I wonder how long they will be available, and how many different varieties of the "forever stamp" will be printed.

If there are several varieties throughout a number of years it may be a good thing for stamp collecting.

The US Forever Stamp - Good or Bad for Stamp Collecting?

Factors that make it good for collectors:

It may be in use for quite a while, increasing the chances of multiple printings throughout the years, even by different printing companies. If this comes true there will likely be several different varieties to collect, and possibly several different plate number coils as well.

Factors that make it bad for collectors:

Because they supposedly be able to be postally used no matter what the future first class mail rate increases turn out to be, non-collector users wishing to save some money on postage (and probably some stamp collectors too) will tend to buy them in quantity while they're available and use them on all of their mail. This will seriously decrease the number of different stamps that will be postally used in the future, a bad thing for collectors of used US postage stamps.


Does anyone else have any thoughts on this new (for the US) type of stamp?

Collecting Plate Number Coils

The daily mail can be very discouraging to a stamp collector - especially a beginner: for a stamp collector, the use of printed meters or postage-paid permits is almost certainly even worse than the use of the same definitive stamps over and over again. While it is true that there is no area of the hobby that does not have its adherents, and they are often quite passionate, if you're a stamp collector you want to collect STAMPS, not meters.

Stamp collectors, strictly defined, collect stamps, and the last stamps you found on your mail were probably on Christmas cards that you received. If they weren't Christmas stamps, they were probably definitive stamps, and often coil stamps.

What's a stamp collector to do, now that postally used commemorative stamps are getting so hard to find?

There is a lot of excitement now about plate number coils. Coil stamps have small numbers spaced along the bottom of the strip of stamps to show what plate was used in the printing - this number is referred to as the "plate number," and stamps bearing plate numbers are known as "plate number coils."

Depending upon what type of printing press was used, the plate numbers may appear on every 24th, 48th or 52d stamp. Look sharp and use a magnifier if necessary; the plate numbers are very small and sometimes are very lightly printed. The custom is to collect either single PNCs (the common abbreviation for plate number coils) or strips of three or five stamps, with the numbered stamp in the middle. Searching for all the plate numbers that were used for specific coil stamps, and indeed all coil stamps that have them, can be a lengthy but very rewarding pursuit - just the thing for a stamp collector who may think he or she has reached a "dead end."

dmhcollectibles offers PNCs in more than one way: unchecked, bulk coil mixes which almost certainly contain postally used plate number coils at wholesale prices, and individually identified - by Scott Number - PNCs. We also sell plate number coil stamp albums, specially designed for just those stamps.

The disturbing trend toward use of definitive stamps instead of commemorative stamps is continuing. Take a look at the mail you receive. How many "regular," definitive stamps were used as postage, and how many of the large commemorative stamps were used?

Is this because it's easier to keep a small booklet of self-adhesive definitives in your wallet or purse, ready to be put on a piece of mail when a stamp is needed? Possibly...

Is it because the sheets of large commemorative stamps are a bit less convenient because of their larger size, even though many commemoratives are now self-adhesive? Possibly ...

Is it because many post offices, like the one we use, "push" use of definitive stamps rather than commemoratives? Our post office only carries one or two different types of commemoratives at any one time and, if you go to the window to buy stamps, they will sell you definitives unless you make a specific point to ask for one of the one or two types of commemoratives they do carry. It almost makes you wonder why the USPS bothers to print commemorative stamps anymore.

We think the USPS needs to "smarten up" a bit and encourage the use of commemorative stamps a bit more than they currently do. People receiving mail using such stamps will be happy to see something different even if they're not stamp collectors. And stamp collecting will be helped a great deal. Stamp collectors would once again be able to easily obtain our beautiful used US commemorative stamps.