 |
Collect the first 176 Years of United States Stamps! Click here to get started!
|
2017 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:
|
|
Stamp Issues 2017 |
|
|
Alzheimer's Semipostal The latest United States semipostal stamp is a fund raiser to fight Alzheimer’s. This dreaded neurodegenerative disease has evaded all attempts to find a cure or even a significant reduction in the rate and amount of deterioration, as government agencies and pharmaceutical companies around the world have spent billions on failed attempts. The stamp will be sold at 11¢ over the First Class rate, which would mean it will be priced at 60¢ when it is issued. The money raised will be distributed to the National Institutes of Health, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While every dollar helps, given the billions of dollars that are already being invested in finding a cure, the stamp issue will serve more to bringing attention to the fight than it will be to financing it—a public service that has been provided by postage stamps for many subjects for more than a century. The stamp will be dedicated at 10 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 30 at Johns Hopkins Asthma & Allergy Center Atrium, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, 5501 Hopkins Bayview Circle, Baltimore, MD 21224. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is required to attend the ceremony. Please RSVP at usps.com/alzheimers. Followers of the U.S. Postal Service’s Facebook page can view the first-day-of-issue ceremony live at facebook.com/USPS. |
|
History of Hockey Forever Stamps In a joint issue with Canada, the USPS will issue a souvenir sheet with a pair of stamps whose design is intended to celebrate and reflect on the history of hockey. The souvenir sheet, which will be revealed during the October 20 dedication ceremony, features a scene that illustrates the evolution of the sport across generations. The player on one stamp wears a contemporary uniform, using modern equipment; on the other a player is wearing vintage garb and using old-fashioned equipment. The tete-beche (attached head to tail) stamps are arranged to mirror each other. Click for article: U.S., Canada Hockey Joint Issue |
|
African American Museum Forever Stamp This stamp celebrates the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is the 19th Smithsonian museum and the only national museum devoted exclusively to African-American life, art, history and culture. The movement for such a museum dates back to the 1920s, but resistance in Congress and within the Smithsonian's Board of Regents stymied efforts until it was authorized by Congress in 2003. Opening on September 24, 2016, it is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Among the more than 33,000 objects in the Museum Collection are many artifacts related to honorees on USPS stamps for African Americans, including 1985 Black Heritage honoree Mary McLeod Bethune, who served on an unsuccessful Presidential Commission under Herbert Hoover to create a Museum in 1929. |
|
Christmas Carols Booklet Forever Stamps The 2017 Christmas season will be celebrated with four Forever stamps featuring images that illustrate four famous Christmas carols: "Jingle Bells," "Deck the Halls, "Silent Night" and "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas." Familiar lines from each song highlight the individual stamps. Shades of blue in the stamp backgrounds are intended to evoke the evening scenes from the four carols. While not forming a unified design, the adjacent quadrants in each stamp appear to form a Christmas ball. |
|
Snowy Day Booklet Forever Stamps "The Snowy Day," will be showcased in this set of four stamps. Written and illustrated by the children's author, Ezra Jack Keats, it was one of the first prominent 20th-century picture books centered on an African-American child. Each of the four new stamps in this booklet features a different illustration of main character Peter exploring and playing in his neighborhood while wearing his red snowsuit. The images picture Peter forming a snowball, sliding down a mountain of snow, making a snow angel and leaving footprints in the snow. |
|
Father Theodore Hesburgh Forever Stamp This stamp commemorates the birth centennial on May 25, 1917 of Theodore M. Hesburgh. The stamp features an oil-on-panel painting of Father Hesburgh standing on the University of Notre Dame campus, where he served as president for 35 years. Beyond his leadership of Notre Dame, Father Hesburgh served his nation as a long-time member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Starting in 1957, he helped compile reports on racial discrimination and the denial of voting rights that resulted in the Omnibus Civil Rights Act of 1964. A champion of causes ranging from education to immigration reform to the plight of underdeveloped nations, Father Hesburgh worked with many important organizations to advance the cause of human rights. True to his calling, while disagreeing with American involvement in Vietnam he also assisted the Nixon administration in peacefully controlling anti-war violence on college campuses. |
|
Flowers From The Garden Forever Stamp Like the plants that appear in gardens and in the wild, each year the Postal People make sure we have new stamps depicting flowers and other plants. The latest edition features four artistic renditions of flowers that come from typical American gardens. One stamp features red camellias and yellow forsythia in a yellow pitcher, while on another there are white peonies and pink tree peonies in a clear vase. An arrangement of white hydrangeas, white and pink roses, green hypericum berries, and purple lisianthus in a white vase graces another stamp, while blue hydrangeas in a blue pot appear on another. The stamps use existing art that had been created by American artist Elizabeth Brandon. |
|
Azulillo Forever Stamped Card This new stamped card features an illustration of a Chilean blue crocus from pre-existing artwork by illustrator and designer Dugald Stermer (1936–2011). His penciled calligraphy under the flower indicates one of its common names azulillo—loosely translated from Spanish, it means "little blue thing"— with its botanical name above. The Chilean blue crocus is hardy in seven of nine U.S. Department of Agriculture zones, and generally flowers in February or March in North America. |
|
This stamp pays tribute to the beauty and importance of pollinators with stamps depicting two of North America's most iconic: the monarch butterfly and the western honeybee, each shown industriously pollinating a variety of plants native to the continent. These particular species exemplify the ecological service provided by all pollinators, which include other insects, birds, and bats. Crop pollination by insects contributes approximately $15 billion of produce to the U.S. economy each year. Trending declines in their populations serve as reminders that pollinators can be helped by planting pollinator gardens with native flowers or heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables. |
|
This set of five stamps features realistic images of five species that inhabit American waters: mako shark, represented by a shortfin mako; thresher shark, on the stamp a pelagic thresher; great white shark; whale shark; and hammerhead shark, on the stamp a scalloped hammerhead. One of the most feared of all living creatures, sharks are widely used in popular media, one of the most prominent ever being the 1975 film, Jaws. Despite popular portrayals, out of more than 470 species, only four have been involved in a significant number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans. The only one depicted on any of the new stamps is the great white shark. |
|
Disney Villains Forever Stamps Write-up coming soon! |
|
Andrew Wyeth Forever Stamp Mastering a realistic style that defied artistic trends, Andrew Wyeth created paintings based largely on people and places in his life—producing a body of work that continues to resist easy or comfortable interpretation. Finding endless inspiration both in his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pa., and in rural Maine, he scrutinized the lives, houses and personal belongings of people around him, sometimes painting their portraits but just as often using objects and places to represent them. July 12, 2017 is the centennial of Wyeth's birth. |
|
Total Solar Eclipse Forever Stamp On August 21 the U.S. will experience a total solar eclipse that will travel a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina. On June 20 the USPS will issue a stamp that will celebrate that event in a first for U.S. stamp issues. That innovation will be the use of a thermochromic ink so that using the body heat of your thumb or fingers and rubbing the eclipse image you will reveal an underlying image of the Moon. The image reverts back to the eclipse once it cools. As part of the USPS presentation on this new issue, the back of the stamp pane provides a map of the August 21 eclipse path and times it may appear in some locations. Continue Reading Innovative "Eclipse" Stamp(s) Due June 20 [PDF Document] |
|
Have A Ball Forever Stamps This set of eight stamps is intended to recognize America's passion for athletics. The stamps feature illustrations of eight different sports balls: baseball, basketball, football (on the upper left stamp, with the point facing head on), golf, kickball, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Millions in the U.S. participate annually in the sports represented on the stamps. |
|
Henry David Thoreau Forever Stamp With his personal example of simple living, his criticism of materialism and the questions he raised about the place of the individual in society and humanity's role in the natural world, Henry David Thoreau continues to inspire readers. For 26 months, Thoreau lived in a one-room house on a lake just outside his hometown of Concord, Mass., writing prolifically while farming, reading, thinking, taking long walks and observing nature around him. His most famous work is "Walden," the 1854 book he wrote about his experiences. July 12, 2017 is the bicentennial of Thoreau's Birth. |
|
Strawberries 3-cent Stamp The latest addition to the Postal Services Fruits definitives series is a Strawberries 3-cent stamp. The design features an illustration of three ripe, red strawberries surrounded by leaves and hulls adjacent to three smaller, green strawberries in various stages of growth. A small white flower from the strawberry plant completes the picture. Art director Derry Noyes designed this stamp using an existing illustration by John Burgoyne |
|
Celebration Boutonniere Forever Stamp This First Class Forever Boutonniere stamp and the Corsage two ounce stamp can be used individually or as companions for celebration announcements. As with the USPS Wedding stamps, the Boutonniere stamp can be affixed to response mailers that would be enclosed in invitations within envelopes using the Corsage stamp. They can also be used individually, the Boutonniere stamp on greeting cards and the Corsage stamp on mailings such as overweight cards or bearing small enclosures. The stamp features an arrangement of ranunculus, with floral accents of succulents, Astrantia, Berzelia, and clubmoss greenery. |
|
Celebration Corsage Two Ounce Stamp Similar to Wedding two ounce stamps, but intended for any occasion, this new two ounce stamp can accommodate RSVP replies, heavy enclosures, oversize greeting cards and mailings such as small gifts that require extra postage. The Celebration Corsage is similar in design theme to the Celebration Boutonniere Forever stamp, and the two form a natural pair. The stamp art features a photograph of an arrangement of Ranunculus with accents of Hypericum Berry, Astrantia, and Seed Eucalyptus. The corsage was arranged by floral designer Carol Caggiano and photographed by Renée Comet. |
|
Global International One Ounce Rate Forever Stamp This new Green Succulent Forever international rate stamp offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International 1-ounce letter or postcard to any country in the world where First Class service is available. The stamp features a photograph of an Echeveria, a large flowering plant that is native to the Americas. The art director was William J. Gicker. Greg Breeding designed the stamp using an existing photograph by Erika Kirkpatrick. |
|
Delicioso Forever Stamp With the release of these six new "Delicioso" stamps, the Postal Service highlights the influence of Central and South American, Mexican and Caribbean foods on American cuisine. The stamps depict, in a bright, colorful way tamales, flan, sancocho, empanadas, chile relleno and ceviche, with the name of each dish appearing in a festive font above each image. The culinary traditions represented on these stamps were brought to the United States by immigrants coming into the country as well as by American tourists visiting the nations of origin. Once here, they have become staples in the diets of many Americans eating at home or dining out at the growing number of restaurants serving or specializing in these cuisines. |
|
Robert Panara non-denominated (70¢) Two Ounce Stamp The 16th stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors Robert Panara, an influential teacher and a pioneer in the field of deaf studies. During his 40-year teaching career, Panara inspired generations of students with his powerful use of American Sign Language. He taught at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. for nearly 20 years and at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (part of the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York state). Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp with an existing photograph by Mark Benjamin, official photographer of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester. The stamp features a 2009 photograph by Mark Benjamin, official photographer of the NTID. Panara is shown signing the word "respect." |
|
Mississippi Statehood Forever Stamp This stamp celebrates the 200th anniversary of Mississippi statehood, which was admitted to the Union as the 20th state. The Territory of Mississippi was established in 1798, but early growth was hindered by claims by the State of Georgia and Spanish interference. With the development of the cotton industry, settlement of the Territory grew rapidly, and on December 10, 1817 “the Magnolia State” was admitted to the Union The stamp features a photograph showing a close-up of a guitar player's hands, the reason given by the USPS being that "Mississippi is the birthplace of many legendary blues artists. . . . " |
|
Pears 10-cent Stamp Originally issued in 2016 in a coil format, Pears, a 10-cent definitive stamp featuring two red pears on a white background, is being offered in 2017, in panes of 20. The two most common red pears grown in the United States are the red Anjou, similar to green Anjous in all respects other than color; and red Bartlett pears, referred to as "Summer Pears" for the time of year in which they are harvested. The stamp art is an existing illustration by John Burgoyne, who created the original artwork with pen and ink and watercolor. Click for Pears 10-cent Stamp that was issued for 2016. |
|
WPA Posters Forever Stamp These ten WPA Posters stamps remind us of how Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration in the New Deal era endeavored to bring the nation out of the depths of the Great Depression. The posters of the Work Projects Administration were utilitarian artworks created by the Poster Division of the WPA Federal Art Project that were conceived and printed in workshops across the United States under the broad-reaching WPA program that provided millions of jobs during the Great Depression. Formed in 1935 as the Works Progress Administration and renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939, the WPA lasted until 1943. Many New Deal agencies, legislation, and accomplishments have been honored on United States stamps going as far back as the 1933 National Recovery Act stamp. Click for: WPA Posters Stamps Issued March 7 at FDR Library & Museum |
|
Barn Swallow Stamped Envelope The Postal Service celebrates a favorite backyard bird on this Barn Swallow stamped envelope. It features a large illustration of a barn swallow perching and a smaller illustration above it, showing the bird in flight. The barn swallow originally nested in caves. As man-made structures began to cover the North American landscape, barn swallows adapted by building their mud nests under the eaves of barns, houses and bridges. Barn swallows are acrobatic flyers, and a single bird can catch and consume thousands of insects in one day. |
|
Nebraska Statehood Forever Stamp This stamp celebrates the 150th anniversary of Nebraska's statehood. Nebraska was established as a territory by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and was admitted to the Union as the 37th state on March 1, 1867, after agreeing that suffrage would not be denied to non-white voters. Early settlers were primarily farmers, and the Cornhusker State is known even today for its agriculture and meat packing industries. The stamp design depicts prairie grasses on the riverbank between the small cities of Grand Island and Kearney, with sandhill cranes flying low to scout for shelter from nighttime predators in a mid-migratory rest for half a million birds along the Platte River. |
|
Grapes 5-cent Stamp Originally issued in 2016 in a coil format, Grapes, a 5-cent definitive stamp featuring two clusters of deep-purple Pinot noir grapes growing on vines among several green leaves, is being offered in 2017, in panes of 20. Identified as a French wine grape, it is now grown in other regions including Oregon and California in the United States. Translated from the French, "pinot" is "pine", for the pine-cone shaped clusters in which the grapes grow, and "noir" is "black". The stamp art is an existing illustration by John Burgoyne, who created the original artwork with pen and ink and watercolor. Click for Grapes 5-cent Stamp that was issued for 2016. |
|
John F. Kennedy Forever Stamp This stamp commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of John F. Kennedy. Born May 29, 1917, Kennedy was the 35th and youngest President of the United States. During his administration, cut short by his assassination on November 22, 1963, he presided over such events as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, passing of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the establishment of the Peace Corps. His service to his country included World War II, during which he earned the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism and the Purple Heart for injuries; and terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. More than 50 years after his death he is still regarded as one of the most popular American Presidents. Click for: Joe Kennedy III Remembers JFK at Birth Centennial Stamp Ceremony |
|
Uncle Sam's Hat 21¢ Additional Ounce Forever Stamp With the release of Uncle Sam's Hat in 2017, the Postal Service employs one of America's most popular patriotic characters. Known especially for his large top hat decorated in varying patterns of stars and stripes, Uncle Sam has symbolized the American spirit for more than 150 years. The stamp features eight “Uncle Sam” style top hats. Beneath each hat, the oval shapes in differing shades are meant to suggest the ethnic and racial diversity of the United States. A 1998 stamp depicted another version of Uncle Sam's Hat for the “H” First Class Rate stamp. On this 2017 stamp “Additional Ounce” indicates that the stamp will always be valid for that rate. |
|
Oscar de la Renta Forever Stamps Most widely known for dressing the nation's first ladies and celebrities, Oscar de la Renta (1932–2014) was one of the world's leading fashion designers for more than 50 years. He is said to have elevated American style and brought international attention to New York as a world leader in fashion. This pane of 11 stamps features a black-and-white portrait of the couturier and 10 details from several of his most exquisite gowns, |
|
Patriotic Non-Denominated Non-Profit Stamp The latest non-denominated, non-profit price stamp continues the Patriotic theme used for these stamps by incorporating the 2016 stamp in the 2017 design. The letters "USA" in blue are accompanied by a bright red star on a white background with a blue border. To create the new design, the 2016 USA stamp art was rendered slightly smaller to accommodate a new blue border. The stamp is intended for bulk mailings by authorized non-profit organizations. |
|
Dorothy Height Black Heritage Series Forever Stamp The 40th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Dorothy Height, an activist who dedicated her life to fighting for racial and gender equality. Starting her career as a caseworker in the New York City Welfare Department, she joined the National Council of Negro Women in 1937, serving as the organizations president from 1957 to 1997. She became one of the most influential civil rights leaders of the 20th century, providing advice and support to U.S. Presidents from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. |
|
Seashells Postcard Stamp Whether used as jewelry, decorative displays or simply “listening to the ocean” while walking along the beach, Americans exhibit a fascination with seashells. Four new postcard rate Forever stamps now highlight the wonder of seashells, which are the hard, protective outer layer created by an animal that lived in the sea. Each stamp depicts a shell found in North American waters: Depicted left to right in the strip of four stamps illustrated here are the Queen conch, commonly known as the pink conch, the Pacific calico scallop, the alphabet cone, and the zebra nerite. Each stamp depicts a highly stylized artistic view of the shells. Horizontal swaths of white and blue in the background suggest waves washing the shells onto a beach. |
|
U.S. Flag Forever Stamp With this new U.S. Flag stamp, the Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating patriotism with one of the most recognizable symbols of the United States. The flag, in various forms has been pictured on U.S. stamps going as far back as the 30 cents 1869 Pictorial issue. In the modern era, the U.S. Postal Service makes sure that a Flag stamp is always available to mailers, and in a variety of formats. This stamp's design features a detail from a photograph of the billowing Stars and Stripes. |
|
Lili‘uokalani Gardens $6.65 Priority Mail Stamp This Priority Mail stamp coincides with the 100th anniversary of Lili‘uokalani Gardens in Hilo, Hawai‘i. Built on land donated by Queen Lili‘uokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch to govern the islands, the gardens were dedicated in 1917 and named in her honor. The Gardens are Japanese in style with influences of Hawaiian remains of lava flows, plantings of tropical trees and flowers, and a view of the Mauna Kea volcano—Hawai‘i's highest point. The stamp art features one of the Gardens' most iconic structures, the red wooden shelter on a stone bridge spanning a portion of the pond. |
|
Gateway Arch $23.75 Express Mail Stamp The Postal Service features the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri with this Express Mail stamp. The Gateway Arch was built as a memorial to President Thomas Jefferson and the 19th-century traders and pioneers for whom St. Louis was the gateway to the West. The stamp art depicts the stainless-steel arch at sunset in its setting on the banks of the Mississippi River. Towering above the city's skyline, the Gateway Arch is reflected in the rippling water below. |
|
Love Skywriting (Love series) Forever Stamp This stamp is a continuation of the Postal Service tradition of creating stamps that celebrate love. The first such stamp, issued in 1973, used as the basis for its design Robert Indiana's pop art "LOVE" sculpture. The 2017 Love Skywriting stamp is intended to add a romantic touch to letters and cards, not only on Valentine's Day, but year-round. As described by the Postal People, “the stamp depicts the word ‘Love' written in white cursive script against a blue sky studded with wispy clouds. Underlining the word is a decorative swirl of smoke. A small, stylized plane, dwarfed by the giant letters, completes the end of the swirl, with smoke trailing from its tail.” |
|
Year of the Rooster Forever Stamp (Celebrating Lunar New Year series) The Year of the Rooster stamp is the 10th of 12 stamps in the current Celebrating Lunar New Year cycle. Compared to the design of most previous stamps in this current stamp series, the animal is pictured prominently, in the form of a rooster emblazoned on a red envelope. Parents present red envelopes containing money to children and loved ones during Lunar New Year celebrations. The color red symbolizes luck in Chinese culture, while rooster imagery is often used to ward off evil spirits. The Year of the Rooster begins January 28, 2017 and ends February 15, 2018. In popular Chinese culture, people born in the Year of the Rooster, among other traits, symbolize fidelity and punctuality—the rooster being known for waking up people regularly and on time. Click to see Lunar New Year stamps from the: South Pacific, Canada Post, and Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC).
|
| Stamp images provided by the United States Postal Service. Copyright © 2017 USPS. All Rights Reserved. |
|
New stamp collectors click here
| Stamp News Now . 42 Sentry Way . Merrimack, NH 03054 . Call Free: 603-424-7556 . Email: [email protected] ©2024 Stamp News Now, All Rights Reserved |