Fifteen denominations of the series were placed on sale by post offices on Monday, January 2, 1893. They were available nationwide, and were not restricted to the Exposition in any way. This was a larger number of stamps than the United States Post Office had ever offered in a definite series, thanks to the unprecedented inclusion of stamps denominated $1, $2, $3, $4 and $5: no U. S. postage stamp previously issued had cost more than 90¢. A sixteenth stamp—- 8 cents, to provide for the newly lowered registered letter fee—- was added during March. As a result, the face value of the complete set was $16.34, a substantial sum of money during 1893. In approximate 2009 dollars, the set would cost almost $390. As a result, of the most expensive stamps, especially the dollar values, only a small number were sold. Unsold stamps were destroyed after the Columbian Issue was removed from sale on April 12, 1894. In all, the American Banknote Company printed more than 2 billion Columbian stamps with a total face value exceeding $40 million.