Water Lilies (U.S. 2015)

Updated February 28th: Here is the design for the Digital Color Postmark first-day cancel: wlilies_dcp_vscIt measures 2.95″x1.25″

Updated February 19th: From the Postal Bulletin:

waterliliesOn March 20, 2015, in Cleveland, OH, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue Water Lilies First-Class Mail® stamps (Forever® priced at 49 cents), in four designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 689900).

The stamps will go on sale nationwide March 20, 2015.

Elegant water lilies grace four new stamps from the U.S. Postal Service. Each stamp depicts a close-up view of the flower of one of four classic garden water lilies. Art director Phil Jordan designed the stamps with existing photographs taken by Cindy Dyer in midsummer at the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC.

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:

Water Lilies Stamps
Marketing
2200 Orange Avenue, Room 206
Cleveland, OH 44101-9998

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 May 19, 2015.

There are six philatelic products for this stamp issue:

  • 689906, Press Sheet with Die cut, $117.60 (print quantity 250)
  • 689908, Press Sheet without Die cut, $117.60 (print quantity 1,000)
  • 689910 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (set of 4), $16.95
  • 689916 First-Day Cover (set of 4), $3.72
  • 689921 Digital Color Postmark (set of 4), $6.56
  • 689931 Stamp Deck Card, $0.95

Technical Specifications:

waterliliesIssue: Water Lilies Stamps
Item Number: 689900
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Double-Sided Booklet of 20 (4 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: March 20, 2015, Cleveland, OH 44101
Art Director: Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Designer: Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Typographer: Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Existing Photos: Cindy Dyer
Modeler: Donald Woo
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America/SSP
Printed at: Browns Summit, NC
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Booklet: 20
Print Quantity: 500 million stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Overall Tagged
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit, NC
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 0.73 in./21.34 x 18.54 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.98 x 0.87 in./24.89 x 22.10 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 1.96 x 5.52 in./49.78 x 140.21 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 11.04 x 11.76 in./280.42 x 298.70 mm
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Plate Size: 576 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “S” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: • Plate numbers in peel strip area • © 2014

Updated November 30th: Illustrations of plants from the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens n Washington, DC. These will be a booklet of 20, and issued at the Garfield-Perry stamp show in Cleveland, on Friday, March 20th. These were based on existing photos by Cindy Dyer, who also took the photos for the Ferns in early 2014.waterlilies

3 thoughts on “Water Lilies (U.S. 2015)

  1. Pingback: February 20th Update to U.S. 2015 Stamp Program | virtualstampclub.com

  2. For the benefit of postal stationery collectors, it looks like we need to open a new listing for the Water Lilies Stamped Envelopes (two varieties of envelopes available in a PSA set of 10 envelopes with seals) at $9.95 as posted today on the USPS Store’s website:

    https://store.usps.com/store/browse/productDetailSingleSku.jsp?productId=S_882101&categoryId=cards-envelopes

    FDOI appears to be April 17, 2015 in New York City:

    https://store.usps.com/store/browse/productDetailSingleSku.jsp?productId=S_882103

  3. Thanks, Bill. I’ve added it to our listing, and created a separate blog entry.

    Sooooo glad Stamp Services is communicating more with us these days!

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