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Collect the first 176 Years of United States Stamps! Click here to get started!
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2014 USPS Stamp IssuesLearn everything you need to know about First Day Covers and how to order them by visiting our First Day Covers page including an updated First Day Cover Ordering Calendar, complete with ordering addresses and deadlines. TBD = To Be Determined; PSA = Pressure-sensitive Adhesive; A Forever stamp is always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate when used on a one-ounce envelope. Stamp Issues:
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Chippendale Chair Re-Issue The 4¢ Chippendale stamp was first issued in March 2004 (shown). The Chippendale style of furniture was named for the English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779), who influenced furniture design on both sides of the Atlantic. His works were known for their carved decorations and elaborate chair backs. In America, the style varied by region, with Philadelphia artisans producing the most extensively ornamented furniture. The Chippendale chair depicted on the stamp is a stylized version of a Chippendale side chair, or chair without arms, that is part of the collection of decorative arts at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. |
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Lunar New Year: Year of the Horse (Forever) Artist Kam Mak offers another of his views of the ways of celebrating the New Year, in this case a drum. Clarence Lee's intricate cut-paper design of a horse, and Lau Bun's classic grass-style calligraphy of the Chinese character for Horse, complete the design. The Year of the Horse begins January 31.
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Love: Cut Paper Heart (Forever) The Cut Paper Heart stamp takes its inspiration from the folk traditions of papercutting. Surrounding the central hearts are pink swirls, with smaller hearts imbedded in the design and a ragged-edge motif. The hearts and swirls are contained within a red square that has "pinked" edges, as if cut with pinking shears. The stamp art is reminiscent of liebesbriefe — ornately cut and painted love letters that are a form of scherenschnitte, the papercutting tradition brought to America in the 18th and 19th centuries by German immigrants. Not intended only for February 14, these early precursors to valentines carried declarations of love and sometimes proposals of marriage. Like the liebesbriefe, the Cut Paper Heart stamps can be used to say "love" all year round. |
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Ferns (Forever 49¢) Denominated First Class Rate The ferns featured on these stamps are five of the approximately 380 different species found in North America. A favorite with gardeners and florists, ferns range from tiny moss-like plants to giants as tall as trees. The shapes and textures of the fronds stand out against a white background, highlighting the placement of the leaflets along each fern's stem. The name of each fern is placed vertically in capital letters along one edge of the stamp. The ferns continue the USPS' tradition of offering stamps that feature beautiful plants. Designed to be used by businesses, they are being issued in large self-adhesive coils. |
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Star Spangled Banner (Forever) This stamp commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner with a photograph of the flag that flies over Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore. This flag is a replica of the one that inspired Key to write a poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry", after Fort McHenry withstood the British attack of Sept.13-14, 1814 during the War of 1812. After being set to the tune of a British song, it became a popular American patriotic song and officially became the National Anthem of the United States in 1931. Photographer Gary Clark took the picture of the flag against a backdrop of fireworks during an annual celebration of Defenders' Day, which commemorates the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The coil stamps were produced by Ashton Potter and CCL Label, and the booklet stamps were produced by Ashton Potter. |
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Black Heritage: Shirley Chisholm (Forever) The 37th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors the first black woman ever elected to Congress, and the first African-American and only the second woman to seek the presidential nomination of a major political party. Chisholm was born in Brooklyn and represented Brooklyn's 12th District in Congress. The portrait by Robert Shetterly is part of his “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series. |
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Hummingbird 34¢ Post Card Rate A new postcard stamp celebrates the beauty and grace of the hummingbird. The stamp art by illustrator Nancy Stahl is a tinted, highly stylized, digital depiction of a hummingbird hovering near a plant. Known for their agility, brilliant colors, and long bills, hummingbirds are among the smallest birds in the world, ranging in size from about two to eight inches long. Some weigh less than a penny. Special wing anatomy enables hummingbirds to fly forward, backward, and upside down, as well as to hover in one spot. The "humming" sound they produce is made by their rapid wing movements—the wings of some species beat up to 80 times per second. |
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Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly (Oversize rate) The great spangled fritillary butterfly is the fourth butterfly stamp to be issued for use on large greeting card envelopes. It was developed to be used for square envelopes weighing up to and including one ounce, and may be used to mail other envelopes with irregular sizes and shapes. The stamp design is a highly stylized, simplified image of a great spangled fritillary rather than an exact replica. Named for the silvery spots found on the undersides of its wings, it is found in all northern states and ranges as far south as northern Georgia in the east and central California in the west. |
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Abraham Lincoln 21¢ second-ounce rate This stamp is being issued to cover the new second ounce rate. The stamp features a black-and-white photograph close-up view of the statue of Lincoln by sculptor Daniel Chester French. The statue of Lincoln as he looked during the Civil War is housed inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. |
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Winter Flowers (Forever) [Click to see 4 designs] With Winter Flowers, the U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of issuing stamps that present floral-themed art. Each of these four stamps depicts a close-up view of one plant — Christmas cactus, amaryllis, cyclamen, or paperwhite — with detailed renderings of its blossom and foliage. These winter-blooming flowers are popular potted plants, especially during the holidays when people enjoy them as gifts or as festive decorations. Here are some other recent Garden/Floral issues in which you might be interested: • Blossoms and Plants Stamps (IGPC) at : https://www.igpc.com/thumbs.cfm?keywordsearch1=blossoms |
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Ralph Ellison 91¢ 3-ounce rate The 29th stamp in the Literary Arts series honors author Ralph Ellison (1913 - 1994). The 91-cent Ralph Ellison stamp is designed for the First-Class Mail three-ounce rate. With his 1952 novel Invisible Man, Ellison drew on a wide range of narrative and cultural traditions, shedding vivid light on the African- American experience while setting a new benchmark for all American novelists. The stamp art is an oil-on-panel painting featuring a portrait of Ellison based on a black-and-white photograph by Gordon Parks, a renowned staff photographer for Life magazine. The background of the stamp art shows a Harlem street at twilight. |
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Wedding Cake 70¢ oversized envelope stamp This 70¢ Wedding Cake stamp uses the same design as the 2009 61¢ Wedding Cake stamp, which has been reissued multiple times since then with each 2-ounce rate increase, most recently in 2013 as a 66¢ stamp. It is part of an ongoing series of issues that can be used to mail Wedding invitations. The 70¢ stamp can be used on the outer envelope, which contains the Wedding invitation, an RSVP card, and an RSVP envelope on which the 2013 Love or Yes I Do Wedding Forever First Class rate stamp can be used. Pastry chef Peter Brett created and designed the cake. Art Director Ethel Kessler incorporated it into her stamp design. |
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Star Spangled Banner (Forever) This stamp commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner with a photograph of the flag that flies over Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore. This flag is a replica of the one that inspired Key to write a poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry", after Fort McHenry withstood the British attack of Sept.13-14, 1814 during the War of 1812. After being set to the tune of a British song, it became a popular American patriotic song and officially became the National Anthem of the United States in 1931. Photographer Gary Clark took the picture of the flag against a backdrop of fireworks during an annual celebration of Defenders' Day, which commemorates the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." These are new printings of the stamps first released on January 28, 2014. The booklet stamps were produced by CCL Label and Sennett Security Products (SSP), and the coils and ATM stamps were produced by SSP. |
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Verrazano Narrows Bridge (Priority Mail) The 50th anniversary of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge will be celebrated in 2014, making this massive structure a fitting subject for the next Priority Mail stamp. The bridge's center span is 4,260 feet long—so long that its two towers, soaring 690 feet into the sky, are spaced one-and-five-eighths inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases to compensate for the curvature of the earth. Each of the two decks of the bridge carries six lanes of traffic. Named for explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, the first European to enter New York Bay, the bridge spans the Narrows, the strait dividing Upper and Lower New York Bay, and connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. The stamp design captures the grandeur of the bridge, not only showing its sheer size and scale, but also giving a sense of the sweeping curve of the double-decker roadway. |
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Ferns (Forever 49¢) Denominated First Class Rate This is a new printing of the January 27, 2014 issue. The ferns featured on these stamps are five of the approximately 380 different species found in North America. A favorite with gardeners and florists, ferns range from tiny moss-like plants to giants as tall as trees. The shapes and textures of the fronds stand out against a white background, highlighting the placement of the leaflets along each fern's stem. The name of each fern is placed vertically in capital letters along one edge of the stamp. The ferns continue the USPS tradition of offering stamps that feature beautiful plants. Designed to be used by businesses, they are being issued in large self-adhesive coils. |
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Jimi Hendrix Music Icon (Forever) Jimi Hendrix will join the growing list of Music Icons honored by the USPS, joining 2013 honorees Lydia Mendoza, Johnny Cash, and Ray Charles, and 2014 honoree Janis Joplin. Despite being unable to read or write music, Hendrix is widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century. Born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle, he took an interest in music, drawing influence from virtually every major artist at the time, including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Holly, and Robert Johnson. Before his father bought him his first stringed instrument--a ukelele--and later an acoustic guitar, the young Jimi Hendrix first ‘practiced' by strumming an old broom. After serving as a “Screaming Eagles” paratrooper in the U.S. Army and being discharged following an injury, he embarked on a musical career that vaulted him into stardom and made The Jimi Hendrix Experience one of most popular and highest grossing touring acts in the world. |
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USS Arizona Memorial $19.99 Priority Mail Express This year's Express Mail stamp honors the USS Arizona and the 1,177 sailors who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Every year, more than a million people visit the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor and remember the events of December 7, 1941. Nearly half of the Americans killed in the attack died aboard the Arizona when a bomb struck an ammunitions store, causing it to detonate. The remains of the ship now rest at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. The illustration was created by Dan Cosgrove, working with art director Phil Jordan. The art for this Express Mail stamp features an illustration of the white concrete memorial, which rises above the sunken ship in the shape of a bridge. Depicted under a sunny sky and bright clouds with an American flag fluttering overhead, the memorial is mirrored by its own reflection on the water below. |
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C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson The 70-cent First-Class Mail two-ounce rate stamp features C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson. This pioneering African-American aviator played a crucial role during World War II in training the nation's first black military pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen. The stamp, the 15th in the Distinguished Americans series, is based on a photograph of Anderson in the 1942 yearbook of the Tuskegee Institute's flight training school in Tuskegee, Alabama. The artist added headgear used by pilots in World War II. |
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A Flag for All Seasons [Click to 4 designs] In 2008 the USPS gave us the 24/7 Flags, showing Old Glory at four times throughout the day and night. and in 2013 they introduced this A Flag for All Seasons set of four stamps showing the American Flag from the heights of sunny summer to the snowy depths of winter. Now, this year, they bring back the stamps, once again in a PSA booklet of 20. Each of the four A Flag For All Seasons stamps shows an American flag, viewed from below, flying from a pole at full staff against a background of trees that evoke one of the four seasons of the year. The stamp art is the work of Laura Stutzman, who used her personal photographs of the flag as art reference. |
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Yes I Do, Re-Issue of 2013 66¢ with 70¢ denomination This is a re-issue of the 2013 stamp, but with the new 2-ounce denomination of 70¢ instead of 66¢. The stamp is part of an ongoing series of issues that can be used to mail Wedding invitations. The 2-ounce rate stamp can be used on the outer envelope, which contains the Wedding invitation, an RSVP card, and an RSVP envelope. Based on past experience a related design will be issued as a First Class rate stamp for the RSVP envelope. The Yes, I Do stamp is intended to add a festive, colorful flair to wedding correspondence, with the words “Yes, I Do” nestled in a bouquet of stylized flowers in the shape of a heart. |
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Tree Stamped Card (Forever 38¢) The Tree Stamped Card is another of the 2014 releases that meet the new rates. The Forever stamped card will always be equal to the value of the First-Class Mail postcard rate in effect at the time of use. The cards are sold for 4¢ over the 34¢ postage value, for a total of 38¢ for each card. |
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Song Birds (Forever) [Click for block of 10 Songbird designs] Between 4,000 and 4,500 different types of songbirds can be found around the world. Male birds sing to attract females and to warn rivals to keep out of their territory. They are identified by their highly developed vocal organs, although some, like the crow, have harsh voices, and others sing rarely, or not at all. All songbirds are classified as perching birds. With three toes that point forward and one that points backward, they can grip branches, grasses, or telephone wires with ease. The ten in this set are the western meadowlark, mountain bluebird, western tanager, painted bunting, Baltimore oriole, evening grosbeak, scarlet tanager, rose-breasted grosbeak, American goldfinch and the white-throated sparrow. |
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Legends of Hollywood: Charlton Heston (Forever) [Click to see sheet] The 18th stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series salutes an actor who was known for tackling heroic roles in epic blockbusters. Heston made more than 70 films in a career that spanned seven decades. An image of Heston from the 1959 movie Ben-Hur decorates the selvage. The hand-tinted photo shows Heston, who won a best actor Oscar, in his costume from the monumental chariot racing scene, one of the most famous action sequences ever filmed. In other famous roles, Director Cecil B. DeMille tapped Heston for the role of Moses in The Ten Commandments, the 1956 movie that tells the story of Exodus with a cast of thousands, spectacular special effects, and a Charlton Heston who could convincingly raise a rod over his head and part the Red Sea. And in 1968's Planet of the Apes he was a time- traveling astronaut trapped on a planet ruled by English-speaking apes. |
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Global Ocean Surface Temperatures ($1.15) Forever "Global: Sea Surface Temperatures" is a new Forever international rate stamp that offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International 1-ounce letter or postcard to any country in the world, as well as for 2-ounce mail to Canada. The round stamp uses a visual representation of Earth's sea surface temperatures. It shows North America at the center and parts of South America, Asia, and Europe just visible on the edges, surrounded by vivid bands of color throughout the oceans. The image is one frame in a 1,460-frame animation created from the output of a computer model of Earth's climate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. The full animation shows how the surface temperatures of the oceans vary seasonally and change over time, and how surface ocean currents and eddies transport heat and water around the globe. This image also combines the depiction of sea-surface temperatures with visible vegetation on the land masses, an element derived from a satellite composite created by NASA. |
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Red, White, and Blue (Forever) The four Red, White, and Blue self-adhesive Forever stamps are intended to accommodate business mailers, and are therefore issued in large coils of 10,000. Inspired by 20th-century American ephemera, each stamp features a modern interpretation of a flying flag, complete with six wavy stripes and varying numbers of five-pointed stars. Ethel Kessler was the Art director and Greg Berger designed the stamps. |
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Where Dreams Blossom (Forever) The Where Dreams Blossom stamp, first issued in 2013, now shows a 2014 year date. It is intended for any occasion or use, but is particularly suitable for use on RSVP envelopes, enclosed within Wedding or other invitations, with the outside mailer stamped with the two-ounce Yes, I Do wedding stamp issued in 2013. The stamp art highlights a stylized bouquet of flowers. It was designed by Michael Osborne under the direction of Ethel Kessler. |
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Circus: Vintage Posters (Forever) [Click to see sheet of 8 designs] Since the early 20th century, the circus has brought together people of all ages and walks of life to watch the amazing acts and let their imaginations soar. Back in the day, companies like the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey would use posters with eye-catching imagery of stunts, performers, and animals as a vehicle to attract people to come watch the circus. With these stamps the U.S. Postal Service pays tribute to the history of these vintage works of art. The eight stamps were inspired by original circus posters that are now part of the Tibbals Digital Collection at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. Here are some other recent Nostalgic/Vintage issues in which you might be interested: |
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Harvey Milk (Forever) This stamp honors the Gay Rights advocate who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services.He was assassinated in 1978, along with SF Mayor George Moscone by disgruntled former city supervisor. Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. The stamp image is based on a circa 1977 photograph of Milk in front of his camera store in San Francisco. |
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Nevada Statehood (Forever) The Nevada Territory, part of the land transferred to the U.S. at the end of the Mexican-American War, moved rapidly toward statehood after the Civil War began in 1861. Overwhelmingly approved by the territory's voters on September 7, 1864, the Nevada constitution was relayed to Washington, D.C., via telegraph. President Abraham Lincoln declared the territory a state on October 31. The U.S. Postal Service joins the celebration of Nevada's 150th anniversary with a stamp showcasing one of the state's beautiful landscapes, a view of an area in Fire Canyon, part of Valley of Fire, Nevada's oldest state park. |
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Hot Rods (Forever) Cars in general and Hot Rods in particular are a popular part of Americana. With these two stamps, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates these fast, powerful vehicles that thrill-seeking enthusiasts have been modifying for nearly a century. The cars depicted are two 1932 Ford Deuce roadsters. One stamp features a black 32 Ford with orange flames running down the car s body. The other stamp showcases a red 32 Ford. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps, which feature art by John Mattos. The stamps will be issued during a major Hot Rod weekend in York, Pa. |
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Federal Duck Stamp (not a postage stamp) The 2014-2015 Duck stamp features Adam Grimm's painting of a pair of canvasback ducks in flight. Duck stamps are not postage stamps. The Fish and Wildlife Service produces the Federal Duck Stamp, which raises about $25 million each year to provide critical funds for conserving wetlands for the benefit of wildlife and the enjoyment of people. The new stamp is valid from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2016. In addition to being required by waterfowl hunters age 16 and older, it also is a popular with conservationists and collectors. |
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Junior Duck Stamp (not a postage stamp) The Junior Duck stamp pictures 16-year-old Miss Si Youn Kim's painting of a king eider. The Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is a dynamic, art and science program designed to teach wetlands habitat and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school and help reconnect youth with the outdoors. The stamps, which have no validity as postage stamps or hunting licenses, recognize the conservation efforts of young people and support environmental and conservation education programs in the United States. |
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Medal of Honor: Korean War The series honoring the military's highest award continues with a tribute to Medal of Honor honorees from the Korean War. The format will be the same as the 2013 Medal of Honor: World War II sheet. There are only two stamps picturing the Medal, as the Air Force did not develop its own unique design until 1965. Here are some other recent Military History issues in which you might be interested: • Australia Post Honors Its Heroes article • Isle of Man Royal Air Force, World War I Life in the Trenches, and D-Day Anniversary at https://www.iompost.com/stamps-coins/ |
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Civil War: 1864 (Forever) This series continues, with stamps in an illustrated sheet observing the Siege of Petersburg, Va., and the Battle of Mobile Bay, where Admiral Farragut damned the torpedoes and ordered "Full Speed Ahead." The front of the souvenir sheet contains two stamps along with a photograph of Battery A, 2nd U.S. Colored Artillery (Light) and quotes including one from General Ulysses S. Grant. The back contains five of each stamp and background information on the two battles. |
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Farmer's Markets (Forever) A throwback to the past, before the advent of packaged goods, supermarket chains and importing of produce from around the word, farmers markets support small farms, boost local economies and offer shoppers the opportunity to interact directly with the people who produce their food. In addition they bring together shoppers with vendors where they socialize, catch up on community news, and exchange ideas and opinions. The four se-tenant stamps depict a table laden with typical farmers-market fare. The artist chose and arranged the products so that each stamp has a large focal point and each stamp is complete in itself, yet forms a cohesive whole with the entire stamp strip. Most items bear handwritten labels that identify the product and its price. |
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Janis Joplin Music Icon (Forever) [Click to see larger image] Known as “The Queen of Psychedelic Soul,” Janis Joplin will be the fifth Music Icon honored by the USPS, joining 2013 honorees Lydia Mendoza, Johnny Cash, and Ray Charles, and 2014 honoree Jimi Hendrix. Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist with her own groups and as one of the main attractions at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. later became one of the major attractions to the Woodstock festival. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. |
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Hudson River Schools The “Hudson River School” was a group of New York-based landscape painters who emerged in the mid-19th century. English emigre Thomas Cole is credited as the inspiration for those who followed him, and included noted American artists. including Albert Bierstadt, who was featured on a 2008 single; and Frederic Edwin Church, Asher Durand and Thomas Moran, whose works are reproduced on this block, which also includes a painting by Cole. The 1998 "Four Centuries of American Art" sheet of 20 also includes paintings by Church, Durand, Moran and Bierstadt. For more information and a set of pages featuring all 20 Masterpieces, please go to: Art Stamps USPS Offers Hudson River School Art Background During the 19th century, the artists of a young America searched for a new world view and found it in the landscapes around them. The loose-knit Hudson River School of painters flourished from the mid-1830s to the mid-1870s and gave … Continue reading "USPS Offers Hudson River School Art Background" Here are some other recent Art Masterpiece issues in which you might be interested: • Vincent Van Gogh at |
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Poinsettia Contemporary Christmas Stamp In 2014 the USPS reissued its 2013 Contemporary holiday stamp at the APS Stamp Show. The stamp art offers a bright rendering of America's favorite holiday flower, the poinsettia. It depicts the rich red and vibrant green leaves surrounding the flower—the cluster of small, rather modest cup-shaped structures in the center. The red "petals" that we think of as the flower are actually modified leaves called bracts. A potted poinsettia was used as art reference. While considered by the ancient Aztecs to be a symbol of purity, the poinsettia today symbolizes good cheer. The gift of a poinsettia is said to bring with it wishes of laughter and celebration. This year's version has a 2014 year date in the lower left margin. |
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War of 1812 (Forever) The Postal Service continues its commemoration of the War of 1812 with a stamp that depicts the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore in September 1814. The stamp depicts the battle from the vantage point of a group of soldiers manning a cannon in defense of the fort. It gives prominence to 'the rockets' red glare" about which Francis Scott Key wrote in his "The Star-Spangled Banner,” a poem that was later set to music and became the U.S. national anthem in 1931. On March 3, 2014 the USPS issued a separate stamp for "The Star Spangled Banner." |
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Celebrity Chefs The Celebrity Chef set will feature James Beard, a leader in modern cooking trends; Julia Child, the iconic host of Public Television's "The French Chef"; Joyce Chen, who popularized Chinese cooking on TV; Edna Lewis, an African-American chef of the 1930s; and Felipe Rojas-Lombardi, a Peruvian chef in the 1970s New York restaurant scene. The stamps will be issued at Chicago's Park Grill during a gourmet food show. |
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Glade Creek Grist Mill (Priority Mail) The USPS is anticipating an increase in the basic Priority Mail rate to $5.75, with the release of a stamp that pictures West Virginia's Glade Creek Grist Mill. The pictured mill is actually a 1976 replica of an old mill that once stood nearby, made of parts of three other historic old mills. Illustrator Dan Cosgrove pictured the mill in an autumn setting in Babcock State Park. |
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Breast Cancer Research Semi-Postal (60¢) Forever The first United States semi-postal stamp was the Breast Cancer Research stamp that was issued on July 29, 1998, when the First Class Letter rate was 32¢ and the donation amount was 8¢. The stamp has been reissued numerous times, and this year it is a Forever stamp (49¢) with 11¢ for Breast Cancer Research, for a total cost of 60¢. This year's stamp will have a 2014 year date in the margin. |
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Batman 75 Years A surprise addition to the 2014 schedule, New York Comic Con 2014 is the issue site for the Batman stamps. The issue, which commemorates the 75 years of Batman, includes Batman depicted from the four eras of comic book history as well as the four incarnations of the Bat emblem (top to bottom rows on the sheet): the Modern Age (top row of the sheet), the Bronze Age, the Silver Age, and the Golden Age. The stamps are the USPS' 2015 National Stamp Collecting Month issue. Read "Batman Surprise October 9" [PDF Document] |
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Purple Heart (Forever) The 2014 Purple Heart stamp uses a design by Jennifer Arnold of Washington, D.C. For the 2012 version, Arnold reworked the previous Purple Heart Forever stamp design by slightly enlarging the medal and placing it on a pure white background. The 2014 stamp used that same 2012 design except for the year date change from to 2014, and its placement horizontally in the lower left. The design features the Purple Heart awarded during World War II to 1st Lieutenant Arthur J. Rubin (1917–1978). The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to members of the U.S. military who have been wounded or killed in action. It was established by General George Washington during the Revolutionary War and shows a profile bust of George Washington beneath his family coat of arms.
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Global Forever Christmas Evergreen Wreath The 2014 Global Forever stamp for the holiday season pictures a wreath constructed by Michael Owen, titled the Silver Bells Wreath, the second in this Holiday Forever series. This international rate stamp offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International one-ounce letter to any country in the world or for a 2-ounce letter to Canada. To distinguish it from domestic rate Forever stamps, it is round and bears the words "Global Forever." |
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Winter Fun Contemporary Christmas The Winter Fun set of four designs will feature ice skating, making snow angels, building snowmen and bird watching (in this case, a cardinal). Art Director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps using illustrations by Janet Atkinson, Jing Jing Tsong and Christine Roy. Stamped envelopes using the snowman and cardinal designs, possibly similar in purpose to the oversized envelope Butterfly stamps (see February 10, above) may also be issued. |
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Christmas Magi Traditional Christmas The Christmas Magi stamp celebrates the tale of the Three Wise Men In the frame and the silhouette effects, the Magi stamp follows the look of last year's Holy Family stamp. |
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Contemporary Christmas This year is the 50th anniversary of the debut of an animated television special called "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [4 designs]," which became so popular that it is still broadcast each year. The stop- motion animation technique, called "Animagic," may seem primitive by today's computer standards, but Burl Ives' narration and singing endure. The art for each stamp is a still frame from the animated special Rudolph, Santa, and the Abominable Snowman star on stamps of their own, while a fourth stamp features Hermey the elf, touching Rudolph's red nose. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer video on YouTube.com: http://www.youtube.com |
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Wilt Chamberlain Basketball star Wilt Chamberlain appears on a pair of stamps, one as a Philadelphia 76er, and the other as a Los Angeles Laker, the two teams with which he won NBA Championships. The stamps are to be issued at halftime of a 76ers home game against the Oklahoma Thunder. (The 76ers do not play the Lakers until March 2015, in home-and-home games at L.A. and Philadelphia.) Chamberlain set a record by scoring 100 points in a single game in 1962, and played with several professional teams on his way into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He also was a college star with the University of Kansas. Because of his 7'-1" frame, the stamps have an appropriately tall format. Click here to see National Basketball Association (NBA) stamps from The Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC). |
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Circus Souvenir Sheet In a controversial "first" the U.S. Postal Service decided to sell a unique issue available as a single sheet in mint condition only within its 2014 Yearbook, or in an uncut Press Sheet of 12 souvenir sheets. The Circus souvenir sheet features the design of the Barnum & Bailey Clown forever stamp from the May 5 Circus issue, but with a $1 denomination, and a pair of the 1900s Circus Wagon stamps first issued as 5¢ stamps in 1990, but as 50¢ stamps on the souvenir sheet. As an option to the mint sheet in the Year Book or Press Sheet, collectors can obtain First Day Covers with the souvenir sheet already affixed and cancelled on December 10. The USPS sells uncacheted Circus SS FDCs for $4.50 each. Another option is to purchase a serviced FDC cover from cachet makers, including SNN advertiser Artcraft, at https://www.washpress.com/ |
| Stamp images provided by the United States Postal Service. Copyright © 2014 USPS. All Rights Reserved. |
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