Definitive US Stamps - Flag Stamps
Dec 19, 2022 3:22:12 GMT
Ted Talks Stamps, cjoprey, and 1 more like this
Post by chrisstamps on Dec 19, 2022 3:22:12 GMT
I discovered a few things this year when I embarked on getting all 6 formats of the definitive 2022 Waving Flag stamp. I am not usually attracted to most recent definitive flag stamps but the 2022 issue I found beautiful. I thought I was only going to get a pane and coil but then I learned two printers were producing the stamps and the stamps came in a booklet, 100, 3,000 and 10,000 coils as well as a pane of 20. What is interesting is the location of the microprint indicates the printer printer of the stamp as well as the plate number for those stamps with one. In total there are 6 formats and, recently, the booklet stamps stamps have been issued from a new plate. The USPS has 5 item numbers because it lumps the booklet stamps produced by each of the two printers under one number (https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2021/pb22586/html/info_008.htm)..
To the novice collector it seems redundant and, possibly, an extravagance to get all possible types of these stamps even if the differences are quite small. In addition, production amounts slated for these is quite high with the pane of 20 being 50 million and the booklets running over 1 billion. So why do more experience collectors try to acquire these variances in a common definitive stamp? Partly, it is the difficulty of acquiring the panes after about the first year or two after their issuance. Coils are also difficult to find since post offices no longer have stamp vending machines (which I see on ebay the ones from a few decades ago being sold) and many USPS stations do NOT carry them -- usually only the booklet and pane formats. But it is quite possible to get the one coil, booklet and pane from the USPS Philatelic Center (their number can be found on the USPS site) if you do this in the first year of the stamp's issuance.
A ample benefit of collecting these stamps in the various formats is it serves as an affordable way of learning a few important basics of philately - how coil, booklet and pane formats differ and what to look for to determine which printer produced the stamp by looking at the microprint (a placement of the USPS letters in one part of the design that often requires magnification to view it). Such a pursuit need not go after all the varieties but rather obtain the pane, booklet and coil formats. USPS Philatelic desk allows customers to get small portions from the large coils during the first year of the stamps issuance but afterwards it is unavailable. This is important to know as it saves the collectors tens to thousands of dollars.
Pursuing this small area also affords the collector to understand plate number coils which are usually of greater value than the coil stamps without a plate number on the secondary market. The USPS postal bulletin indicates that for the Waving Flags about every 27th coil stamp will have the plate number on it. In addition, there are "back numbers' which number every 10th stamp on the plastic strip which the self-adhesive coils are affixed. So to obtain a coils that have a plate number on the stamp and a back number on the strip to which it is affixed is about every 270th stamp for the Waving Flag definitives of 2022. This calculates to be slightly above 4 million of the 1 billion total produced. This is less than the total production amount for some commemorative stamps and explains why these particular coil stamps are particularly sought after. However, a big proviso, coil stamp collectors represent a small niche of the philatelic world --- a very modest production amount, scarcity, or rarity is a moot point if there is little or no demand. For plate number coils there is a decently sized niche but one has to know where to go - there is a site devoted to this specialty: p[late number coil collectors.
One does not need to go down all the rabbit holes I mention but I do advise that acquiring definitive Flag stamps of a design one finds attractive in booklet, coil and pane formats is fun, quite attainable, and educational way to learn fundamentals of philately for the novice collector and for the more advanced collector enrich their acquisitions.
To the novice collector it seems redundant and, possibly, an extravagance to get all possible types of these stamps even if the differences are quite small. In addition, production amounts slated for these is quite high with the pane of 20 being 50 million and the booklets running over 1 billion. So why do more experience collectors try to acquire these variances in a common definitive stamp? Partly, it is the difficulty of acquiring the panes after about the first year or two after their issuance. Coils are also difficult to find since post offices no longer have stamp vending machines (which I see on ebay the ones from a few decades ago being sold) and many USPS stations do NOT carry them -- usually only the booklet and pane formats. But it is quite possible to get the one coil, booklet and pane from the USPS Philatelic Center (their number can be found on the USPS site) if you do this in the first year of the stamp's issuance.
A ample benefit of collecting these stamps in the various formats is it serves as an affordable way of learning a few important basics of philately - how coil, booklet and pane formats differ and what to look for to determine which printer produced the stamp by looking at the microprint (a placement of the USPS letters in one part of the design that often requires magnification to view it). Such a pursuit need not go after all the varieties but rather obtain the pane, booklet and coil formats. USPS Philatelic desk allows customers to get small portions from the large coils during the first year of the stamps issuance but afterwards it is unavailable. This is important to know as it saves the collectors tens to thousands of dollars.
Pursuing this small area also affords the collector to understand plate number coils which are usually of greater value than the coil stamps without a plate number on the secondary market. The USPS postal bulletin indicates that for the Waving Flags about every 27th coil stamp will have the plate number on it. In addition, there are "back numbers' which number every 10th stamp on the plastic strip which the self-adhesive coils are affixed. So to obtain a coils that have a plate number on the stamp and a back number on the strip to which it is affixed is about every 270th stamp for the Waving Flag definitives of 2022. This calculates to be slightly above 4 million of the 1 billion total produced. This is less than the total production amount for some commemorative stamps and explains why these particular coil stamps are particularly sought after. However, a big proviso, coil stamp collectors represent a small niche of the philatelic world --- a very modest production amount, scarcity, or rarity is a moot point if there is little or no demand. For plate number coils there is a decently sized niche but one has to know where to go - there is a site devoted to this specialty: p[late number coil collectors.
One does not need to go down all the rabbit holes I mention but I do advise that acquiring definitive Flag stamps of a design one finds attractive in booklet, coil and pane formats is fun, quite attainable, and educational way to learn fundamentals of philately for the novice collector and for the more advanced collector enrich their acquisitions.