Post office marks new first-class stamps 'forever'

hosted ^ | Dec 29 | DOUGLASS K. DANIEL

[JoeProBono]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Postal patron Sean Swilling is tired of the inconvenience that comes with every change in the price of mailing a letter. That makes him just the type of customer the U.S. Postal Service wants to please with a policy designating all new first-class stamps as "forever."

Beginning in January, all new stamps good for 1 ounce of domestic first-class mail will forgo a printed denomination and be acceptable for the typical letter regardless of the current postal rate.

[70th Division]

Somehow I think that Post Office and First Class do not go together.

[catman67]

I wonder if they will next introduce the new “Day” stamp, so that they can raise the price of postage to “Forever and a Day”!!

[JoeProBono]

Washington Times:

"If it was “morning in America” for President Ronald Reagan, a new commemorative postage stamp due in February to mark “the Gipper’s” birth centennial will forever view the sunrise.

The new commemorative stamp, whose design was unveiled Monday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., always will be valid for a 1-ounce first-class letter, the U.S. Postal Service confirmed. It officially will be released at the library on Feb. 10, 2011, four days after the 100th anniversary of Reagan’s birth.

Texas artist Bart Forbes did the portrait, based on a 1985 photograph of Reagan taken at Rancho del Cielo, near Santa Barbara, Calif.

The design was published first in Linn’s Stamp News, a hobbyist publication. Earlier this year, Linn’s broke the news that a Reagan Centennial postage stamp would be released.

Although the preliminary design shows a 44-cent value, the postal agency recently announced that all commemorative, or special, issues will be inscribed with “Forever,” instead of a face value, meaning they would sell for the then-current first-class rate but would remain valid for first-class mail even when rates increase.

A USPS spokesman who asked not to be identified by name said a revised version showing the “Forever” inscription will be released Dec. 28.....

[70th Division]

How about the “Going Postal” stamp?

[apoliticalone]

I think it was a good move and will make it easy on customers.

We use the US Postal service as well as FedEx and UPS a lot. I find the US postal service to be highly efficient, easier to use and more cost effective for many packages than the other two services, so I’ll not be bad mouthing them.

Yeah the PO has some problems but so do FedEx and UPS and Wall Street (the bastion of capitalism). I’m not a fan of big government but I’m even a lesser fan of big business and especially if it is too big to fail. We need to break up many of these big businesses back into smaller competing businesses.

[JoeProBono]

[listenhillary]

Can I buy vodka with them?

[Tanniker Smith]

Thank you for that, finally. I have plenty of stamps in the draw that just saw "First Class" on them and I haven't a clue what denomination they are or how much more postage I need. Annoying.

On the other hand, I can't wait to buy oodles and oodles of "Ronald Reagan Forever" stamps to send to all my liberal friends.

[backwoods-engineer]

Post office marks new first-class stamps 'forever'

They will come to regret this, if the day comes when that stamp is worth more than a $20 bill.

[The_Reader_David]

They mean ALL NEW stamps good for the base First-class postage will be “Forever” stamps, not just the Liberty Bell stamps that have been sold for a few years at the same time as 44-cent Simpson stamps, 44-cent Black Heritage stamps, 44-cent holiday stamps,. . . and the 42-cent stamps they replaced.

I recently bought a book of “Holiday Greens” “Forever” stamps.

[Moltke]

But are they reusable?

[JoeProBono]

[blam]

"In other words, stamps are now a hedge against inflation and will retain their value no matter what happens to the economy. They are as good as gold."

Think about it...it's just a loan to the postal department. They're (USPS) spending tomorrow's money today.