New global forever stamp debuts April 22

The round United States nondenominated ($1.15) Sea Surface Temperatures global forever stamp will be issued on Earth Day, April 22, in Washington, D.C.

A first-day ceremony is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. in the Forrestal Plaza area outside the Department of Energy building at 1000 Independence Ave., S.W.

The dedicating official for the ceremony is U.S. Postal Service chief sustainability officer Thomas Day. One of the ceremony participants will be Calvin Williams from NASA.

The ceremony is taking place during a multi-agency Earth Day event with participation from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and the General Services Administration.

The new global forever stamp pays the international first-class letter rate and is sold in panes of 10.

“The image is one frame in a 1,460-frame animation created from the output of a computer model of Earth’s climate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory,” the Postal Service reports.

The bright colors on the globe represent variations in sea surface temperatures.
USPS art director William J. Gicker designed the stamp. Ashton Potter printed 25 million stamps in panes of 10.

Press sheets, both with and without die cuts, were produced in quantities of 2,500 of each type. Each sheet consists of five panes of 10 stamps, arranged one pane across and five down, and sells for $57.50.

The first global forever stamp, picturing Earth, was issued Jan. 28, 2013 (Scott 4640). A second global forever stamp was issued Oct. 24, 2013 (4814), showing an evergreen wreath in time for the Christmas holiday season.

Technical details for the Sea Surface Temperatures global forever stamp are provided in the box on this page.

Nondenominated ($1.15) Sea Surface Temperatures global forever stamp

FIRST DAY— April 22, 2014; city— Washington, D.C., and nationwide.

DESIGN: designer and art director— William J. Gicker; typographer— Greg Breeding; modeler— Joseph Sheeran.

PRINTING: process— offset with microprint “USPS”; printer and processor— Ashton Potter USA Ltd., Williamsville, N.Y.; press— Mueller Martini A76; inks— black, cyan, magenta, yellow, Pantone Matching System 167C brown, PMS 7C cool gray; paper— nonphosphored type III, block tagging; gum— self-adhesive; issue quantity— 25 million stamps; format— pane of 10, from 150-subject cylinders; size— 1.27 inches by 1.27 inches (image); 1.41 inches by 1.41 inches (overall); 8.5 inches by 4.5 inches (full pane); plate numbers— “P” followed by six single digits; marginal markings— header “Global,” plate number in two corners (stamp side); “©2013 USPS,” plate position diagram, USPS logo, bar code, promotional text; USPS item No.— 116904.

First-day cancel ordering information

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 Global Sea Surface Temperatures Stamp, Special Events, Box 92282, Washington, DC 20090-2282. Requests for first-day cancels must be postmarked by June 21.

The Postal Service’s uncacheted first-day cover for the Sea Surface Temperatures stamp is USPS item No. 116916 at $1.59. USPS order numbers for stamps and FDCs also appear in Linn’s 2014 U.S. Stamp Program.