Increase in 2019 cost to collect U.S. stamps reflects postage hike

By Michael Baadke

The cost to collect one each of every United States stamp and postal stationery item issued in the past year edged past $100 in 2019, a fairly small increase over the total U.S. stamp cost for 2018.

The total single-stamp cost for collectors was $101.35 in 2019, compared to $95.75 in 2018 and $95.88 in 2017.

Some of the 2019 increase can be attributed to the increased cost of a single first-class postage stamp.

During 2018 the cost of letter-rate domestic postage went up by just a penny, from 49¢ to 50¢. In 2019 the increase was more substantial, escalating from 50¢ to 55¢. That 10 percent postage hike last year certainly contributed to the roughly 6 percent increase in the 2019 cost-to-collect totals.

Another factor that affected the annual totals in a different manner is that new stamps bearing $1, $2 and $5 denominations were issued in 2018, but not in 2019.

To read the rest of this article and view the tables detailing the cost to collect U.S. stamps from 1991 to 2019, subscribe to Linn’s Stamp News.

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