US Forever Stamps - A Second Look
A few months ago we posted our thoughts on the US "Forever Stamp" - how we thought it would affect collectors of United States stamps.
Well, here is another thought, after giving it a few months:
Based on the percentages of different types of stamps that we see on both household and commercial mail, the Forever stamp appears to be extremely popular with people and businesses that are sending 1 ounce letter-rate first class mail. There are 4 varieties of the Forever Stamp (for now), which means stamp collectors can look for those varieties.
But the downside for stamp collectors is a big one: in addition to businesses, which never used many commemorative stamps for their mailings, now many "regular people" are foregoing the use of commemorative stamps - and even definitive stamps other than the Forever stamp - when posting their mail. Receiving a letter that's been posted with a commemorative stamp is becoming a somewhat scarce event. This apparent reliance of most mailers on just a few different stamps makes it very difficult for collectors to assemble collections of postally used recent stamps.
The percentage of commemorative stamps used on US mailings is probably now down to somewhere between 5 and 10% when commercial mailings and household mailings are both taken into account. The percentage is somewhat higher than that for household mailings, but the overall percentage is dragged down significantly when commercial mailings (probably not even 5% use commemoratives) are factored into the average.
'Tis a sad time for US commemorative stamp collectors who focus on postally used stamps. And we have yet to see whether the Forever stamps will blossom into enough different face-similar varieties to challenge collectors the way that the Flag Over Porch series has.
Showing posts with label forever stamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forever stamp. Show all posts
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
The United States Postal Service announced today that the first class domestic 1 ounce letter rate will go from 41 cents to 42 cents in May of this year. We haven't yet heard whether there will be any other rate increases, such as increased charges for domestic parcel post or priority mail, or for international mail.
A couple of things (in addition to costing more to mail an item) make this rate increase important to stamp collectors.
First, the new rate will necessitate the printing of new 42 cent stamps - and possibly other stamps too, if other rates are also increased. That means that there will be a whole raft of new, collectible stamps to be added to existing stamp collections. Additional one cent stamps will also need to be printed in order to meet the demand - people will want them in order to use their "leftover" 41 cent stamps after the rate hike goes into effect.
Second, just how "forever" will the Forever Stamps be good for, and how long will they continue to be printed, now that the USPS has announced a rate increase so quickly on the heels of the last one? Maybe there will not be as many printing varieties of the Forever Stamps as we originally thought - because it's possible that once the existing stock is gone, no more will be made and sold to the public.
Alternatively, new printings - and hence additional varieties - ARE possible, although after the beginning of May, they'll cost 42 cents instead of 41 cents. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
A couple of things (in addition to costing more to mail an item) make this rate increase important to stamp collectors.
First, the new rate will necessitate the printing of new 42 cent stamps - and possibly other stamps too, if other rates are also increased. That means that there will be a whole raft of new, collectible stamps to be added to existing stamp collections. Additional one cent stamps will also need to be printed in order to meet the demand - people will want them in order to use their "leftover" 41 cent stamps after the rate hike goes into effect.
Second, just how "forever" will the Forever Stamps be good for, and how long will they continue to be printed, now that the USPS has announced a rate increase so quickly on the heels of the last one? Maybe there will not be as many printing varieties of the Forever Stamps as we originally thought - because it's possible that once the existing stock is gone, no more will be made and sold to the public.
Alternatively, new printings - and hence additional varieties - ARE possible, although after the beginning of May, they'll cost 42 cents instead of 41 cents. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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?
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?
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