Date change! We’d been assuming these stamps would be issued on Veterans Day, November 11th – but the current internal USPS schedule has them on July 26th!
July 26th: Photos from the first day ceremony can be found here.
July 22: Ceremony Details:
WHAT: Korean War Medal of Honor Forever Stamps First-Day-of-Issue Ceremony.
WHO:
- Korean War Medal of Honor Recipient Thomas Jerome Hudner, Jr. of Concord, MA,
- Families of Korean War Medal of Honor Recipients William R. Charette of Lake Wales, FL;
- Rodolfo P. Hernandez of Fayetteville, NC;
- Einar H. Ingman, Jr. of Irma, WI;
- Hiroshi H. Miyamura of Gallup, NM; and,
- Tibor Rubin of Garden Grove, CA,
- President of the Korean War Veterans Association Larry Kinard,
- Republic of Korea Vice Minister for the Ministry of Patriot and Veterans Affairs, Choi Wan Keun
- Representative of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jung Hoon
- Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Sat., July 26, 2014
WHERE: Arlington National Cemetery Amphitheatre, Arlington, VA 22211
July 16: The address for submitting first day covers (below) has changed.
July 6th: Those planning to attend the July 26th first-day ceremony for the Medal of Honor/Korean War stamps at the Arlington Cemetery Amphitheatre should get there no later 10:30 a.m. – but an hour earlier is recommended, because the wreath-laying is scheduled for 10:45, right before the 11 a.m. ceremony.
June 26th: The new Postal Bulletin confirms the July 26th date, and adds more detail and illustrations:
On July 26, 2014, in Washington, DC at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Medal of Honor: Korean War (Forever® First-Class Mail priced at 49 cents) stamps, in two designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) prestige folio of 20 stamps (Item 587400).
The stamps will go on sale nationwide July 26, 2014.
In January 2012, the U.S. Postal Service invited the last living Korean War Medal of Honor recipients to join in honoring the extraordinary courage of every member awarded the medal for their valorous actions during the war. This 4-page prestige folio, Medal of Honor: Korean War, honors those 145 recipients.The first side of the prestige folio highlights historical photographs of the last living recipients of the Medal of Honor from the Korean War. The 13 photographs surround two Forever stamps. One stamp features a photograph of the Navy version of the Medal of Honor; the other stamp features a photograph of the Army version of the Medal of Honor. The second page includes a short piece of text and a key to the names of the recipients pictured in the cover photos. The names of all 145 recipients of the Medal of Honor from the Korean War are listed on page three. The remaining 18 stamps are found on the back page along with a quote describing why the Medal of Honor is awarded, “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty.” Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the prestige folio and the stamps, working with photographs of the medals by Richard Frasier.
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:
Medal of Honor: Korean War
Arlington Main Office
3118 Washington Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201-9998
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 September 24, 2014.
There are nine philatelic products for this stamp issue:
- 587406* Press Sheet w/Die cuts, $29.40 (print quantity 1,000).
- 587408* Press Sheets w/o Die cuts, $29.40 (print quantity 1,500).
- 587410* Keepsake w/Digital Color Postmark (Set of 2), $13.95.
- 587416* First-Day Cover (Set of 2), $1.86.
- 587421* Digital Color Postmark (Set of 2), $3.28.
- 587424* Framed Art, $39.95.
- 587430* Ceremony Program, $6.95.
- 587431* Stamped Deck Card, $0.95.
- 587432* Stamped Deck Card w/Digital Color Postmark, $1.99.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Medal of Honor: Korean War Stamps
Item Number: 587400
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Prestige Folio of 20 (2 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: July 26, 2014, Washington,
DC 20066
Designer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Typographer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Photographer: Richard Frasier, Vienna, VA
Engraver: N/A
Modeler: Donald Woo
Manufacturing Process: Offset/Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America/SSP
Printed at: Browns Summit, NC
Press Type: Alprinta, 74
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 30 million stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit, SC
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Metallic Gold, Gray
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 1.42 in./21.34 x 36.07 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.98 x 1.56 in./24.90 x 39.62 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 7.5 (8.5 folded) x 17.0 in./190.5 x 431.8 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 17.0 x 22.5 in./431.8 x 571.5 mm
Plate Size: 60 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “S” followed by 111111 (6) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Back: © 2014 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (587400) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text
This postmark measures 2.16″ x 2.60″.
This postmark measures 3.96″ x 1.97″.
Here are views of the prestige folio that includes photos and names of Medal winners:
Listed as July since the the May 1st Postal Bulletin. July 27th would make more sense, but it is a Sunday so I’m guessing it was moved up a day. The 2003 stamp for the 50th anniversary stamp was issued on Sunday the 27th.
The design appears to be the same as on the WW II stamp. Is the folio the only difference in the actual stamp? Will the date on the stamp be the only way to differentiate the two stamps?
Yes, the design is the same because the design of the Medal of Honor was the same for both World War II and Korea. For individual stamps, the year date will be the only difference. When the Viet Nam Medal of Honor stamps are issued in 2015, there will be a third design because the Air Force Medal of Honor was first presented for Viet Nam.
The armistice was signed on July 276th in Korea, but that may have still been July 26th in the U.S. There’s a 14-hour difference in time zones (17 for the U.S. West Coast).
I heard that there was a joint issue between the US and the Rep. of Korea was issued. Is this right?
what are the correct scott numbers -what you have is for the 2013 stamps????
Do both the MOH WW2 and Korean War have identical Scott Numbers. 4822-23?. Every stamp catalog that I have looked at do not list the MOH Korean War in 2014. Has Scott decided that this is a reissue of the WW2 MOH..
According to Scott Publishing, “The Medal of Honor stamps in the WWII folio are Nos. 4822-4823. The ones from the Korean War folio have a different year date, 2014, and were assigned Nos. 4822a and 4823a. The items Army and Navy MOH stamps from the Vietnam War folio have 2015 year dates and are assigned Nos. 4822b and 4823b. Also in that folio is the Air Force MOH stamp, No. 4988.”