Transcontinental Railroad stamps voted overall favorite, best commemorative design for 2019

By Charles Snee

The readers of Linn’s Stamp News let their affinity for issues celebrating historic events show through in their selection of the three stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the 1869 completion of the Transcontinental Railroad as their overall favorite among United States stamps issued during 2019.

The 2019 Linn’s U.S. Stamp Popularity Poll was introduced in the Dec. 16, 2019, issue. A two-page magazine spread illustrated all of the stamps issued during the calendar year.

Readers voted online and by postal mail, with ballots published each week in Linn’s through the Feb. 24 issue.

Readers of all ages mailed in a total of 1,081 ballots in the 2019 stamp poll. This total is approximately 93 percent of the 1,165 mail-in ballots that were cast in the 2018 poll.

Hundreds of online voters also participated via Linns.com, bringing the total of mail-in and online votes to 1,407. The votes from online and mail-in ballots were combined to calculate this year’s winners.

The three nondenominated (55¢) Transcontinental Railroad forever stamps received 341 first-place votes as the overall favorite issue.

On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met at Promontory Summit, Utah, where a ceremonial golden spike was driven to mark the completion of the first railroad to connect the nation’s East and West coasts.

The first-day ceremony for the three-stamp set was held May 10, 2019, 150 years to the day after the Central Pacific locomotive Jupiter and the Union Pacific’s No. 119 met at Promontory Summit.

Linn’s U.S. Stamp Popularity Poll, which began in 1948, is intended as a fun way for readers to voice their opinions about the U.S. stamp program. When the poll was first conducted, the categories consisted only of best stamp and worst stamp.

The poll is neither scientific nor statistically valid.

To read the rest of this article and review the tables detailing how readers voted in the various categories, subscribe to Linn’s Stamp News.

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