Our Lady of Guapulo (Christmas) (U.S. 2020)

Announced by the USPS on July 28th:

This Christmas stamp (Our Lady of Guápulo) features a detail of the painting “Our Lady of Guápulo.” Painted in the 18th century by an unknown artist in Cuzco, Peru, “Our Lady of Guápulo” is from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Enrobed in a pyramidal gown speckled with jewels and holding a scepter woven with roses and leaves, a crowned Virgin Mary looks down at a similarly adorned Christ Child in her left arm. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp.

New information will appear below the line, with the latest at the top.


Updated December 5th:
The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5525.

Updated September 16th:
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue: The Digital Color Postmark for this issue measures 2.91″ x 1.26″ The pictorial postmark measures 2.58″ x 1.07″

Updated September 10th from the Postal Bulletin:

On October 20, 2020, in New York, NY, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Our Lady of Guápulo stamp (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) double-sided booklet of 20 stamps (Item 682900). The stamp will go on sale nationwide October 20, 2020, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.

This Christmas stamp features a detail of the painting Our Lady of Guápulo. Painted in the 18th century by an unknown artist in Cuzco, Peru, Our Lady of Guápulo is from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Enrobed in a pyramidal gown speckled with jewels and holding a scepter woven with roses and leaves, a crowned Virgin Mary looks down at a similarly adorned Christ Child in her left arm. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp.

No automatic distribution.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store® website at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI – Our Lady of Guápulo Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

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. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by February 20, 2021.

Technical Specificiatons:

Issue: Our Lady of Guápulo Stamp
Item Number: 682900
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Double-Sided Booklet of 20 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: October 20, 2020, New York, NY 10199
Art Director: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Designer: Greg Breeding, Charlotesville, VA
Existing Art: Unknown, 18th c, Cuzco, Peru
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Booklet: 20
Print Quantity: 200,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.77 x 1.05 in./19.558 x 26.67 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.91 x 1.19 in./23.114 x 30.226 mm
Full Booklet Size (w x h): 5.743 x 2.375 in./145.872 x 60.325 mm
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Pantone 8003
Plate Size: 800 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “B” followed by five (5) single digits
Marginal Markings: Header: CHRISTMAS Our Lady of Guápulo • Twenty First-Class Forever Stamps • USPS logo • Barcode • Plate number in peel strip area • ©2020 USPS in peel strip area • Promotional text in peel strip area

6 thoughts on “Our Lady of Guapulo (Christmas) (U.S. 2020)

  1. From Post Bull SEP 10 Issued on OCT 20 USPS# 682904 BK-20 PIC & DCP No Auto-Distrib FDoI City New York, NY.

  2. Yeah U.S.P.S. I was beginning to think there wasn’t going to be issued a new Madonna stamp for 2020, but, there is one , and it’s a beautiful stamp. Thank You to USPS for honoring most all traditions with this yr’s holiday stamps!

  3. Unfortunately not available at a post offices. The USPS must have had a glut of last year’s Madonna stamps and when some of my local post offices ordered the Christmas stamp they were shipped last year’s issues. A person at one of the post offices I went to said “You must be a collector. Only a collector would notice the difference”.

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