U.S. forever stamps are here to stay

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

On April 12, 2007, the United States Postal Service issued the first in its long series of forever stamps, a nondenominated (41¢) Liberty Bell booklet stamp (Scott 4125).

Quoting the Wikipedia entry for forever stamps: “Forever stamps are sold at the prevailing first-class postage rate and remain valid for full first-class postage, regardless of later rate increases. For example, the original Forever stamps purchased in April 2007 for 41 cents per stamp are still valid, even though there have been multiple rate increases since then.”

The Liberty Bell forever stamp that sold for 41¢ in 2007 currently pays the 73¢ domestic first-class letter rate.

The Liberty Bell forever stamp was designed by Carl T. Herrman and printed by photogravure by Avery Denison. It has gauge 11¼ by 10¾ serpentine die cuts on two or three sides and phosphorescent tagging. The word “Forever” is microprinted 16 millimeters wide at the base of the design.

The stamp was issued in booklets of 20, and the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers values a mint, never-hinged booklet pane of 20 at $28 against a current postage value of $14.60. Mint panes of 20 are currently selling for around $18.

Forever stamps can be considered from several perspectives. Collectors can view buying them in quantity as a hedge against inflation, especially because postage rates continue to spiral upward. The Postal Service can view such purchases as an interest-free loan until the stamps are actually (if ever) used for postage.

Also, producing forever stamps saves the Postal Service the accounting and production hassles and expense of producing make-up rate stamps every time the postal rates increase. One thing is for certain: The aptly named forever stamps are here to stay.

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