Purple Heart – 2014 Reprint

purple-heart-scratchVSC member Chris Lazaroff reports a 2014 version of this veteran stamp will be issued on October 11 in Dover Delaware at the Dover Stamp Club’s show. The format is not know.

From the October 2nd Postal Bulletin:

On October 11, 2014, in Dover, DE, the U.S. Postal Service® will re-issue the Purple Heart Medal stamp, Forever® First Class Mail® priced at 49 cents, in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps

The Purple Heart Medal stamp design features a photograph taken by Ira Wexler of a Purple Heart medal awarded during World War II. The 2011 Purple Heart with Ribbon stamp was reworked in 2012 to display a slightly larger image of the Purple Heart medal on a pure white background. Designed by art director Jennifer Arnold, the stamp was given the name Purple Heart Medal.

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 http://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:

Purple Heart Medal Stamp
Postmaster
Dover Post Office
55 Loockerman Plaza
Dover, DE 19901-9998

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 December 10, 2014.

There are two philatelic products for this stamp issue:

  • 125416, First-Day Cover, $0.93.
  • 125431, Stamped Deck Card, $0.95.

Technical Specifications:

purpleheart2014Issue: Purple Heart Medal Stamp
Item Number: 115400
Denomination & Type of Issue: Forever First-Class Mail
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: October 11, 2014, Dover, DE 19901
Designer: Jennifer Arnold, Washington, DC
Art Director: Jennifer Arnold, Washington, DC
Typographer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Artist: Ira Wexler, Braddock Heights, MD
Engraver: WRE
Modeler: CCL Label, Inc.
Manufacturing Process: Gravure
Printer: CCL Label, Inc.
Printed at: Clinton, SC 29325
Press Type: Dia Nippon Kiko (DNK)
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 70 million stamps
Paper Type: Prephosphored, Type I
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: CCL Label, Inc., Clinton, SC
Colors: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Black, Purple 266, Red 1805
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.73 x 0.84 in./18.54 x 21.34 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.87 x 0.98 in./22.10 x 24.90 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.25 x 4.83 in./133.35 x 122.55 mm
Plate Size: 420 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “C” followed by six (6) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Plate numbers in four corners of pane
Back: © 2012 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (115400) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text

7 thoughts on “Purple Heart – 2014 Reprint

  1. FIRST DAY OF ISSUE CEREMONY

    DOVER STAMP SHOW, OCTOBER 11, 2014

    Purple Heart Forever.jpg

    After several previous unsuccessful attempts in recent years to secure a First Day of Issue stamp and ceremony for Delaware, we have just received preliminary First Day details for the reissue of the Purple Heart stamp at the Dover Stamp Show on October 11, 2014. The ceremony will be held at the show location: Camden-Wyoming Fire Hall, 200 E. Camden-Wyoming Avenue, Camden, Delaware 19934. Hours are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

    Mr. Chris Lazaroff, Past President of the American First Day Cover Society and a member of the Brandywine Valley Stamp Club, has promoted First Day ceremonies for many stamp issues and will serve as Master of Ceremonies. The ceremony will commence at 11 a.m. with the presentation of colors by the Dover Air Force Base Color Guard, followed by welcoming remarks from Melvin Nace, Show Chairman. Following remarks by one or more recipients of the Purple Heart, the stamp dedication will be made by the Dover Postmaster, An autograph session will follow closing remarks and photo opportunities.

    The USPS will have a substation at the show, and will have the Purple Heart stamp as well as a supply of current and a selection of older commemorative and definitive stamps, including the popular $2 Jenny Invert stamp souvenir sheet issued last year (while supplies last).

    The last First Day of Issue ceremony for Delaware was in Wilmington on March 29, 1988 for the 350th Anniversary of the Settling of New Sweden, Scott No. C117, featuring the Swedish Ships Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip.

    • The word “FOREVER” is only marked out in the illustrations to prevent unauthorized duplication. It should not be crossed out on any of the actual stamps that have not been used.

  2. I have 2014 stamps with the manufacturer P/N as B111111 & C111111.
    Can you tell me what the Scott No. is for each since each stamp looks identical with the exception of plate nos. I currently have C111111 as Scott 4704a, but nothing on
    the one with B111111. I have seen on e-bay listings as 4704b ?????

    • Usually, the first letter of a plate number indicates the printer. Our 2014 article here only refers to one printer, CCL, which would be the CCL. The Scott Specialized catalogue should differentiate and tell the numbers for a subsequent printer by “B” (which IIRC is usually American Banknote). Your local public library may have a copy, and a nearby philatelic library (there are about half a dozen scattered around the country) certainly will. The biggest is the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Penn. They probably would be willing to photocopy that page with 4074 for you for a small fee. https://stamps.org/Services/Library

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