Announced November 1, 2022:

The Mississippi River is variously referred to as America’s backbone, heart and soul. The Mighty Mississippi release honors the big river with a portfolio of 10 photographic stamps, each representing a state along its course. On the back of the pane is a map of the central United States, detailing the river and its major tributaries. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the pane using existing photographs.

Additional information will be posted below the line, with the newest at the top.

Updated July 5^th:
Here are the Scott catalogue numbers for this issue:
5698 Mighty Mississippi pane of 10
a. (58¢) Minnesota
b. (58¢) Wisconsin
c. (58¢) Iowa
d. (58¢) Illinois
e. (58¢) Missouri
f. (58¢) Kentucky
g. (58¢) Arkansas
h. (58¢) Tennessee
i. (58¢) Louisiana
j. (58¢) Mississippi
k. As #5698a, imperforate
l. As #5698b, imperforate
m. As #5698c, imperforate
n. As #5698d, imperforate
o. As #5698e, imperforate
p. As #5698f, imperforate
q. As #5698g, imperforate
r. As #5698h, imperforate
s. As #5698i, imperforate
t. As #5698j, imperforate

Updated April 27^th:
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:The Digital Color Postmark measures 1.95″x1.49″ The black-and-white pictorial postmark measures 2.75″x1.09″

Ceremony Details:

Postal Service To Honor Mighty Mississippi on Forever Stamps

WHAT: The U.S. Postal Service will honor the Mighty Mississippi, America’s quintessential waterway, with 10 different Forever stamps following the river’s course north to south.

The first-day-of-issue event for the Mighty Mississippi Forever stamps is free and open to the public. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #MightyMississippiStamps.

WHO: Gary R. Barksdale, chief postal inspector and dedicating official

WHEN: Monday, May 23, 2022, at 11 a.m. CDT

WHERE: Beale Street Landing
251 Riverside Drive
Memphis, TN 38103

RSVP: Dedication ceremony attendees are encouraged to RSVP at: usps.com/mightymississippi

BACKGROUND: The Mississippi River is at the core of the nation’s heritage, and is variously referred to as America’s backbone, its heart and its soul. From Lake Itasca’s trickling overspill in Minnesota, the Mississippi flows and grows for 2,300 miles.

It streams through varied topography in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, past Iowa’s millennium-old effigy mounds, and by the remains of Cahokia, the nation’s largest pre-Columbian city, in Illinois. The Gateway Arch in Missouri rises near where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked to venture westward in 1803.

The Ohio River, flowing in along Kentucky’s northern border, doubles the Mississippi’s volume. The Lower Mississippi is a riparian superhighway. Massive engineering works — channels, locks, dams and levees — help accommodate barge tows more than 1,000 feet long, common along the Arkansas-Tennessee boundary and beyond.

Abundant bayous in Mississippi and Louisiana split the river into a bird-foot-shaped delta. The New Orleans area hosts the river’s largest port.

At the point where the Mississippi reaches the Gulf of Mexico, the trickle that started in Lake Itasca has intermingled with waters from 31 states.

Updated April 21^st:
On May 23, 2022, in Memphis, TN, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Mighty Mississippi stamps (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in 10 designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 10 stamps (Item 580300). These stamps will go on sale nationwide May 23, 2022, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Mighty Mississippi commemorative pane of 10 stamps may not be split and the stamps may not be sold individually.

This stamp issuance honors the Mighty Mississippi with a portfolio of ten different photographic images. Arranged on the pane in five rows of two stamps each, the images correspond to the states’ north-south and west-east sequence along the Mississippi River. Small type on the margin of each stamp indicates its location:

• Top row: Minnesota and Wisconsin;
• Second row: Iowa and Illinois;
• Third row: Missouri and Kentucky;
• Fourth row: Arkansas and Tennessee; and
• Bottom row: Louisiana and Mississippi.

In the selvage, three photographic riverscapes frame the stamps. From top to bottom: the Julien Dubuque Bridge, Illinois/Iowa; St. Louis, Missouri; and a Mississippi bayou. The verso features a map of the central United States detailing the river’s course and its major tributaries. It is superimposed on a blue monochromatic version of the selvage images. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp pane with existing photographs.

No automatic distribution of Item 580300, Pane of 10 Stamps

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 store.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 – Mighty Mississippi Stamps
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 September 23, 2022.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Mighty Mississippi Stamps
Item Number: 580300
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 10
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: May 23, 2022, Memphis, TN 38101
Art Director: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Designer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Existing Photo: Evan Spiler
Existing Photo: Dana Holm
Existing Photo: Sean Pavone
Existing Photo: Ron Levine
Existing Photo: Jay Olson-Goude
Existing Photo: Mississippi River Parkway Commission
Existing Photo: David Sebben
Existing Photo: Walter Blackledge
Existing Photo: M.J. Scanlon
Existing Photo: Larry Braun
Existing Photo: Don McLaughlin
Selvage Existing Photo: Jeffrey Smith
Selvage Existing Photo: Tom Wolf
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd (APU)
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Pane: 10
Print Quantity: 40,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Pantone Cool Grey 7C
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 0.84 in/36.068 x 21.336 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 0.98 in/39.624 x 24.892 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.4 x 8.0 in/137.16 x 203.20 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 10.925 x 24.25 in/277.495 x 615.95 mm
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “P” followed by five (5) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: “Mighty Mississippi” • Plate number in 2 corners
Back: ©2021 USPS • USPS logo • Two barcodes (580300) • Plate position diagram (6) • Promotional text • Mighty Mississippi map

Updated April 14^th:
The USPS is offering a new philatelic product for this issue, Mighty Mississippi Field Notes^®.Five “pocket-sized notebooks from the classic FIELD NOTES brand … each with two different Mighty Mississippi stamps affixed to the cover and canceled with” the first-day pictorial postmark. $26.95 for item 580399.

Updated January 13^th:
These stamps will be issued May 23 in Memphis, TN.