Have you seen the New U.S. Flag Stamp that was issued on January 29, 2016 yet? Apparently there are two printers for the stamp and it means you will find the USPS location for the microprinting is different between them.
New U.S. Flag Stamp
Back on my January 1 st blog post there was a link to the Postal Service Previews 2016 Stamps which included listing a U.S. Flag stamp for 2016 – “This Forever stamp features a detail of Emmanuel Faure’s vivid photograph of a flag waiving against the background of a blue sky. The stamp was designed by Greg Breeding under the art direction of Terrence McCaffrey.”
From the Stamp Announcement bulletin of January 21, 2016:
“On January 29, 2016, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the U.S. Flag First-Class Mail® stamp (Forever® priced at 49 cents), in one design. The formats available are a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 10 stamps (Item 679100) produced by security printer Banknote Corporation of America/SSP (SSP), a PSA booklet of 20 stamps (Item 680500) produced by security printers Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd (APU) and SSP, and a PSA coil of 100 stamps (Item 787300) produced by security printers APU and SSP.”
It gives details on how to order First-Day-of-Issue Postmark and How to Order First-Day Covers along with Philatelic Products.
It was not obvious to me at first reading the above Stamp Announcement that it meant there are two printers and in watching the Monday Morning Brief with Linns today they call out the difference with the location of where USPS is shown on the stamp.
“Two different printers worked on this issue, and that means you have a number of different varieties that you can look for.
Banknote Corporation of America printed a booklet of 10, a booklet of 20, and a coil of 100. On every stamp from Banknote, you’ll find the letters USPS in microprinting along the flagpole, just under the lower left corner of the flag.
Ashton Potter USA printed one booklet of 20 and one coil, and on those stamps you’ll find the USPS microprinting near the right edge of the stamp on the second white stripe.”
It will be fun looking for the USPS microprinting on these stamps to see them in two different locations. Here’s to a heart filled week ahead as we gear up for Valentines’ Day on Sunday.
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
Attribution & Thank you to the following who are referenced today —
Image above upper left USPS.com web site of New 2016 U.S. Flag stamp Forever 49Cents
United States Postal Service Stamp Announcement 16-05: U.S. Flag Stamp January 21, 2016
Linn’s Stamp News YouTube and excerpt from Monday Morning Brief | New Flag stamp varieties February 08, 2016 by Michael Baadke
AnchoredScraps.com blog post Star Trek stamps announced beaming in 2016 January 01, 2016 by Helen Rittersporn.
Postal Service Previews 2016 Stamps Star Trek, NASA’s New Horizons and Shirley Temple are among Topics Highlighted December 30, 2015
