US Forever Stamps are Now Forevermore
Recently, the United States Postal Service (the “USPS”) announced an important new policy regarding the First Class postage stamps used to mail one ounce letters. From now on, all new one-ounce First Class stamps will be “Forever Stamps.”
In other words, no matter how much you pay for them today, these stamps will always be worth whatever the one-ounce letter rate is in the future. Currently, the one-ounce rate is 44 cents, but even if it rises to $2 in the future, today’s Forever Stamps will be worth enough to pay it. This is why the USPS will not mark the Forever Stamps with any particular denomination (face value).
These new stamps will probably be a welcome sight to non-stamp collectors. Now, as long as you have some of the Forever Stamps, whenever the postal rates go up (as they inevitably do), you won’t need to buy new, more costly one-ounce stamps or small-value stamps to make up the difference between the old and the new.
Of course, these new Forever Stamps won’t be the first ones used by the USPS for First Class mail. However, up to now, there’s only been one. That first Forever Stamp first came out in April 2007 and shows the Liberty Bell. Originally selling for 41 cents, it now sells for 44 cents. It, too, will be good to use on one-ounce First Class mail “forever.” Like the Forever Stamps that will be coming out this year, the original Forever Stamp is marked “Forever” instead of with any face value.
The original Liberty Bell Forever stamp is a definitive (regular) stamp. As part of this significant expansion of its Forever Stamp program, the new Forever Stamps will also include commemorative stamps – the stamps that are issued to commemorate or celebrate a particular person, historical event, or place. For example, Forever commemorative stamps honoring the Lunar New Year (this year is the Year of the Rabbit) will be available for sale on January 22, 2011. Additional Forever commemorative stamps announced for 2011 include a stamp honoring the American author Mark Twain and a set of five stamps featuring characters from Disney animated films, among others.
It’s likely that some non-stamp collectors will buy stocks of these Forever Stamps as a hedge against future postal rate increases. The effect of this new stamp policy on stamp collectors and stamp collecting as a hobby is currently unknown, however. It’s possible that the new stamps won’t discourage stamp collectors at all. Stamp collectors are much more concerned about condition and scarcity than a particular stamp’s face value.
Clearly, this new policy of the USPS will make life easier for users of the mail. Its effect on stamp collecting remains to be seen.
