Monday Morning Brief | Cost to collect U.S. 2016 stamps

Watch as Linn’s Stamp News managing editor Chad Snee tallies up the cost to collect all 154 different varieties of stamps and postal stationery items issued by the United States Postal Service during the past year.

Full video transcript:

Seasons greetings fellow stamp collectors! Welcome to the Monday Morning Brief for December 19.

On Nov. 3, the last United States stamp of 2016, the Nativity forever stamp, was issued in Washington, D.C. With that final release, we added up the numbers and determined that the U.S. Postal Service cranked out 154 different varieties of stamps and postal stationery items during the past year.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter
    Like us on Facebook
    Follow us on Twitter

George Amick revealed the total output for 2016 in his story announcing the opening of the 2016 U.S. stamp popularity poll in the Dec. 19 monthly edition of Linn’s Stamp News.

At this point, perhaps you’re wondering: What would it cost to buy one each of all the face-different 2016 stamps and postal stationery items? Well, you’ve come to the right place for the answer.

For the purposes of our calculations, we do not include the imperforate varieties that come from uncut press sheets without die cuts. This leaves us with 139 stamps and postal stationery for 2016.

Adding all of these issues to your collection would set you back just shy of $100 — $99.38, to be exact.

This amount is noticeably higher than the $55.03 required to purchase the 2015 U.S. issues. Most of the difference may be attributed to just one 2016 stamp: the $22.95 Columbia River Gorge Priority Mail Express stamp — the priciest U.S. postage stamp ever issued.

The cost to collect the 2016 issues, while not a small sum, is less than the totals for the years 2012 to 2014. And the amount falls well short of the $172.42 needed to acquire the 211 stamps and postal stationery items the Postal Service cranked out in 2007.

For some perspective, Linn’s began keeping track of U.S. new-issue costs in 1991. The average annual cost during the past 26 years to collect one of each stamp and postal stationery item is $86.40.

Finally, as we head into this joyful Christmas holiday season, I encourage you to be safe during your travels and cherish the time you spend celebrating with family and friends. Be of good cheer and encourage those around you. A smile and a kind word go a long way at this time of year.

For Linn’s Stamp News and the Scott catalogs, I’m Chad Snee. Have a great week enjoying our wonderful hobby. Cheers!