Duck office halts artist-signed panes

When the new United States federal duck stamp is issued June 27 in Washington, D.C., no artist-signed pane will be offered.

The single-stamp artist-signed pane was first introduced in 2005.

Laurie M. Shaffer, Federal Duck Stamp Office chief, told Linn’s Feb. 25 that the artist-signed pane is being discontinued because of production costs and lagging sales.

Recent panes have sold on average around 2,000 of the 5,000 produced, Shaffer said.

The Federal Duck Stamp Office might revisit issuing an artist-signed pane for anniversaries, such as the 85th stamp to be issued in a couple of years.

There are no plans to destroy the existing inventory of unsold panes, which will continue to be available through the Amplex Corp. fulfillment center.

Previous artist-signed panes that have not sold out are only available from Amplex by calling 800-852-4897.

Only the last artist-signed pane issued, for the $15 Common Goldeneye stamp (RW80b), is available for purchase through the Federal Duck Stamp Office website www.duckstamp.com.

Artist-signed panes of one sell for $25 plus a shipping fee ($5.95 to U.S. addresses).

Although not valid for postage, U.S. federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamps, commonly known as duck stamps, are popular collectibles.

They are listed and valued with U.S. revenue stamps in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers, and in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 1.