October 30th Postal Bulletin: Technical Specifications for ATM booklet of 18:
Issue: Winter Fun ATM Stamps
Item Number: 588600
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever®
Format: Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Booklet of 18, (4 designs)
Series: Holiday Celebrations
Issue Date & City: October 23, 2014, New York, NY 10199
Art Director: Ethel Kesseler, Bethesda, MD
Designer: Ethel Kesseler, Bethesda, MD
Typographer: Ethel Kesseler, Bethesda, MD
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Flexographic, Offset, Microprint
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville , NY
Press Type: Muller Martini A76
Stamps per Booklet: 18
Print Quantity: 36 million stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Overall
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.73 x 0.84 in./18.54 x 21.34 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.87 x 0.98 in./22.10 x 24.89 mm
Full Booklet Size (w x h): 2.61 x 6.13 in./66.29 x 155.58 mm
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Plate Size: 720 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: © 2014 USPS • Header. “Winter Fun” “Eighteen First-Class Forever Stamps” • USPS Logo • Barcode • Stamp Ordering Information
October 22nd: The “hand cancel” is the standard four-bar First Day of Issue, but there is a Digital Color Postmark for this issue:
DCP Size: 2.47″ x 1.40″
From the USPS on August 21st: With four playful designs, Winter Fun celebrates some of the season’s most enjoyable activities: ice skating, making snow angels, building snowmen, and bird-watching.
The art for the ice skaters design was painted with acrylic on plywood with a dry brush technique to give the illustration a textured, folk-art feel. The other three were all hand-sketched and then digitally manipulated.
Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps using existing illustrations by Janet Atkinson, Jing Jing Tsong, and Christine Roy.
The stamps will be issued at the ASDA stamp show October 23 in New York City.
From the September 18th Postal Bulletin:
On October 23, 2014, in New York, NY, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Winter Fun stamps (Forever® First-Class Mail® priced at 49-cents) in four designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 689800).
The stamp will go on sale nationwide October 23, 2014.
With four playful designs, Winter Fun stamps celebrate some of the season’s most enjoyable activities: ice-skating, making snow angels, building snowmen, and bird-watching. The art for the ice skaters stamp was painted with acrylic on plywood with a dry brush technique to give the illustration a textured, folk-art feel. The art for the other three stamps was hand-sketched and then digitally manipulated. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps using existing illustrations by Janet Atkinson (ice-skating), Jing Jing Tsong (building snowmen and making snow angels), and Christine Roy (bird-watching).
To learn more about the stories behind the stamps, visit http://uspsstamps.com.
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:
Winter Fun
Special Events Coordinator
380 West 33rd Street, Room 4032
New York, NY 10199-9998
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 December 22, 2014.
There are seven philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
689806, Press Sheet with Die cuts, $58.80
(print quantity 1,000).
689808, Press Sheet without Die cuts, $58.80
(print quantity 1,000).
689810 Keepsake (Booklet and Digital Color Postmark, Set of 4), $16.95.
689816 First-Day Cover, Set of 4, $3.72.
689821 Digital Color Postmark, Set of 4, $6.56.
689830 Ceremony Program (random stamp), $6.95.
689831 Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Winter Fun Stamps
Item Number: 689800
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Double-sided booklet of 20
(4 designs)
Series: Holiday Celebrations
Issue Date & City: October 23, 2014, New York,
NY 10199
Art Director: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Designer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Typographer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Modeler: CCL Label, Inc.
Manufacturing Process: Gravure
Engraver: WRE
Printer: CCL Label, Inc.
Printed at: Clinton, SC
Press Type: Dia Nippon Kiko (DNK)
Stamps per Booklet: 20
Print Quantity: 400 Million Stamps
Paper Type: UPM Raflatac
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: AVR, Clinton, SC
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.77 x 1.05 in./19.56 x 26.68 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.91 x 1.19 in./23.11 x 30.23 mm
Full Booklet Size (w x h): 5.75 x 2.38 in./146.05 x 60.45 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 5.75 x 14.28 in./ 146.05 x 362.71 mm
Colors: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Black
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “C” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: Title printed on tab side • Plate numbers in peel strip area • © 2014 • USPS logo • Barcode
How do you order the winter fun ATM stamps? 558860 is the number listed but not on website or in cataloge.
I used 588604 and received the ATM booklets.
I just hung up from talking to a very knowledgeable person at the stamp fulfillment center. She says that they have not and will not be issuing the ATM version of the Winter Fun stamps. She says that Linn’s was incorrect in their information and that they have received many orders for the ATM version that are not being fulfilled. Thus, it would seem that anyone who has any Scott 4941 – 4944 single stamps or the 4944b ATM pane might have something worthwhile. She told me that USPS #588604 was an invalid number. I wonder if they issued some then pulled them from circulation?
Call back and ask to speak to someone who actually is knowledgeable.The Winter Fun ATM pane of 18 was indeed issued. The first day was October 23 at the ASDA show in New York City. The panes are also available at Automated Postal Centers throughout the country.. I’ve obtained panes at the first day ceremony, from an APC, and from SFS. The only question is the actual stock number – the Postal Bulletin initially used #588600 but SFS is now using #588604. If you have problems, ask to speak to a supervisor.
In response to my query, USPS Stamp Services confirms what Foster said, and is contacting the call centers to make sure they have the right information. “We do have a Winter Fun ATM Sheetlet of 18, item 588600 (item 588604 for SFS orders), issued October 23, 2014.”
Finally called myself, the rep said use #588604. Not listed in cataloge and that number will not work online. We’ll see if it works when my order arrives.
Worked, arrived Xmas eve.