Author Archives: VSC

Tree postal card

Posted on by

Tree-Stamped-CardLinn’s Stamp News (March 3, 2014 issue) reports a non-denominated Forever postal card will be issued March 28th, at the American Stamp Dealers Association Spring Postage Stamp Show in New York. There were no details on the design, or the exact formats (single, reply, sheets of 40) will be issued.

This was confirmed in the March 6th Postal Bulletin:
Stamp Announcement 14-20: Tree Stamped Card
© 2014 USPS

On March 28, 2014, New York, New York, at the American Stamp Dealers Association Spring Postage Stamp Show held at the New Yorker Hotel, the Postal Service will issue a Tree stamped card (Forever priced at 38 cents) in one design.

In 2014, the U.S. Postal Service issues a Tree Stamped Card. This graphic depiction captures the look of a fanciful tree, in greens and browns, amid birds and tall grasses. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamped card, using an illustration created by artist Cathie Bleck.

The Tree stamped card will be available in the following formats:
• Single-cut cards (Item 227900).
• Double-reply cards (Item 233000).
• Sheet of 40 cards (Item 234000).

The stamp will go on sale nationwide March 28, 2014.

Distribution: Multiple Items: Tree Stamped (Forever priced at 38 cents (34 cent postage plus 4-cent surcharge)

• Item number 227900, single card, Quantity 5,000
• Item number 233000, double reply card, Quantity 2,000
• Item number 234000, sheet card, Quantity 250 (of 40 cards)

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Tree Stamped Card
Special Events Coordinator
380 West 33rd St. Room 4032
New York NY 10199

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by May 27, 2014.

Philatelic Products:
• 227916*, single card with cancellation, $0.50
• 233016*, double reply card with cancellation, $0.88

Technical Specifications:
Issue: Tree Stamped Card
Item Number: 227900
Denomination & Type of Issue: 38-cent Stamped Card Forever
Format: Single Cut Cards
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: March 28, 2014, New York, NY 10199
Designer: Ethel Kessler
Art Director: Ethel Kessler
Typographer: Ethel Kessler
Artist: Cathie Bleck,
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Stevens, Vari-size Security Press
Print Quantity: 13,960,000 stamped cards
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block
Adhesive Type: N/A
Processed at: Ashton Potter
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Image Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): N/A
Card Size (w x h): 5.5 x 3.5 in./139.70 x 88.90 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): N/A
Plate Size: 18 cards per revolution
Plate Numbers: N/A
Marginal Markings: © 2014 USPS • Recycling logo

Technical Specifications:
Issue: Tree Stamped Card
Item Number: 233000
Denomination & Type of Issue: 38-cent Stamped Card Forever
Format: Double Reply Cards
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: March 28, 2014, New York, NY 10199
Designer: Ethel Kessler
Art Director: Ethel Kessler
Typographer: Ethel Kessler
Artist: Cathie Bleck
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Mueller Martini, A76
Print Quantity: 300,000 double-reply cards
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block
Adhesive Type: N/A
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Image Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): N/A
Card Size (w x h): 5.5 x 7.0 in./139.70 x 177.80 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): N/A
Plate Size: 12 cards per revolution
Plate Numbers: N/A
Marginal Markings: © 2014 USPS • Recycling logo

Technical Specifications:
Issue: Tree Stamped Card
Item Number: 234000
Denomination & Type of Issue: 38-cent Stamped Card Forever
Format: Sheet of 40 Cards
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: March 28, 2014, New York, NY 10199
Designer: Ethel Kessler
Art Director: Ethel Kessler
Typographer: Ethel Kessler
Artist: Cathie Bleck
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter.
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Heidelberg Speedmaster XL105
Print Quantity: 19,500 (sheets of 40)
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block
Adhesive Type: N/A
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Image Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): N/A
Card Size (w x h): 5.5 x 3.5 in./139.70 x 88.90 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): N/A
Plate Size: 40 cards per revolution
Plate Numbers: N/A
Marginal Markings: © 2014 USPS • Recycling logo

“Superstar of the Stamp World” Goes On The Block In June

Posted on by

British_Guiana_13The 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta will be offered at an auction in New York on June 17th. Sotheby’s, which is handling the sale, predicts it will sell for $10-20 million dollars.

“This is the superstar of the stamp world,” David Redden, Sotheby’s worldwide chairman of books and manuscripts, told the Associated Press.

The stamp hasn’t been on public display since 1986.

“It’s a stamp the world of collectors has been dying to see for a long time,” said U.S. National Postal Museum director Allen Kane.

It is now being sold by the estate of John du Pont, the eccentric heir to the chemical fortune who was convicted of the murder of a wrestling coach. Some of the proceeds to the Eurasian Pacific Wildlife Conservation Foundation that du Pont championed during his lifetime.

Kennedy Nominated for USPS Board

Posted on by

President Obama is nominating Vicki Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. The 59-year-old attorney also serves on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board, and is an activist for gun control. She has been asked to run for her late husband’s Senate seat, but has refused. Sen. Kennedy endorsed Mr. Obama for President in 2008; Mrs. Kennedy endorsed him in 2012.

The USPS Board of Governors functions like a board of directors in a private corporation, appointing the CEO (Postmaster General) and overseeing the agency’s operations and policies.

Surely, Shirley

Posted on by

The most popular and famous child star ever, Shirley Temple, died recently of natural causes at the age of 85.

Her upbeat, cheerful movies raised spirits during the Depression, and for four years — 1935-1938 — she was the top star in Hollywood, more popular than Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, or anyone else.

Later, after her acting career had petered out, she became active in Republican politics and served twice as a U.S. Ambassador and in other roles for the State Department.

I wouldn’t call myself a Shirley Temple fan, as in fanatic; her stardom was before my time, her film career over by the time I was born. But if there was ever a candidate for a Legends of Hollywood stamp, she is it. Heck, they even named the faux cocktail served to kids after her, the Shirley Temple.

And then I thought, “but will the marketeers who now run the U.S. stamp program see her as commercial enough?” I mean, according to the Washington Post last November, USPS marketing director Nagisa Manabe vetoed a stamp for the great jazz singer Sarah Vaughan because today’s kids don’t know who she was.

Memo to Manabe: I’ll bet most Americans couldn’t tell you who half the people in the Black Heritage series were, or any of the people in the recent sets of stamps honoring design, such as the upcoming Pioneers of Graphic Design. Bradbury Thompson? Isn’t that the furniture store chain? Norman Rockwell makes rocket engines, right? One of the purposes of a nation’s stamps, or at least this nation’s stamps, is to bring to our attention historic figures and subjects about which we ought to know something.

There’s a story that a well-known philatelic editor turned down a chance to edit the book Stamp Collecting for Dummies, because “stamp collecting isn’t for dummies.” He was wrong to turn down the book, but right about who collects stamps: We’re mostly thoughtful people with a sense of history. The kids who will become stamp collectors, and continue philately into adulthood, are mostly thoughtful kids with a sense of history.

Deliver only commercial subjects on our stamps, and you will drive off many of the adults — some are already heading for the exits — and you won’t snare those thoughtful kids with a thirst to learn. Collecting stamps will become another short-lived childhood fad, like Davy Crockett or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

If there’s any justice, we will see a Shirley Temple stamp in a few years, not because it will sell lots of copies, but because it’s right.

Another Record Loss for U.S. Postal Service

Posted on by

[press release]
U.S. Postal Service Records Loss of $354 Million in First Quarter, Underscoring Need for Comprehensive Legislation
·     Revenue Increases by $334 Million, Driven by 14.1 Percent Growth in Shipping and Package Services; First-Class Mail Continues to Decline
·   Operating Costs decreased by $574 Million
·   Liabilities of $63 Billion Exceed Assets by Approximately $40 Billion

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service ended the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2013 – Dec. 31, 2013) with a net loss of $354 million. This marks the 19th of the last 21 quarters that it has sustained a loss. Though the Postal Service has been able to grow revenue by capitalizing on opportunities in Shipping and Package Services and has aggressively reduced operating costs, losses continue to mount due to the persistent decline of higher-margin First-Class Mail, stifling legal mandates, and its inflexible business and governance models.

“The Postal Service is doing its part within the bounds of law to right size the organization, and I am very proud of the achievements we have made to reduce costs while significantly growing our package business,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe. “We cannot return the organization to long-term financial stability without passage of comprehensive postal reform legislation. We appreciate the efforts of the House and Senate oversight committees to make this happen as soon as possible.”

Without legislative change, the Postal Service will be forced to default on another required $5.7 billion retiree health benefits prefunding payment due by Sept. 30, 2014, because it will have insufficient cash and no ability to borrow additional funds at that date.

The Postal Service will continue to have a low level of liquidity through October 2014. In the event that circumstances leave the Postal Service with insufficient cash, the Postal Service would be required to implement contingency plans to ensure that all mail deliveries continue. These measures could require the Postal Service to prioritize payments to its employees and suppliers ahead of some payments to the federal government, as has been done in the past.

Citing that the Postal Service could not wait for legislation indefinitely, the Postal Service’s Board of Governors directed management in 2013 to accelerate alignment of its operations to further reduce costs and strengthen its finances. The Postal Service leveraged employee attrition and increased use of non-career employees — as provided by new labor agreements — which allowed for better alignment of staffing and workload levels, resulting in reduced labor costs.

“We grew revenue by over $300 million through aggressive marketing and improving service, and we reduced operating costs by $574 million in Quarter 1, partially due to the separation of approximately 22,800 employees in 2013 under a Voluntary Early Retirement program and improved efficiency in our workforce,” said Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Joseph Corbett.

First Quarter Results of Operations Compared to Same Period Last Year

  • Total mail volume of 42.0 billion pieces compared to 43.5 billion pieces
  • First-Class Mail volume declined 4.6 percent.
  • Standard Mail volume declined by 2.8 percent.
  • Shipping and Package volume increased 10.3 percent.
  • Operating revenue of $18.0 billion, an increase of $334 million or 1.9 percent
  • Operating expenses of $18.3 billion compared to $18.9 billion, a decrease of 3.0 percent

Revenue from First-Class Mail, the Postal Service’s most profitable service category, decreased $209 million, or 2.8 percent from the same period last year, with a volume decrease of 817 million pieces, or 4.6 percent. The most significant factors contributing to this decline were the ongoing trends in the mailing behavior of consumers and businesses emanating from the recent recession, and the continuing migration toward electronic communication and transactional alternatives.

The Postal Service’s shipping business continues to show solid growth. Shipping and Package revenue increased $479 million or 14.1 percent over 2013 first quarter results, fueled by the growth of online shopping, Sunday deliveries in limited U.S. markets and the ongoing success of Postal Service campaigns to promote the value of Postal Service shipping services. The Postal Service continues to capitalize on its competitive advantage in providing “last mile” service, resulting in a 34.3 percent increase in revenue from Parcel Return and Parcel Select Service over the same period last year.
Complete financial results are available in the Form 10-Q, available online.

Linn’s: Batman Stamp This Summer

Posted on by

Breaking news at linns.com: Holy Smokes! Another Batman stamp is on the way! According to the paper’s Bill McAllister, the stamp would be issued at Comic-Con, the huge convention for comics in San Diego. This year, it is being held July 24-27. Since the USPS rarely issues stamps on Saturdays or Sundays, that would make July 24 or 25 most likely. More at www.linns.com/news/batman.aspx

The Comic-Con website says Batman writers have just been added as a special guests.

June 6th: No one connected with the USPS at the Hot Rods first day ceremony would confirm this issue, but all had a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile and said the stock phrases that are uttered when an issue is on the schedule but they don’t want to say. Holy Obfuscation, Batman! There is nothing yet on the Comic-Con 2014 website.

U.S. 2014 Scott Catalogue Numbers

Posted on by

3761A 4¢ Chippendale Chair coil, dated “2013” (Ashton-Potter printing)

CVP89 (46¢) Computer-vended stamp on pre-printed Reindeer label

Numbers Assigned in March:

4846 (46¢) Chinese New Year – Year of the Horse
4847 (46¢) Love
4848 49¢ Fortune’s Holly Fern coil stamp
4849 49¢ Soft Shield Fern coil stamp
4850 49¢ Autumn Fern coil stamp
4851 49¢ Goldie’s Wood Fern coil stamp
4852 49¢ Painted Fern coil stamp
a. Strip of 5, #4848-4852
4853 (49¢) Fort McHenry Flag and Fireworks self-adhesive coil stamp, serpentine die cut 8½ vert. (CCL printing)
4854 (49¢) Fort McHenry Flag and Fireworks self-adhesive coil stamp, serpentine die cut 9½ vert. (Ashton-Potter printing)
4855 (49¢) Fort McHenry Flag and Fireworks litho. self-adhesive booklet stamp, serpentine die cut 11¼x10¾ on 2 or 3 sides (Ashton-Potter printing)
a. Convertible booklet pane of 20
4856 (49¢) Shirley Chisholm

Digital First Days Available To All Members

Posted on by

[AFDCS press release]
AFDCS Makes Digital Edition of First Days Available To All Members

First Days, the award-winning journal of the American First Day Cover Society, is now available online to all classes of membership. The magazine is one of the principal benefits of membership in the AFDCS.

Each issue will be available in three different versions:

  • A page-flip version which simulates an actual magazine on a monitor connected to a Windows or Macintosh computer;
  • A mobile version for use on tablets, phones and other mobile devices; and
  • A .pdf version, whose file can be downloaded and saved.

The online editions are available to members as soon as the issue is submitted to the printer, allowing earlier access to the journal, and without the problems inherent in postal delivery.

The AFDCS offers several levels of membership: Online, which does not include a printed copy of First Days; Regular, which does; Silver and Gold, which allow members to express their support of the AFDCS and first day cover collecting; and Life, which includes both the online and hard-copy magazines.

Members who want access to these digital editions of First Days, as well as other AFDCS digital publications planned for the near future, and have not previously registered on the site should click on “Member Register”in the top left corner of the AFDCS website, www.afdcs.org.

“Digital publishing of hobby publications is the future, and now, for the AFDCS, it’s the present,” said AFDCS president Lloyd A. de Vries. “I especially want to thank webmaster Todd Ronnei, who spent months seeking and then testing the necessary software.”

Ronnei was also responsible for compiling a digital archive of First Days from the first issue in 1955 through 2011, which is available on a DVD for $79 or a flash drive for $89. An update disk is planned covering subsequent years, although .pdf files of all issues from January 2011 to the present are still available.

The American First Day Cover Society is the world’s largest not-for-profit organization dedicated to the collecting of FDCs. Each issue of First Days is published in full color and includes articles, columns, Society business, a non-commercial Cover Exchange, and the best collection of FDC advertisements anywhere.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org or write to the AFDCS, P.O. Box 16277 Tucson, Arizona 85732-6277, or via e-mail at afdcs@afdcs.org.