Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) (U.S. 2022)

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Announced by the USPS on May 3rd:

New stamps salute the centennial of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) whose “Peanuts” characters are some of the best known and most beloved in all of American culture. For five decades, Schulz alone wrote and drew nearly 18,000 strips, the last one published the day after he died. Each character reflects Schulz’s rich imagination and great humanity. His resonant stories found humor in life’s painful realities including rejection, insecurity and unrequited love.

In a celebratory mode, characters from “Peanuts” adorn 10 designs on this pane of 20 stamps and form a frame around a 1987 photograph of Schulz.

Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps from Schulz’s artwork and an existing photograph by Douglas Kirkland.

Additional information will be posted below the line, with the most recent info near the top.

Updated December 1st:
The Scott Catalog numbers for this issue are

  • 5726 pane of 20, 2 each #5726a-5726j
  • a. (60¢) Charlie Brown
  • b. (60¢) Lucy
  • c. (60¢) Franklin
  • d. (60¢) Sally
  • e. (60¢) Pigpen
  • f. (60¢) Linus
  • g. (60¢) Snoopy and Woodstock
  • h. (60¢) Schroeder
  • i. (60¢) Peppermint Patty
  • j. (60¢) Marcie
  • k. As #5726, imperforate
  • l. As #5726a, imperforate
  • m. As #5726b, imperforate
  • n. As #5726c, imperforate
  • o. As #5726d, imperforate
  • p. As #5726e, imperforate
  • q. As #5726f, imperforate
  • r. As #5726g, imperforate
  • s. As #5726h, imperforate
  • t. As #5726i, imperforate
  • u. As #5726j, imperforate

Updated August 30th:

On September 30, 2022, in Santa Rosa, CA, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Charles M. Schulz stamps (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in 10 designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 561700). These stamps will go on sale nationwide September 30, 2022, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Charles M. Schulz pane of 20 stamps may not be split and the stamps may not be sold individually.

With 10 fun-filled new stamps, the Postal Service salutes cartoonist Charles M. Schulz on his birth centennial. In a celebratory mode, characters from his beloved comic strip Peanuts adorn the 10 designs on this pane of 20 stamps:

  • Charlie Brown,
  • Lucy,
  • Franklin,
  • Sally,
  • Pigpen,
  • Linus,
  • Snoopy (with Woodstock),
  • Schroeder,
  • Peppermint Patty, and
  • Marcie.

The characters form a frame around a 1987 photograph of the cartoonist whose vivid imagination gave great humor and humanity to Peanuts. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp issuance, using artwork by Charles M. Schulz and an existing photograph by Douglas Kirkland.

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 store.usps.com/store/home. 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 – Charles M. Schulz 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 January 30, 2023.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Charles M. Schulz Stamps
Item Number: 561700
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (10 designs)
Issue Date & City: September 30, 2022, Santa Rosa, CA 95402
Art Director: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Designer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Existing Art: Charles M. Schulz
Existing Photo: Douglas Kirkland
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Gallus, RCS
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 50,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tagged
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 1.42 in./21.336 x 36.068 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.98 x 1.56 in./24.892 x 39.624 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 6.91 x 7.27 in./175.514 x 184.658 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 13.82 x 21.81 in./351.028 x 553.974 mm
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “B” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: SCHULZ • CHARLES M. SCHULZ CENTENNIAL 2022 • Plate number in four corners
Back: PEANUTS Characters © Peanuts Worldwide LLC | ©2022 USPS • USPS logo • Two barcodes (561700) • Promotional text • Plate position diagram (6)

Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue: The DCP measures 2.94″ x 1.11″ The pictorial postmark measures 2.73″ x 1.25″.

Updated June 15th:
These stamps will be issued September 30 with a Santa Rosa, CA postmark.

30 thoughts on “Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) (U.S. 2022)”

    • I thought about his birthday as the stamp release date, but it’s too late in the year. According to the Wikipedia article on Peanuts, it began as a daily strip on October 2, 1950. However, I think it’s more likely that the stamp issuance will be tied to a television special’s broadcast.

      • Didn’t USPS released Wilt Chamberlain in December 2014? That too was rather late, since USPS need to count their profits and prepare for the next year’s program.

        • The stationery comes with ten stamps. The illustration shows the top half of a pane, with the portrait of Schulz cut in half. The first question that occurs to me is, does this create a new version of the stamps, with the four stamps “imperforate?” And will some of these stationery sets be supplied with the bottom half of the pane? How would a purchaser feel about getting the bottom half with only Schulz’ shirt? Will the USPS throw out half a sheet, or will it print just top halves, again, begging the question of a new collectible. half the Schulz pane

          • You’ve over analyzed the problem. Buyers will get one half of a pane of 20, cut in half by the folks at Stamp Fulfillment Services. Some will receive the top half of the pane; others the bottom half. No special printing. No variety. No imperfs. Not even a secret handshake. Just ten stamps for the ten envelopes included with the product. And yes, some will get the top half of Schulz, others will get the bottom half.

          • You are right Lloyd. I bought this and the stamps where the cut took place are imperf. They cut the perfs right off! So, Foster, you are mistaken because my stamps came from the USPS and have the sides perf’d and one side imperf – are these damaged stamps or a variety?

          • I am nowhere near my stamps right now, so I can’t look, but but looking at my rough “preview” image for the Schulz Dragon Card http://www.dragoncards.biz/art/2022/schulz_wdemo.png what you have is correct: The Dragon Card mock-up shows the top half of a sheet. The top and bottom rows of the complete sheet are imperf. So are the 4 stamps on the left side and the 4 on the right.

  2. Could be the issuance will take place in Minneapolis, MN ?

    However with all the trouble in the past year or so, who knows>

  3. Santa Rosa, CA would be another nice place for the Schulz release.
    It is disappoinying that his picture in the center was not a stamp. Of course, the time frame for recognition has not been long enough for a release of his stamp.

    • He died in 2000, more than enough time. The current waiting period is three years. From the CSAC criteria section of USPS.com: “proposals for a deceased individual will be considered three years following his/her death.”

      • With an additional 3-4 years on research of the subject as they can’t research beforehand. But yes, it’s more than enough to make a commemorative. Still waiting on Scott Adam’s Dilbert. He was surprisingly skipped in 2010 Sunday Funnies release series which included Dennis the Menace, Archie, Beetle Bailey, Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes.

    • That, and the stamps lack any character names.😕 I understand that it was impossible to do it with the 2015 release per the stamps being small and all, but now it’s just ridiculous. I see Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Linus, but without names, my memory fades.😕

      Schulz was dead for 22 years now. It’s time for USPS to issue a stamp in his honor too.

  4. Since Santa Rosa is the home of Charles Schulz and his wife Jean, and Santa Rosa has done many art installations related to Peanuts, statues are all over town, but as far as I know all Peanuts stamp issues have been in Santa Rosa.
    Not to say that the postal service couldn’t change it, but I feel that the family when dealing with the post office probably told them where the ceremony would be.
    Hopefully the museum will be free that day and open to the public. Considering the tragic and traumatic fire in 2017 that destroyed his home and irreplaceable memorabilia. It will be another boon for the city.

  5. It is too bad that the center picture of Charles Schultz is not a stamp as it would be very nice for fdc issues. i will do it without it being a stamp. It will be a lot of fun.

    • You can always affix that center picture close enough to a stamp and have it tied by the first-day cancel. USPS rules allow that.

  6. Will the Post Office cancel a Maximum Card received via mail. Do I have to add one for the address and one for the front picture?

    • Yes, it will. I recommend sending it to the Kansas City address, and including a self-addressed stamp envelope for its return so it doesn’t get damaged in the mailstream. No, you don’t need to have stamps on each side,unless you want stamps on both sides.

  7. What a resourceful website for a beginner stamp collector! If you don’t mind, I have a couple of questions.

    1) How does one calculate how many panes of Charles Schulz were issued. Is it simply dividing 50 million by 20 stamps on each pane for a total of 2.5 million? If so, is that a low, medium or high production quantity?

    2) Is there any rhyme or reason on why the USPS Stamp Fulfillment Service packaging varies between a Priority Mail envelope and polyethylene mailers? The former provides better protection from bending/creasing in my opinion. On my last order, a couple of panes shipped in the poly wrap resulted in the cardboard edges of the shrink wrapped panes getting bent/creased. No big deal, but I am concerned that one day the actual pane might get bent/creased due to lack of protection. Would adding a couple of 1c Tiffany Lamp panes (20c each pane) to the order be an inexpensive way to provide cardboard protection for the Forever panes in the order if shipped in poly wrap? To minimize the risk of damaged panes, is it advisable to place several small quantity orders or one large order, assuming they will be shipped in poly mailers?

    Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

    • I don’t know all the answers. If others don’t have them (particularly about packaging), I’ll ask the USPS. Yes, 2.5 million panes, but I’m not sure how that compares; I don’t pay that much attention. Others do. It sounds a little high. At the stamp show last month, Betty Brown, head of stamp production, and her boss, Bill Gicker, manager of Stamp Services, said in separate talks that figuring how many stamps to produce is a guessing game.

      • FWIW, I ordered 14 panes this earlier this week and all arrived in a poly mailer intact without damage.

        Regarding the Charles Schulz issue, are there any advantages to pre-ordering them on the USPS website vs waiting to order on the issue date?

        • 14 panes of other issues, I presume. The issue date for Schulz is a week away.

          Once, if you ordered in advance, the stamps would arrive ON the issue date (or the latest issue date of the stamps you ordered at one time). Now, that does not seem to be the case. However, I do think you will get them sooner than if you wait until they have been issued.

          • Yes, 14 panes of other issues. Plan to order about the same quantity of Schulz. Between regular mail and political advertising mail, the mailbox is usually full these days. Did not want to risk close to 30 panes being crammed in the mailbox without care, so will do two separate orders. Might place a pre-order of Schulz to avoid a “Black Friday” type online rush on issue date as this issue is receiving a lit of “buzz” from non philatelists on social media.

  9. Rookie question: I pre-ordered Schulz panes from the USPS Postal store online as well as some other already released panes last week all in one order. I received e-mail notification of shipment with the Schulz panes having been shipped with a separate tracking number. The non-Schulz panes arrived in a poly-mailer with the panes being sealed in plastic wrap. The Schulz panes arrived in a Priority Mail envelope and were not sealed. I would have preferred them to have been sealed. Is there a reason for this? Do you know why some issues arrive sealed and others do not?

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