Beautiful Postage Stamps From The Usps

[richofthetower]

Hello all,

 

I often print postage labels for small packages from the US Postal Service website and as I was perusing the area where you can purchase stamps, I came upon this very nice-looking souvenir sheet called "Classics Forever". It's a sheet of six stamps commemorating US postage and "in appreciation of stamp collectors and philatelists everywhere". They feature Washington, Franklin and Lincoln in various styles as based on postage from the mid-19th century.

 

 

They are very handsome stamps. The mediocre cellphone pics just don't do them justice.

 

What really strikes me is that they are printed with the intaglio method as with the originals (and as with paper currency). It's a method not often used with your regular run-of-the-press stamps: a metal plate is engraved with an image. It is inked up and then wiped clean. This leaves ink only inside the grooves of the line. Paper is then pressed hard against the plate and the ink from the grooves is transferred to it.

 

The method produces a fine line and a slightly textured surface as with freshly printed money. The overall effect is elegant. Artistic. They make your letters look particularly classy and old-timey. (Especially when used on C6 envelopes like those made by Clairefontaine.)

 

You can just about see the raised surfaces on the stamps as the light reflects off of it in the following detail. Interestingly, in the last picture, you can see further evidence of the intaglio method as one peels off the stamps to see the underlying backing. It seems that the whole sheet - stamps, backing and all - were printed in this manner as reflected light reveals the embossed effect.

 

 

 

Despite their premium look and feel, and worthiness of discerning collectors (IMHO), these six stamps are priced at the going rate (US$ 0.49 each as I write this). They are "forever" stamps and can be used as 1st-class postage despite any future fluctuations in rates. One does have to order it from the website and pay for delivery, however. It doesn't seem to be available at Post Offices, very unfortunately.

 

Was this topic the first ever stamp review on the FPN?

 

Regards,
Rich

 

I have no affiliation with the USPS. I have purchased these stamps as would have anyone else. (In fact, I bought two sheets: one to use and one to just keep wrapped up and perhaps frame one day!) Neither was I compensated in any way.

Edited February 15, 2017 by richofthetower

[T4TEXAS]

Thanks!

[Barkingpig]

Thank you for this nice review.

 

I just ordered some, thanks to your introduction. I have been framing a sheet of favored stamps for many years; it is getting harder to keep track of the newly introduced stamps. My Post Office claims they aren't sent the posters for display any longer for posting to announce new arrivals. I suspect they just aren't putting them up so they won't have to stop, open a drawer & sell the different stamps! No matter, thanks to you, I will have some professional looking stamps for posting that would benefit from same.

 

And I am merely a newcomer here, but I have seen postage discussed but never a formal review of a stamp previously. It was appreciated & I would welcome more when you feel they are deserving.

[EdeIstein88]

wow thanks for your review, maybe i will have new hobbies after see this topic

[Chrissy]

Very nice. Thank you

[richofthetower]

Thanks!

 

Hey T4TEXAS, anytime, my friend.

[richofthetower]

Thank you for this nice review.

 

I just ordered some, thanks to your introduction. I have been framing a sheet of favored stamps for many years; it is getting harder to keep track of the newly introduced stamps. My Post Office claims they aren't sent the posters for display any longer for posting to announce new arrivals. I suspect they just aren't putting them up so they won't have to stop, open a drawer & sell the different stamps! No matter, thanks to you, I will have some professional looking stamps for posting that would benefit from same.

 

And I am merely a newcomer here, but I have seen postage discussed but never a formal review of a stamp previously. It was appreciated & I would welcome more when you feel they are deserving.

 

Hi Barkingpig,

 

I'm glad that you like my review and If I do come across any other interesting ones, I'll certainly write again. I'm not a stamp collector nor an expert but, quite frankly, these are outstanding so I had to bring it to FPN's attention.

 

It's a shame that the USPS doesn't market these more as they may pique the interest of newbies as they did to me!

 

Rich

[richofthetower]

wow thanks for your review, maybe i will have new hobbies after see this topic

 

Hi Pelikan,

 

Haha, I know how you feel! I have to proactively restrain myself from going into yet another hobby! My resources for hobbies are limited and can only go towards pens for now

 

Rich

[richofthetower]

Very nice. Thank you

 

Hi Chrissy,

 

Any time, my friend!

 

Rich

[ScottEnglish]

A quick introduction, I am the Executive Director of the American Philatelic Society in Bellefonte, PA. We have nearly 31,000 members all over the world dedicated to stamp collecting.

 

Thank you for posting about these amazing stamps! The Classics Forever stamps were issued during the World Stamp Show - NY 2016 last May at the Javits Center in New York City. These stamps welcomed by collectors because they are removable after soaking unlike most self-adhesive stamps sold today.

 

I did notice in the thread an interest in new issues of stamps. The APS provides to the public a calendar of new issues coming up and the locations, once they are announced. You can visit our website at: http://stamps.org/US-New-Issues to see the list.

 

We also provide stamp news from all over the world, along with other philatelic news at: http://blog.stamps.org/

 

We welcome collectors of all kinds and would be glad to get you introduced to the hobby. Our website does provide some excellent information for collectors of all skills and ages. Happy collecting!

 

Scott English, Executive Director

American Philatelic Society

[inkstainedruth]

Those are really cool. Thanks for posting.

For me, though, I tend to buy rolls of stamps, rather than sheets, for the convenience (I have a cheap plastic dispenser which lives in a basket full of other stationery supplies like index cards, notecards, paper clips, small notebooks, etc). If they sold these in that format, I'd buy them in a heartbeat....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[richofthetower]

A quick introduction, I am the Executive Director of the American Philatelic Society in Bellefonte, PA. We have nearly 31,000 members all over the world dedicated to stamp collecting.

 

Thank you for posting about these amazing stamps! The Classics Forever stamps were issued during the World Stamp Show - NY 2016 last May at the Javits Center in New York City. These stamps welcomed by collectors because they are removable after soaking unlike most self-adhesive stamps sold today.

 

I did notice in the thread an interest in new issues of stamps. The APS provides to the public a calendar of new issues coming up and the locations, once they are announced. You can visit our website at: http://stamps.org/US-New-Issues to see the list.

 

We also provide stamp news from all over the world, along with other philatelic news at: http://blog.stamps.org/

 

We welcome collectors of all kinds and would be glad to get you introduced to the hobby. Our website does provide some excellent information for collectors of all skills and ages. Happy collecting!

 

Scott English, Executive Director

American Philatelic Society

 

Hi Scott,

Thank you for all the great information!

Rich

[richofthetower]

Those are really cool. Thanks for posting.

For me, though, I tend to buy rolls of stamps, rather than sheets, for the convenience (I have a cheap plastic dispenser which lives in a basket full of other stationery supplies like index cards, notecards, paper clips, small notebooks, etc). If they sold these in that format, I'd buy them in a heartbeat....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Hey Ruth,

That did cross my mind as well. If they did put them on rolls, the USPS may attract more people to use it as well. From the links that Scott gave above, it seems that intaglio-printed stamps are used only for collector sheets. Maybe the method of printing is not conducive to doing so on long strips of paper Perhaps if they printed them on rolls using conventional methods...

 

If I ever find out that they are doing so, I'll let you know first!

 

Rich

[Ghost Plane]

A quick introduction, I am the Executive Director of the American Philatelic Society in Bellefonte, PA. We have nearly 31,000 members all over the world dedicated to stamp collecting.

 

Thank you for posting about these amazing stamps! The Classics Forever stamps were issued during the World Stamp Show - NY 2016 last May at the Javits Center in New York City. These stamps welcomed by collectors because they are removable after soaking unlike most self-adhesive stamps sold today.

 

I did notice in the thread an interest in new issues of stamps. The APS provides to the public a calendar of new issues coming up and the locations, once they are announced. You can visit our website at: http://stamps.org/US-New-Issues to see the list.

 

We also provide stamp news from all over the world, along with other philatelic news at: http://blog.stamps.org/

 

We welcome collectors of all kinds and would be glad to get you introduced to the hobby. Our website does provide some excellent information for collectors of all skills and ages. Happy collecting!

 

Scott English, Executive Director

American Philatelic Society

Welcome to the board! Thanks for the excellent info.

[Barkingpig]

A quick introduction, I am the Executive Director of the American Philatelic Society in Bellefonte, PA. We have nearly 31,000 members all over the world dedicated to stamp collecting.

 

Thank you for posting about these amazing stamps! The Classics Forever stamps were issued during the World Stamp Show - NY 2016 last May at the Javits Center in New York City. These stamps welcomed by collectors because they are removable after soaking unlike most self-adhesive stamps sold today.

 

I did notice in the thread an interest in new issues of stamps. The APS provides to the public a calendar of new issues coming up and the locations, once they are announced. You can visit our website at: http://stamps.org/US-New-Issues to see the list.

 

We also provide stamp news from all over the world, along with other philatelic news at: http://blog.stamps.org/

 

We welcome collectors of all kinds and would be glad to get you introduced to the hobby. Our website does provide some excellent information for collectors of all skills and ages. Happy collecting!

 

Scott English, Executive Director

American Philatelic Society

I appreciate the link to provide information on forthcoming releases.

 

I recently purchased the "Dorothy Height," stamp, from the Black Heritage Series, released early February 2017. I was surprised there was NO biographical information printed on the reverse side of the stamp, unlike others I have purchased. I enjoy using the "character, or personage" stamps for routine postage, in hopes of introducing others to awareness of the person depicted. This was the first time I had noticed such a departure from the other stamps denoting historical persons. I knew who Ms Height was, but I have NOT known many of the other persons & always found the information interesting. It seemed odd to me way if this was indeed a change in issue, what would be the reason? (The Postal Clerk who sold the stamps to me seemed equally surprised as I was; she first turned the stamp over before passing it to me.)

 

I apologise if this is a question that I should ask the USPS, instead of you.

[richofthetower]

I appreciate the link to provide information on forthcoming releases.

 

I recently purchased the "Dorothy Height," stamp, from the Black Heritage Series, released early February 2017. I was surprised there was NO biographical information printed on the reverse side of the stamp, unlike others I have purchased. I enjoy using the "character, or personage" stamps for routine postage, in hopes of introducing others to awareness of the person depicted. This was the first time I had noticed such a departure from the other stamps denoting historical persons. I knew who Ms Height was, but I have NOT known many of the other persons & always found the information interesting. It seemed odd to me way if this was indeed a change in issue, what would be the reason? (The Postal Clerk who sold the stamps to me seemed equally surprised as I was; she first turned the stamp over before passing it to me.)

 

I apologise if this is a question that I should ask the USPS, instead of you.

 

+1 this notion!

I suppose that the USPS intends to spread awareness of the figures on its stamps - just an image of the person doesn't do much for someone who isn't familiar with her. The historical information is important!

[inkstainedruth]

I appreciate the link to provide information on forthcoming releases.

 

I recently purchased the "Dorothy Height," stamp, from the Black Heritage Series, released early February 2017. I was surprised there was NO biographical information printed on the reverse side of the stamp, unlike others I have purchased. I enjoy using the "character, or personage" stamps for routine postage, in hopes of introducing others to awareness of the person depicted. This was the first time I had noticed such a departure from the other stamps denoting historical persons. I knew who Ms Height was, but I have NOT known many of the other persons & always found the information interesting. It seemed odd to me way if this was indeed a change in issue, what would be the reason? (The Postal Clerk who sold the stamps to me seemed equally surprised as I was; she first turned the stamp over before passing it to me.)

 

I apologise if this is a question that I should ask the USPS, instead of you.

 

When I was growing up, the USPS wanted to move/close the local post office in our town (it eventually did move to the strip mall on the other side of town). But for a long time they sort of had their hands tied, because some really famous stamp collector lived about half a block a way from the original post office -- practically across the street -- and he apparently would have raised a complete stink if it moved to "not within walking distance" of his house... or so the story went.... And even then they only moved the location after the guy died....

As for Dorothy Height, I never heard of her before this thread. Obviously I'm going to be hitting Google as soon as this is posted.... So in one respect the USPS succeeded -- they issued a stamp commemorating someone who should be better known, and I suspect a lot of other people here will be now looking her up as well as well.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Oh, interesting. I just looked her up and apparently she has a Pittsburgh connection (growing up in Rankin, PA, just southeast of the city's Swisshelm Park neighborhood).

[Sasha Royale]

Thank you. I like 'em, too. Gonna get some.

[richofthetower]

Thank you. I like 'em, too. Gonna get some.

 

Great, Sasha! They're totally worth it

Edited February 17, 2017 by richofthetower

[ScottEnglish]

I appreciate the link to provide information on forthcoming releases.

 

I recently purchased the "Dorothy Height," stamp, from the Black Heritage Series, released early February 2017. I was surprised there was NO biographical information printed on the reverse side of the stamp, unlike others I have purchased. I enjoy using the "character, or personage" stamps for routine postage, in hopes of introducing others to awareness of the person depicted. This was the first time I had noticed such a departure from the other stamps denoting historical persons. I knew who Ms Height was, but I have NOT known many of the other persons & always found the information interesting. It seemed odd to me way if this was indeed a change in issue, what would be the reason? (The Postal Clerk who sold the stamps to me seemed equally surprised as I was; she first turned the stamp over before passing it to me.)

 

I apologise if this is a question that I should ask the USPS, instead of you.

 

We've noticed a trend recently that the biographical information on commemorative stamps has not been included and has remained with the news release. It likely has something to do with the permanence of the information on a printed set of stamps and if an error is later discovered - and there have been a couple of cases - then it does not permanently diminish the person honored on the stamp. In the collecting world, we love errors and oddities of all sorts, but it may not be best for their bottom line.

 

 

 

Hey Ruth,

That did cross my mind as well. If they did put them on rolls, the USPS may attract more people to use it as well. From the links that Scott gave above, it seems that intaglio-printed stamps are used only for collector sheets. Maybe the method of printing is not conducive to doing so on long strips of paper Perhaps if they printed them on rolls using conventional methods...

 

If I ever find out that they are doing so, I'll let you know first!

 

Rich

 

USPS does offer coil rolls of some issues. The commemorative stamps are rarely issued as coils, but mostly sheets.

 

This year, USPS has issued a U.S. Flag, Seashells, and the new non-profit stamp in 100 stamp coils. They tend to offer stamps that are more likely to be used, not collected in coil form, so you won't often see a commemorative coil. Interestingly enough, the coils will also be sold in sheets because topical collectors, those who collect general areas, like flags on stamps or birds on stamps, will buy and save the sheets.

 

Thank you all for the warm welcome and letting me share some stamp information with you!