stamps

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

It Could Be One of the Priciest Postal Items Ever Auctioned

May 1840 envelope was mailed twice before world's first known prepaid postage stamp was considered valid

(Newser) - Calling all deep-pocketed stamp collectors: The earliest known example of a posted envelope using a prepaid stamp is heading to auction, where it's expected to fetch between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, a great deal more than it originally cost to send. The envelope carries the Penny...

Guy Buys 'Holy Grail of Postage' for $2M

Purchase of rare 'Inverted Jenny' is 'a historic moment' in world of stamp collecting

(Newser) - For decades, Charles Hack dreamed of owning "the holy grail of postage"—the "Inverted Jenny," a rare collector's item he never would've been able to afford when he started collecting stamps as a kid. Hack is now living his dream: The Washington Post reports...

Stamps Just Went Up Again
Stamps Just Went Up Again

Stamps Just Went Up Again

A single one costs 66 cents as of Sunday, up from 63 cents

(Newser) - Stamps prices are on the rise, again—one of several changes the US Postal Service is rolling out this month. Starting Sunday, the cost of the first-class "forever" stamps will jump from 63 to 66 cents. The latest price comes just months after forever stamps climbed from 60 to...

John Oliver Wants to Help the USPS. So Now ... Stamps

'Last Week Tonight' launches branded stamp set to raise money for beleaguered agency

(Newser) - John Oliver is worked up about the current financial struggles of the US Postal Service —so his show has launched what Mashable calls a "glorious stamp collection" featuring Bolivian zebras, Mr. Nutterbutter the giant squirrel , and Japanese mascot Chiijohn. On Sunday's Last Week Tonight , Oliver reported that...

Company Hopes to Deter Gropers With Invisible Ink
Gizmo to Deter Groping
Sells Out in 30 Minutes
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Gizmo to Deter Groping Sells Out in 30 Minutes

Device in Japan leaves a temporary mark in special ink

(Newser) - Just how bad is the problem of groping on public transportation in Japan? A new device meant as a deterrent sold out in a trial run of 500 in just 30 minutes, reports CNN . The device allows women to leave a mark of sorts on gropers—the idea is that...

UK Honors D-Day With Very Flawed Stamp

Image shows troops wading ashore in Asia, 8K miles from Normandy

(Newser) - Britain's Royal Mail decided to roll out a commemorative stamp in honor of the 75th anniversary of D-Day next year, which is completely fitting. What wasn't so fitting, however: The image used on the stamp, which was captioned "D-Day: Allied soldiers and medics wade ashore." That...

USPS Just Had One of Its Biggest Inside Thefts Ever

It involves more than $630K worth of stamps

(Newser) - A Louisiana man who makes about $70,000 a year lost more than $650,000 gambling over the past seven years, casino records show—and federal prosecutors now say they know how he got the money to support his habit, the Times-Picayune reports. The DOJ is calling it "one...

Unseen Since 1918, Flawed Stamp Is Found

'Inverted Jenny' turns up in Illinois

(Newser) - "Sorry, your stamp is not what you think it is. It's not that special." Workers at the Philatelic Foundation in Manhattan often say such things when shown an unusual postage stamp, but this time foundation curator Lewis Kaufman wasn't so sure. A recent cellphone photo of...

Stamp Featured Wrong Statue of Liberty, and USPS Owes $3.5M
Statue of Liberty Goof
Costs the USPS $3.5M
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Statue of Liberty Goof Costs the USPS $3.5M

It used an image of a Las Vegas version in its 2011 stamp

(Newser) - The United States Postal Service's money woes just got $3.5 million worse, and the Statue of Liberty is to blame. A judge ruled last week that the agency did commit copyright infringement when it used an image of Robert S. Davidson's Statue of Liberty on a stamp...

USPS Announces First Scratch-and-Sniff Stamps

They'll feature the 'sweet scent of summer'

(Newser) - Letter writers will soon be able to express their sentiments in words and smells. The US Postal Service announced Monday that it will soon issue its first scratch-and-sniff stamps. The stamps feature illustrations of ice pops. The agency says the stamps will "add the sweet scent of summer" to...

An Old Friend Is Headed for a New Stamp

USPS Forever Stamp with Mister Rogers, his King Friday XIII puppet to be unveiled March 23

(Newser) - It's a beautiful day in the postal neighborhood. The US Postal Service plans to issue a new stamp featuring Mister Rogers, the children's television host known for his zip-up cardigan, sneakers, and soothing manner. The Forever Stamp will be unveiled March 23 at WQED's Fred Rogers Studio...

Inverted Jenny Stamp Returned for $50K Reward

Just one stolen stamp remains missing

(Newser) - A rare 1918 US postage stamp featuring an upside-down plane that was stolen six decades ago and ended up in Northern Ireland was returned to its American owner on Thursday. Keelin O'Neill, who inherited the stamp several years ago from his grandfather, turned it over at the World Stamp...

'Inverted Jenny' Stamp Surfaces 61 Years After It Was Stolen

'One of the most notorious crimes in philatelic history'

(Newser) - An incredibly rare and valuable stamp stolen right out of its exhibition frame at a 1955 convention resurfaced this month in New York and has promptly rocked the philatelic world. "Inverted Jenny" stamps are considered the most famous in America: A printing accident in 1918 produced a single sheet...

USPS Price Cut Is 1st in 100 Years

And the postal service isn't very happy about it

(Newser) - Starting Sunday, snail mail will cost you a little less: The price of a first-class stamp dropped two cents to 47 cents in the United States Postal Service's first rate drop in a century, reports USA Today . Postcard stamps likewise take a one-cent drop, to 34 cents, and international...

59 Years Later, Hunt Is On for 2 Stolen 'Jennies'

$100K reward offered for missing stamps

(Newser) - In 1955, thieves stole four prized stamps—and more than half a century later, two still haven't been found. A dealer recently promised a $50,000 reward for each of the stamps, known as Inverted Jennies, the New York Times reports. A stamp library is also prepared to pay...

Stamp Owned by Killer Sets 4th World Record

By weight, stamp is most expensive thing ever sold

(Newser) - The most valuable substance on Earth is now paper —if it happens to have an 1856 British Guiana 1-cent stamp printed on it. The rare stamp, the only one of its kind still in existence, sold for $9.5 million to an anonymous buyer at auction last night, reports...

This Will Be the Priciest Object Ever Sold*

*By size and weight

(Newser) - A stamp, created by a newspaper publisher when a British colony ran out of proper stamps in 1856, "will be by size and weight simply the most expensive object ever sold in history." The British Guiana One-Cent Black on Magenta stamp will sell at Sotheby's on June...

Steve Jobs Is Getting a Stamp

We're totally iMessaging people to tell them to expect the letter

(Newser) - Steve Jobs loved keeping his products under wraps, so he'd probably be annoyed that word has leaked a year early that the US Postal Service plans to immortalize him on a stamp*. A document obtained by the Washington Post reveals the USPS' stamp plans through 2016. The list includes...

Cost of a Stamp Just Went Up 3 Cents

USPS gets rate hike; stamp will now cost 49 cents

(Newser) - The good old USPS got its three-cent rate hike approved today, in a move aimed at stemming the $5 billion that the post office says it lost in the last fiscal year. The change—which brings the cost of a first-class stamp to 49 cents—goes into effect on Jan....

USPS Wants to Charge You 3 More Cents to Mail Letter

That would make it 49 cents

(Newser) - We hope you've all been saving up for the lean times, because the US Postal Service today announced that it wants to raise the price of stamps by 3 cents. That means that mailing a letter first class will now cost 49 cents. The chairman of the postal Board...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>