PONCE DE LEON COMMEMORATIVE STAMP - 29c

• Issue Date: October 12, 1982
• First Day City: San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Designer: Richard Schiecht. Arlington, Virginia
• Modeler: Esther Porter
• Press: Gravure
• Colors: Yellow, cyan, magenta, black tone and black line
• Copyright U.S. Postal Service 1982
• Image Area: .84 x 1.44 inches or 21.33 x 36.57 millimeters
• Plate Numbers: One group
• Stamps Per Pane: 50
• Selvage: U.S. Postal Service 1982 ® Use Correct ZIP Code ® Mr. ZIP (standing position)

A 20-cent commemorative stamp honoring Juan Ponce de Leon was issued October 12 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The first day of issue ceremony was held at the San Juan Convention Center on the opening day of ESPAMER '82, the major international philatelic exhibition being held there from October 12 through October 17.

ESPAMER, the title of which combines Espana (Spain) and America, is the largest philatelic event of the Spanish-speaking world. The show is held in a different country each year. The 1982 host is the Philatelic Society of Puerto Rico, which also sponsors the annual PURIPEX stamp exhibitions.

Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer and the discoverer of Florida, accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, when Puerto Rico was discovered. Upon learning that the island was rich in gold, Ponce de Leon requested and received permission to explore and colonize Puerto Rico. He landed in Puerto Rico in 1508 and was named governor in 1509. Royal orders to search for new lands and a belief in the legend of a Fountain of Youth on Bimini Island in the Bahamas led him to the discovery of Florida during the Easter season in 1513.

Since there are no portraits of Ponce de Leon, the artist, Richard Schlecht, portrayed him as an older man as he may have appeared shortly before his death from a wound received in attempting to establish a settlement in Florida. He is featured wearing a Spanish cuirass and feathered hat against a map outlining Puerto Rico and Florida.