United States Self-Adhesive Stamps - Pro's and Con's:
Well, they sure are easier to put onto an envelope and they do save us some time tearing them apart from each other from the sheet or coil they came from (not to mention saving us some saliva).
BUT, and it's a big "but" - some of the recent American self-adhesive stamps are almost impossible to soak off their paper. These stamps either just won't come off, no matter what you do, or once off paper, they dry with big "cracks" in their surfaces, or when they come off the paper a layer of the stamp comes off too (leaving either thins or an entirely "thinned" stamp).
These are not good things for stamp collectors that are interested in postally used postage stamps. We wish the USPS would smarten up and use some type of adhesive that allows stamps to more easily be removed from their paper.
Some of the "problem child" stamps that are so very difficult to soak off paper include stamps of the 37 cent Constellations set (Scott No. 3945-3948), the 37 cent Summer Olympic Games stamp (Scott No. 3863), the 41 cent Purple Heart (Scott No. 4164), the 41 cent James Stewart stamp, the beautiful 26 cent Panther coil stamp, stamps from the popular Star Wars set, some of the Forever Stamps (Scott No. 4127) and the nondenominated Flag coil stamps (Scott No. 4133). There are more difficult to soak self-adhesive stamps, these are just some of them.
Showing posts with label new collectible stamps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new collectible stamps. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
More Stamp News Regarding the USPS Rate Increase Coming in May, 2008
The following information is quoted from the official USPS website found at www.usps.com:
"On May 12 we will adjust prices for mailing services — First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services.
A First-Class Mail stamp will be 42¢. Customers can continue to use the Forever Stamps they purchased for 41¢, even after the price change. We will have 5 billion Forever Stamps in stock to meet increased demand before the price change. We also will have a 62¢ stamp available shortly after May 12 for 1-ounce nonmachinable First-Class Mail letters, such as square greeting cards.
Pricing highlights:
No change in the First-Class Mail single-piece additional-ounce price.
Lower additional-ounce price for presorted First-Class Mail letters.
Lower pound price for Standard Mail saturation and high-density flats.
Shape-based pricing for First-Class Mail International letters, flats, and parcels.
First-Class Mail International price groups expand from five to nine groups.
Select prices:
First-Class Mail letter (1 oz.) $0.42
First-Class Mail letter (2 oz.) $0.59
Postcard $0.27
First-Class Mail large envelope (2 oz.) $1.00
Certified Mail $2.70
First-Class Mail International to Canada and Mexico (1 oz.) $0.72
First-Class Mail International to all other countries (1 oz.) $0.94
We will announce new prices for shipping services — Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, and International Mail — in March."
As you can see, the 1 oz first class international rate to Canada & Mexico will jump by 3 cents, and the same rate to anywhere else in the world will jump by a whopping 4 cents.
No one except the USPS knows how high the charges for domestic Express Mail, Priority Mail and other services will be after May 12, but the Post Office will need to issue many new stamps.
The only good thing about this rate increase is the number of new postage stamps that it will require, meaning stamp collectors will have a large number of new stamps to find and put into their collections.
The following information is quoted from the official USPS website found at www.usps.com:
"On May 12 we will adjust prices for mailing services — First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services.
A First-Class Mail stamp will be 42¢. Customers can continue to use the Forever Stamps they purchased for 41¢, even after the price change. We will have 5 billion Forever Stamps in stock to meet increased demand before the price change. We also will have a 62¢ stamp available shortly after May 12 for 1-ounce nonmachinable First-Class Mail letters, such as square greeting cards.
Pricing highlights:
No change in the First-Class Mail single-piece additional-ounce price.
Lower additional-ounce price for presorted First-Class Mail letters.
Lower pound price for Standard Mail saturation and high-density flats.
Shape-based pricing for First-Class Mail International letters, flats, and parcels.
First-Class Mail International price groups expand from five to nine groups.
Select prices:
First-Class Mail letter (1 oz.) $0.42
First-Class Mail letter (2 oz.) $0.59
Postcard $0.27
First-Class Mail large envelope (2 oz.) $1.00
Certified Mail $2.70
First-Class Mail International to Canada and Mexico (1 oz.) $0.72
First-Class Mail International to all other countries (1 oz.) $0.94
We will announce new prices for shipping services — Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, and International Mail — in March."
As you can see, the 1 oz first class international rate to Canada & Mexico will jump by 3 cents, and the same rate to anywhere else in the world will jump by a whopping 4 cents.
No one except the USPS knows how high the charges for domestic Express Mail, Priority Mail and other services will be after May 12, but the Post Office will need to issue many new stamps.
The only good thing about this rate increase is the number of new postage stamps that it will require, meaning stamp collectors will have a large number of new stamps to find and put into their collections.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)