Hanukkah (U.S. 2024)

Announced October 23, 2023:

A new stamp celebrating the joyous Jewish holiday of Hanukkah will be issued in 2024. The art is a graphic depiction of a hanukiah, the nine-branch candelabra used only at Hanukkah, with all candles lighted, signifying the last evening of the holiday. The artwork is created mostly in blue and white, common Hanukkah colors. Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, designed and illustrated the stamp art.

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


Updated November 5th:
The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5945

Updated September 20th:
The Postal Bulletin notes that there are no press sheets for this issue. That item has been removed from the Technical Specifications here.

Updated August 9th:
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.69″ x 1.15″ The Pictorial Postmark measures 2.60″ x 1.19″

From the Postal Bulletin:

On September 19, 2024, in Washington, DC, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Hanukkah 2024 stamp (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate), in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 581500). This stamp will go on sale nationwide September 19, 2024, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.

This new stamp celebrates the joyous Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The stamp art features a simple ink drawing of a hanukiah (or menorah), the nine-branch candelabra used only at Hanukkah. The illustrator digitally added the traditional Hanukkah colors of blue to the stamp background and white to the hanukiah. The flames are rendered in yellow. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed and illustrated the stamp art.

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 – Hanukkah 2024 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 January 19, 2025.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Hanukkah 2024 Stamp
Item Number: 581500
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: September 19, 2024, Washington, DC 20066
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Illustrator: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Modeler: Sandra Lane / Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 10,000,000
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: PMS 2394C, PMS 115C, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.7700 x 1.0500 in. / 19.5580 x
26.6700 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.9100 x 1.1900 in. / 23.1140 x 30.2260 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.5500 x 5.7600 in. / 140.9700 x 146.3040 mm
Plate Size: 320 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “B” followed by three (3) single digits in four corners
Marginal Markings:
Front: Plate number in four corners
Back: © 2023 USPS • USPS Logo • Two barcodes (581500) • Plate position diagram (8) • Promotional text

Updated May 20th:
This stamp will be issued September 19 in Washington, DC. Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev — which this year is the evening of December 25th, Christmas Day.

2 thoughts on “Hanukkah (U.S. 2024)

  1. Hanukkah Dragon Cards awaiting servicingI tried five local post offices today for the U.S. Hanukkah stamp, which is allegedly on automatic distribution. My own and its “parent” office each got one pane, rather than the usual two. One said “we don’t get every issue” and “we don’t sell many Hanukkah stamps here;” another that its distribution clerk was “on detail” for two weeks; and the third “we won’t get it until October.”

    I have all the Dragon Cards cut, the mock-ups printed and even a dozen labels for some “mail-outs”….and I’m not sure what’s next. Go into NYC? Order two panes from SFS ($3 service charge and two weeks to navigate out of the Kansas City Triangle?

    My best alternative may be to pay Cancellation Services 20¢ a stamp to affix the ones I don’t have.

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