U.S. Poinsettia stamp issued Aug. 21 in Hartford

With no advance notice, a new variety of the United States Poinsettia forever stamp in a pane of 20, double-sided booklet format, was issued Aug. 21 in Hartford, Conn.

Two varieties of the Poinsettia forever stamp were previously issued Oct. 10, 2013: in a pane of 20, double-sided booklet format (Scott 4816) and in an ATM pane of 18 (4821).

Other than a change in year date inscription (from 2013 to 2014), the new stamp is identical to the first version in the pane of 20.

The plate number on the new pane reads S2222.

The stamp was announced in the Aug. 21 issue of the U.S. Postal Service’s publication Postal Bulletin.

When a new variety of the When Dreams Blossom forever stamp with a 2014 year date was issued May 2, Postal Service spokesman Mark Saunders told Linn’s, “Only the year date printed on the stamp will change, as will become the new standard whenever a regular-issue or special-issue forever stamp is reprinted in a new year at a new postage rate.”

Though the new Poinsettia forever stamp was issued in Hartford during the American Philatelic Society’s annual Stampshow in that city, there was no first-day ceremony.

Both the earlier and the new versions of the Poinsettia stamp in the pane of 20 were printed by Sennett Security Products.

No press sheets were produced of the new variety.

Poinsettia special forever stamp

FIRST DAY— Aug. 21, 2014; city— Hartford, Conn., and nationwide.

DESIGN: artist— William Low, Huntington, N.Y.; designer, art director and typographer— Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, Md.; modeler— Donald Woo.

PRINTING: process— offset, microprinting “USPS”; printer and processor— Banknote Corporation of America/Sennett Security Products, Browns Summit, N.C.; press— Alprinta 74; inks— cyan, magenta, yellow, black; paper— prephosphored; gum— self-adhesive; issue quantity— 160 million stamps; format— double-sided pane of 20, from 800-subject cylinders; size— 0.77 inches by 1.05 inches (image); 0.91 inches by 1.19 inches (overall); 5.74 inches by 2.38 inches (full pane); plate numbers— “S” followed by four single digits; marginal markings— header “Poinsettia,” “Twenty First-class Forever stamps,” bar code, “©2014 USPS,” plate number; USPS item No.— 688645.

First-day cancel ordering information

Standard ordering instructions apply. 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 Poinsettia Stamp, Hartford Post Office MOWU, 141 Weston St., Hartford, CT 06101-9998. Requests for first-day cancels must be postmarked by Oct. 21.

The Postal Service’s uncacheted first-day cover is item No. 688617 at 94¢.