![\"Classics](\"http:\/\/about.usps.com\/news\/national-releases\/2016\/images\/pr16_045.jpg\" "\\"Classics")
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NEW YORK CITY<\/strong>\u00a0– June 01, 2016 – Engraved stamps are much-beloved by stamp collectors, or philatelists as they sometimes are known.\u00a0 So it\u2019s only fitting that the U.S. Postal Service today dedicated a souvenir sheet featuring new engravings of classic 19th-century stamps at the World Stamp Show-NY 2016. The stamps also feature a water soluble adhesive.<\/p>\n The original versions of these classic stamps were issued between 1851 and 1866, 150 years ago or more, and they feature some of the most celebrated Americans, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that Washington, Franklin and Lincoln were featured on six of America\u2019s earliest stamps,\u201d noted U.S. Postal Service Vice President for New Products and Innovation Gary Reblin in dedicating the new stamps.\u00a0 \u201cIn fact, it seems fitting that we\u2019re celebrating them again with today\u2019s souvenir sheet \u2014 and the new Forever versions of these 19th century classics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This souvenir sheet is issued in celebration of the long history of U.S. postage stamps\u2014and in appreciation of stamp collectors and philatelists everywhere. The elaborately designed sheet features new versions of six of America’s earliest and most alluring stamps, now issued as Forever stamps to make them easily distinguishable from the mid-19th-century originals. The stamps are printed using the intaglio printing method, as were the originals.<\/p>\n From top, left to right, the stamps featured are:<\/p>\n George Washington stamp, first issued in 1851 at 12 cents. Portrait based on a painting by Gilbert Stuart. Stamp originally engraved by Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co.<\/p>\n Benjamin Franklin stamp, first issued in 1851 at one cent. Portrait based on a bust carved by Jean-Jacques Caffi\u00e9ri. Stamp originally engraved by Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co.<\/p>\n George Washington stamp, first issued in 1860 at 24 cents. Portrait based on a painting by Gilbert Stuart. Stamp originally engraved by Toppan, Carpenter & Co.<\/p>\n George Washington stamp, first issued in 1860 at 90 cents. Portrait based on a painting by John Trumbull. Stamp originally engraved by Toppan, Carpenter & Co.<\/p>\n Abraham Lincoln stamp, first issued in 1866 at 15 cents. Portrait based on a photograph by Christopher Smith German. Stamp originally engraved by National Bank Note Co.<\/p>\n Benjamin Franklin stamp, first issued in 1861 at one cent. Portrait based on a bust carved by Jean-Antoine Houdon. Stamp originally engraved by National Bank Note Co.<\/p>\n The selvage is composed of postal cancellations and script from envelopes contemporaneous with the stamps. These elements are arranged on a buff-colored background with a textured look to evoke stationery of the period. An inner border reminiscent of star-spangled patriotic bunting also bears the title \u201cClassics Forever\u201d at top and bottom and the words \u201cThe Classic Era\u201d on either side. Eric Madsen created the artwork for the selvage. Art director Antonio Alcal\u00e1 worked with Eric Madsen to design this issuance.<\/p>\n Adding to the appeal for stamp collectors, these new stamps have been printed in intaglio \u2013 line engraving reminiscent of fine 19th-century stamps and banknotes \u2013 with three million souvenir sheets being produced.\u00a0 These stamps will be sold only at the stamp show in New York, and through mail, telephone and online ordering channels for those unable to attend the show.\u00a0 They will not be available through local Post Office\u2122 facilities.\u00a0 They will be sold only as a complete souvenir sheet of 6 stamps, and the price is $2.82 (6X $0.47).<\/p>\n These Classics Forever stamps are water soluble, although they are affixed with pressure-sensitive adhesive, enabling these special stamps to be removed from envelopes after they have been used by soaking them in plain water.\u00a0 This is the first time this feature has been included on Forever stamps. Additional information about this feature, and helpful instructions to explain how collectors can soak these stamps off of envelopes after they have been affixed to mail and used, can be found following the listing of products available with this stamp issue.<\/p>\n Leveraging Technology<\/strong> At the World Stamp Show\u2013NY 2016 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, the U.S. Postal Service will hold an official stamp dedication almost every day of the show, to introduce a total of eight new stamp subjects.<\/p>\n Ordering First-Day-of-Issue Postmarks<\/strong> Classics Forever Stamps After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by August 1, 2016.<\/p>\n Ordering First-Day Covers<\/strong> U.S. Postal Service Philatelic Products<\/strong> New Feature With Water-Soluble Adhesive<\/strong> Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) stamps are made of three standard components:\u00a0 face stock (the paper on which the stamp image is printed), adhesive and liner.\u00a0 To create a water-soluble PSA stamp, a starch-like component is added to the reverse of the face stock prior to combining the three individual components in manufacturing.\u00a0 The manufactured stock is then sent to the printer for the printing of the stamp image using current processes.\u00a0 This starch component allows the face stock to be separated from the adhesive using water rather than chemicals.<\/p>\n The water-soluble PSA stamp is significantly different from the water-activated gummed (WAG) stamps in widespread use prior to 2002.\u00a0 The WAG stamps were the \u201click and stick\u201d variety.\u00a0 While the water-soluble PSA is reactive to humidity, it is measurably less affected by this variable than traditional WAG stamps.<\/p>\n Here are some very basic instructions on soaking stamps:<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0 Soaking time will vary depending on the water temp, how long it has been adhered to the envelope, etc.\u00a0 Collectors are used to this variable as stamps from around the world are different.<\/p>\n More About These Stamps and the Designs<\/strong> This souvenir sheet features new versions of six of America\u2019s earliest and most alluring stamps, now issued as Forever stamps to make them easily distinguishable from the mid-19th-century originals. America\u2019s early stamps presented a new means of honoring our nation\u2019s heroes. The 1851 George Washington and Benjamin Franklin stamps, represented on the top row of the souvenir sheet, were issued when dramatically reduced rates made the mail more accessible to a growing, migrating population. The quick public appreciation of their beautifully engraved portraiture also made stamps a perfect mode of tribute to Abraham Lincoln, died just after guiding the United States to a successful conclusion of the Civil War.<\/p>\n Whether a collector is interested in the great Americans depicted, the artistry, the printing technology of the day, the quirks and evolution of historical postal practices, or the communications enabled by the originals, there is something for everyone in these beautifully evocative stamps.<\/p>\n # # #<\/p>\n This new souvenir sheet and many of this year\u2019s other stamps may be seen on Facebook at\u00a0facebook.com\/USPSStamps<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or via Twitter\u00a0@USPSstamps<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0on the websitehttps:\/\/www.usps.com\/stamps\/<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>the Postal Service\u2019s online site for information on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.<\/p>\n The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW YORK CITY\u00a0– June 01, 2016 – Engraved stamps are much-beloved by stamp collectors, or philatelists as they sometimes are known.\u00a0 So it\u2019s only fitting that the U.S. Postal Service today dedicated a souvenir sheet featuring new engravings of classic 19th-century stamps at the World Stamp Show-NY 2016. The stamps also feature a water soluble […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usps-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15162,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15160\/revisions\/15162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe U.S. Postal Service is introducing three additional new products tailored to stamp collectors at the World Stamp Show\u2013NY 2016:<\/p>\n\n
\nCustomers have 60 days to obtain first-day-of-issue postmarks by mail. They may purchase new stamps at World Stamp Show, at the Postal Store\u00a0usps.com\/shop<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others and place them in envelopes addressed to:<\/p>\n
\nSpecial Events Coordinator
\n380 West 33rd Street
\nNew York, NY 10199-9998<\/p>\n
\nThe Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamps and stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly\u00a0USA Philatelic<\/em>\u00a0catalog, online at\u00a0usps.com\/shop<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:<\/p>\n
\nCatalog Request
\nPO Box 219014
\nKansas City, MO 64121-9014<\/p>\n
\nThere are six philatelic products available for this stamp issue:<\/p>\n\n
\nThe Classics Forever stamps were produced on paper that has a coating that will allow collectors to soak stamps off envelopes without the use of chemicals. The water-soluble PSA stamps are of interest to philatelists in the United States.\u00a0While many collectors desire new, mint condition stamps in full panes or as single stamps, others desire to collect stamps that have been processed through the mail stream.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe artwork for the Classic Stamps pane was created from high-resolution scans of the artwork located at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Postal Museum.\u00a0 The printer modified the artwork to remove the original denomination and replace it with \u201cForever\u201d and add \u201c2016\u201d in the margins.\u00a0 This process followed the old tradition of using an engraved printing plate.<\/p>\n