2020 U.S. stamp yearbook available for preorder

Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke

The United States Postal Service announced in mid-October that its 2020 Stamp Yearbook is available for preorder on its website. The website states that the yearbook is expected to ship in November.

Based on the preliminary image of the book, it looks like the stories included might focus more on the stamp design process than in years past.

“The 48-page hardcover book contains exclusive sketches from the stamp creation process, insights from the stamp designers, fascinating facts about each stamp subject, beautiful imagery, and placeholders throughout the pages for affixing and preserving the stamps,” according to the USPS website.

The book includes 57 stamps and matching mounts from the Postal Service’s “collectible program,” or what collectors would typically call commemoratives. The book sells for $91 with an estimate of the face value of the stamps being around $32 (mount cost not estimated).

According to the USPS, one big difference for this year is that the book has a “limited-edition run” and “each copy is individually numbered.” USPS spokesman Roy Betts told Linn’s that 13,000 books were being produced.

I have to say I appreciate the effort to tell more of the behind-the-scenes design process for the stamps, and I am sure loyal collectors of these yearbooks will like it, too.

The USPS item No. for the 2020 Stamp Yearbook is 992020. The Postal Service is also selling two separate packets of what it calls “mail use” and “high value” stamps that are not included with the yearbook. The mail use packet is item No. 992004 at $54.35 (includes 81 stamps and mounts), and the high value packet is item No. 992006 at $39.80 (include three stamps and mounts).

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