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Monday Morning Brief | APS Stampshow to host debut of Protect Pollinators stamps
Linn’s Stamp News editorial director Donna Houseman reveals the grace and beauty of the pollinators depicted on five new United States stamps to be issued Aug. 3 at the American Philatelic Society Stampshow in Richmond, Va.
Full Video Transcript:
Welcome to the Monday Morning Brief for July 17, 2017.
“Protect Pollinators” is the theme of five nondenominated (49¢) forever stamps to be issued Aug. 3 by the United States Postal Service. The stamps will be issued in a pane of 20, with four stamps of each design. The individual stamps in the set picture either a Western honeybee or a monarch butterfly, “each shown industriously pollinating a variety of plants native to North America,” according to the Postal Service.
The horizontally oriented stamps each feature an existing photograph of a pollinator on a brilliantly colored flower. The photographs were chosen by USPS art director Derry Noyes.
One of the stamps shows a photograph of a butterfly on a purple coneflower. Karen Mayford snapped the photo.
George D. Lepp is a well-known nature photographer who is a leader in the field of digital imaging. His photograph of a honeybee on golden ragwort was selected by Noyes for a stamp in this set.
A monarch butterfly sipping nectar from a bright red zinnia is shown on a photograph taken by Bonnie Sue Rauch, and photographer Michael Durham is credited with the photograph of a bee pollinating a New England purple aster.
For the final stamp in the set, Noyes selected a photograph that captures a monarch butterfly on goldenrod. The photograph was taken by Justin Fowler. A different photograph by Fowler of the monarch on goldenrod is shown in the top selvage on the pane. The pane and each stamp in the set are inscribed “Protect Pollinators.”
With beauty and grace the monarch butterfly feeds on nectar from brightly colored flowers. Bees are more efficient pollinators, picking up pollen with their hairy bodies.
Each plant shown on the stamps is native to North America. In recent years, scientists have noted a significant decline in the population of some of the most common natural pollinators, including the honeybee and the monarch butterfly.
The first-day ceremony for the “Protect Pollinators” stamps will take place on Thursday Aug. 3 at the American Philatelic Society Stampshow 2017. The ceremony is scheduled for noon on the show floor.
The nation’s largest annual postage stamp show and exhibition, Stampshow 2017 will take place Aug. 3-6 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia.
And speaking of Stampshow, Linn’s Stamp News will be well-represented at the four-day show. Managing editor Chad Snee, associate editor Michael Baadke, and I will cover the show for Linn’s. If you plan to attend the show, please stop by the Linn’s booth, number 322, and say hello.
For Linn’s Stamp News and the Scott catalogs, I’m Donna Houseman.
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