Two stamps promote World Stamp Show-NY 2016

By Michael Baadke

At the biggest stamp show in the country this year, the United States Postal Service will issue new stamps celebrating what promises to be the biggest stamp show in the country next year.

The two World Stamp Show-NY 2016 stamps will go on sale Aug. 20, the opening day of the American Philatelic Society’s annual Stampshow, which is taking place this year in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The show runs from Aug. 20 to 23 at the DeVos Place Convention Center, 303 Monroe Ave., NW; the first-day ceremony for the new stamps will take place Thursday at 11 a.m. in Ballroom C at the center.

The stamp show and the ceremony are both open to the public with free admission.

Plans for the new stamps were first revealed earlier this year at the American Stamp Dealers Association’s annual spring show in New York City.

The once-every-decade international stamp show, World Stamp Show-NY 2016, will take place in New York City next year, from May 28 to June 4, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

The stamp pane gives the show a nice promotional boost with text across the top reading, “Come explore exciting new worlds at the World Stamp Show-NY 2016, May 28-June 4, 2016, New York City, NY.”

Though printed in different colors, red and blue, the two individual stamps share an identical vertical design that positions a single star within a circle at the center, surrounded by intricate geometric patterns resembling engine turning.

Around the circle is the text “2016 World Stamp Show” and “New York City” separated by two smaller white stars.

Additional patterns, lines and ornaments fill the remaining vignette, with “USA” lettered inside a tablet across the top of the stamp, and “FOREVER” within a second tablet at the bottom.

In Linn’s issue of May 11, Matthew Healey reported that the stamp design is “inspired by early 19th-century banknotes and stamps,” particularly newspaper stamps, according to USPS creative director for stamps William J. Gicker.

The stamps also bear some resemblance to certain U.S. revenue stamps of the 20th century, such as the ¾¢ and 75¢ potato tax stamps of 1935 (Scott RI1 and RI10, respectively), which have a central vignette showing a young woman.

In a recent news release, the Postal Service reaffirmed Gicker’s observation, describing the stamps as “reminiscent of classic engraved 19th-century stamps and banknotes.”

The self-adhesive stamps, however, are offset-printed in panes of 20, arranged in a checkerboard pattern that alternates the red stamps with the blue stamps.

Press sheets of 120 stamps (six panes), both with and without die cuts, will be offered for the face value of $58.80. The Postal Service has created 1,000 sheets with die cuts, and 1,500 without.

The highly anticipated World Stamp Show-NY 2016 will be the first international show in the United States since the very successful Washington 2006 show 10 years earlier. The show will include international exhibitions and some of the world’s top philatelic rarities on display.

More than 200 dealers are expected for the show’s bourse, including the U.S. Postal Service and some 50 postal bureaus from around the world.

Visit the NY2016 website for more information.

Technical details and first-day cancel ordering information for the World Stamp Show-NY 2016 forever stamps can be found below.

Nondenominated (49¢) World Stamp Show-NY 2016 forever stamps

FIRST DAY— Aug. 20, 2015; city— Grand Rapids, Mich., and nationwide.

DESIGN: artist, designer and typographer— Michael Dyer, Brooklyn, N.Y.; art director— Antonio Alcala, Alexandria, Va.; modeler— Joseph Sheeran.

PRINTING: process— offset; printer and processor— Ashton Potter USA Ltd., Williamsville, N.Y.; press— Muller A76; inks— Pantone Matching System 647C blue, PMS 7626C red; paper— nonphosphored type III, block tagging; gum— self-adhesive; issue quantity— 12 million stamps; format— pane of 20, from 240-subject cylinders; size— 0.84 inches by 1.42 inches (image); 0.98 inches by 1.56 inches (overall); 5.92 inches by 7.50 inches (full pane); 11.84 inches by 22.75 inches (press sheet); plate numbers— “P” followed by two single digits; marginal markings— (front) plate numbers in bottom corners; (back) “©2015 USPS,” USPS logo, plate position diagram, two bar codes 589900, promotional text, verso text; USPS item No.— 589940.

First-day cancel ordering information

Standard ordering instructions apply. Collectors requesting first-day cancels are encouraged to purchase their own stamps and affix them to envelopes. The first-day cover envelopes should be addressed for return (a removable label may be used), and mailed in a larger envelope addressed to World Stamp Show Stamps, Manager, Box 999818, Grand Rapids, MI 49599-9818. Requests for first-day cancels must be postmarked by Oct. 19.

The Postal Service’s uncacheted first-day covers for the World Stamp Show-NY 2016 stamps are item 589921 at $1.86 for a set of two. USPS order numbers for stamps and FDCs also appear in Linn’s 2015 U.S. Stamp Program.