.
A crisp, well-centered example ideal for a statehood, flower, or modern U.S. FDC collection.
