From the USPS press release November 15, 2024:
New stamped-card designs are issued every few years for customers who want to send postcards with postage already included. The latest features an illustration of a two-masted sea vessel based on a photo of a 2014 replica of the 1923 schooner Columbia. Libby VanderPloeg was the artist and Antonio Alcalá provided art direction.
The latest information on this issue will appear below the line, with the latest information at the top.
Updated September 10th:
The Scott catalogue numbers for this issue are UX649 for the single card and UY56 for the reply card.
Updated June 19th:
On July 18, 2025, in Crystal, MN, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Schooner Forever® stamped card priced at 69 cents (61-cents postage + 8-cents surcharge), in one design. These stamped cards will go on sale nationwide July 18, 2025, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.
This new stamped card features a two-masted schooner sailing in open water. The stamped card designer and illustrator, Libby VanderPloeg, started with pencil sketches before using Adobe Illustrator to finish the art. The illustration was based on a photo taken by Billy Black of the Columbia schooner, a 2014 replica of the original built in 1923. Antonio Alcalá art directed the project.
The Schooner stamped card will be available in the following formats:
- Single-cut cards (Item 250900)
- Double-reply cards (Item 251000)
- Sheet of 40 cards (Item 251100)
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 usps.com/shop. 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 – Schooner Stamped Card
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 cards 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 November 18, 2025.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Schooner Stamped Card
Item Number: 250900
Denomination & Type of Issue: Forever Stamped Card Rate
Format: Single-cut Card
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: July 18, 2025, Crystal, MN 55429
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Libby VanderPloeg, Grand Rapids, MI
Artist: Libby VanderPloeg, Grand Rapids, MI
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset / Microprint
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Press Type: Heidelberg Speedmaster
Print Quantity: 1,200,000 stamped cards
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: N/A
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Card Size (w x h): 5.5000 x 3.5000 in. / 139.7000 x
88.9000 mm.
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Plate Size: 40 cards per revolution
Plate Number: N/A
Marginal Markings: © 2024 USPS, Recycling logo
Technical Specifications – Double Reply Card:
Issue: Schooner Stamped Card
Item Number: 251000
Denomination & Type of Issue: Forever Stamped Card Rate
Format: Double Reply Card
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: July 18, 2025, Crystal, MN 55429
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Libby VanderPloeg, Grand Rapids, MI
Artist: Libby VanderPloeg, Grand Rapids, MI
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset / Microprint
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Press Type: Heidelberg Speedmaster
Print Quantity: 24,000 Double-cut Cards
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: N/A
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Card Size (w x h): 5.5000 x 7.0000 in. / 139.7000 x 177.80 mm.
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Plate Size: 20 cards per revolution
Plate Number: N/A
Marginal Markings: © 2024 USPS, Recycling logo
Technical Specifications – Sheet of 40:
Issue: Schooner Stamped Card
Item Number: 251100
Denomination & Type of Issue: Forever Stamped Card Rate
Format: Sheet of 40 Cards
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: July 18, 2025, Crystal, MN 55429
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Libby VanderPloeg, Grand Rapids, MI
Artist: Libby VanderPloeg, Grand Rapids, MI
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset / Microprint
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Press Type: Heidelberg Speedmaster
Print Quantity: 1,500 sheets of 40 cards
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: N/A
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Card Size (w x h): 5.5000 x 3.5000 in. / 139.7000 x 88.9000 mm.
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Plate Size: 40 cards per revolution
Plate Number: N/A
Marginal Markings: © 2024 USPS, Recycling logo
Updated March 6th:
This card will be issued July 18 in Crystal, MN, during Minnesota Stamp Expo.
Hopefully a Press Sheet will be available.
Sorry, I hadn’t yet posted the Tech-Specs. There is a sheet of 40 cards, the equivalent I think of a press sheet.
Yes. However, no pack-10 of 8 1/2 x 11 with perf’s for four cards per page. ( for printer-ready addresses…)
FYI The 4-Bar FDoI fee for Postcards is 16 cents.
Postcard 250900 69 cents FDoI 250916 85 cents
Reply Card 251000 $1.38 FDoI 251016 $1.54
Plus $1.85 S/H PER ORDER
Available for Pre-Order on USPS .COM
A Look Back to 1 June 2021 when the Mallard Postcard was issued:
Postcard 250600 45 cents FDoI 250616 52 cents UX 648
Reply Card 250704 90 cents FDoI 250716 92 cents UY 55
FDoI 7c & 2c …
USPS Notice 123 July 2025 FINAL editions posted
https://pe.usps.com/PriceChange
I have trouble understanding any of those documents at that link (location).
Is the Schooner Stamped Card. Item Number: 251100, Format: Sheet of 40 Cards
considered an uncut press sheet?
I’m not sure: I’ve always considered a press sheet to be several panes of stamps before they are cut apart for sale at post offices. I suppose you could make a case that the sheet of 40 cards is a press sheet….
I checked with Scott Publishing’s catalogue staff. The short answer is “no, they are not press sheets.”The Scott catalogue never listed postal card sheets because they weren’t things that anybody bothered to collect.” In fact, the full sheets aren’t even listed in the United Postal Stationery Society catalogues.