The U.S. Postal Service Offers New Stamp Collecting Products

October is National Stamp Collecting Month

"We aim to please, October is National Stamp Collecting Month and we have products that will interest both serious and recreational collectors," said Stamp Services Manager Stephen Kearney.

Among the new products are The 2012 Stamp Yearbook and 39th edition of The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps.

The stamps of 2012 celebrate a rich patchwork of American life — from poets and choreographers to national pastimes and cultural celebrations. Full of intriguing stories, stunning images and exciting new features, The 2012 Stamp Yearbook is the perfect way to savor and enjoy the year's program.

This 76-page hardcover book includes:

• 94 stamps from the 2012 collectible program plus mounts
• Fascinating information about each stamp subject
• Placeholders to preserve the complete stamp program, including a new section for high value stamps
• Access to digital extras showcasing multimedia content

The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps, in an easy-to-use, oversize format, is a "must-have" for collectors. This fully illustrated four-color guide to U.S. stamps is the official publication providing the most comprehensive information available about the U.S. stamp program. Beginning with the first stamps issued in 1847, the guide covers more than 4,000 stamps issued up to the present.

The guide includes:

• An updated stamp series section that lists the stamps issued in each series, such as American Treasures, Black Heritage and Scenic American Landscapes
• Detailed listings for each stamp, with color illustrations, Scott catalog numbers, dates of issue, used and unused prices, quantities issued (when known), and separate listings for design variations
• Advice on how to start your own stamp collection
• A resource section, a glossary of terms and much more.

For baseball fans and stamp enthusiasts, Play Ball! is the perfect keepsake. The 8-1/2" x 11", 40-page softbound book is filled with the vivid paintings of artist Graig Kreindler, whose extraordinary work captures our national pastime's biggest icons in action. The issuances included in this book are: The 2001 Legendary Playing Fields, 2010 Negro Leagues Baseball and the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Stars stamps.

Historians and students of the Civil War will want to add to their collection The Civil War: 1862 Commemorative Folio.  This extraordinary commemorative package captures a piece of Civil War history and the second stamp issuance in the five-year Civil War Sesquicentennial series.

The package consists of a handsome tri-fold folio containing The Civil War: 1862 souvenir sheet of 12 stamps and a collectible card showcasing two affixed stamps and two official First-Day-of-Issue postmarks.

Mother Earth never looked so captivating and — collectible — than on a 500-piece puzzle featuring 15 breathtaking images of America's landscapes as seen from high above the planet's surface. Sure to provide hours of entertainment for all ages, the 18x24-inch puzzle also makes a spectacular piece of art to frame or display once completed. It comes with a sheet of 15 Earthscapes Forever stamps.

Stamp collecting has often been called "the hobby of kings and the king of hobbies." Linn's Stamp News estimates that more than 5 million individuals in the United States collect the small pieces of paper that indicate payment of postage.

Stamps collectors include individuals from all walks of life. While President Frank Roosevelt may have been the most famous U.S. collector, other well-known collectors include financial gurus Bill Gross and Warren Buffet; astronaut Henry Hartsfield; actors Gary Burghoff, James Earl Jones and Patrick Dempsey; author James Michener; explorer Jacques Cousteau; former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova; musicians John Lennon, Freddy Mercury and Ron Wood; cartoonist Gary Trudeau; and former French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

To purchase the new collectible products and learn more about stamp collecting, visit usps.com/shop.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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