Best stamps you've ever seen

[Emma Jane Falconer]

One of the nice things about posting stuff is buying stamps with nice pictures and getting packages with great ones on. What's the best ones you've seen?

I once got a parcel with muppet stamps on. Muppet stamps!
I also recently bought some unicorn stamps.

[tim scannell]

steam...no, just crop closely
w/ scissors...don't hit the
selvage 'bumps'...:)

experts say 'yes'...i say no...colors fade...can
get chlorine poisoninghahaha

info on 'triangles you were seeking
...on your
page...

tim

Lucky Sia said:

I liked the stamps shaped like a triangle that the USA had way back in 97-ish. They were made from old stamp engravings from our past and the surface was a bit textured. I wish I had some of those still. I liked how they fit in the corner of the envelope.

On another note, I was just thinking about stamps the other day and wondering if you can steam off the new sticky ones or not.

[Lucky Sia]

Wow. Good information. Thanks for letting me know. I will have to see if there are any stamp collector shops anywhere around here. :) So are you saying that even the old fashioned lick 'em stamps should not be steamed? Because of chlorine? or?

tim scannell said:

steam...no, just crop closely
w/ scissors...don't hit the selvage 'bumps'...:) experts say 'yes'...i say no...colors fade...can
get chlorine poisoninghahaha

info on 'triangles you were seeking
...on your
page...

tim

Lucky Sia said:

I liked the stamps shaped like a triangle that the USA had way back in 97-ish. They were made from old stamp engravings from our past and the surface was a bit textured. I wish I had some of those still. I liked how they fit in the corner of the envelope.

On another note, I was just thinking about stamps the other day and wondering if you can steam off the new sticky ones or not.

[kami]

superhero stamps from the US were pretty damn cool but the block of boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson was the best! (i'm a boxing tragic)

[Laura Wilson]

My favourite was a stamp shaped as a heart. It was bright pink too. I think that was from Finland. All my favourite stamps were from Finland.

[amy // twelveohtwo]

I LOVE THIS THREAD. MORE THREADS LIKE THIS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!


seconding what many others have already said: i love the jim henson series, and really, a lot of the stamps the USPS put out. id love to own some of the children's book ones that came out a while back.

as for canadian stamps, i also liked the mary pickford ones, and the recent 'planets' series. my favourite would be the 'year of the pig' stamps that canada post put out a few years ago.

about 12 years ago i received a package from rome with the most beautiful postage -- it was all over the back of the mailer which i removed the bubble padding from and hung it on my wall.

[Meaghan Schaible]

Where do you get such wonderul stamps? I am constantly stuck with boring bell stamps that I currently purchase from the local post office. Help me!

[tim scannell]

i get mint postage from
a man
in
weed, CA

$50.00
face value

$100.00
face value

the stamps include 3cent to 37 cent...
from WWII stamps -to the near-present...

several stamp dealers offer stamps at face value or 5% off face value

[NicoleIntrovert]

I assume you are in the US? Go to http://www.usps.com and you can buy any stamps there and have them mailed to you. $1 for postage. Some post offices don't carry all of the stamps that are currently out in the US (especially if you have a small satellite post office).

Meaghan Schaible said:

Where do you get such wonderul stamps? I am constantly stuck with boring bell stamps that I currently purchase from the local post office. Help me!

[Alex Wrekk]

Hey Amy! We were just talking about this yesterday! (also, I'm typing this while sitting on your bed next to your snoring cat!)

I like to order stamps of www.usps.com. You can even order the older ones and ones in odd denominations. I loved toe Edgar Allan Poe ones. They are so dark and mysterious and the Muppet ones and Sinatra and all the new national park ones that are coming out are really beautiful. i have also been buying the rolls of the state flags stamps because I don't know what the state flags look like so I can see them on stamps!

aMy leigh said:

I LOVE THIS THREAD. MORE THREADS LIKE THIS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!


seconding what many others have already said: i love the jim henson series, and really, a lot of the stamps the USPS put out. id love to own some of the children's book ones that came out a while back.

as for canadian stamps, i also liked the mary pickford ones, and the recent 'planets' series. my favourite would be the 'year of the pig' stamps that canada post put out a few years ago.

about 12 years ago i received a package from rome with the most beautiful postage -- it was all over the back of the mailer which i removed the bubble padding from and hung it on my wall.

[Emma Jane Falconer]

I forgot, we had Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake, and Very Hungry Caterpillar stamps a while ago, I wish I'd bought more of those

http://www.royalmail.com/IMAGE/MediaItemRepository/17600365_animal_...

[Emma Jane Falconer]

And I just discovered that the royal mail will deliver stamps here. ooh next payday, I'm ordering loads of pretty ones.

And, look, they still sell the unicorn ones http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/shop?catId=9300091&pageType=...

Emma Jane Falconer said:

I forgot, we had Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake, and Very Hungry Caterpillar stamps a while ago, I wish I'd bought more of those

http://www.royalmail.com/IMAGE/MediaItemRepository/17600365_animal_...

[Blake]

Having once been a stamp collector in my recent past, I learned about the practice of using older stamps as regular postage on today's mail. Since then, nearly 80% of the mail that I send out I do so with stamps that are even older than I. I'll try to explain:

For the most part, US Stamps and stamp collecting has not been an "investment" vehicle since they fell out of favor in the 70s and early 80s. The collector value of most stamps just has remained pretty stagnant, and maybe even has decreased a bit because of lack of demand for various reasons. As a result, stocks and stocks of complete sheets of unused stamps (30 - 50 stamps per sheet, often) have been traded around at a small percentage _below_ face value. And you can often buy these from established stamp dealers at their face value and use them just as you would use a stamp made yesterday. Most of these will be from the period of the 1960s - 1980s timeframe, however, I have purchased some from the 30s and 40s as well!

Since learning about this, I always keep a stash of these things around and use them on most all of my mail needs. I've got a slew of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 cents stamps. Harder to keep on hand are the "larger denominations" like 18, 20, 25, 27 cent stamps. It is fun to pick out commemoratives that match some interest of whomever I'm sending the letter or postcard to--there are so many to choose from. And sometimes I just like to fill a letter with nothing but 3 and 4 cent stamps to essentially make a piece of mail art. ;-) Of course, this is all legal stuff so long as you have sufficient postage for each piece of mail being sent. See examples in image below.

So check your town and see if there is still a stamp or coin dealer and give them a call. Ask them if they sell older stamps "for postage." The two places that I've been getting them, Independence Coin & Stamp in Charlotte, NC and Richard's Stamp Shop in Asheville, NC both have a rubbermaid-like plastic tub full that you can sort through and pick out a whole pile of them. And if you are picking out lots of smaller denominations, you can quickly build a massive pile for $10.

If you can't find a true coin or stamp shop in your area, check our for coin/stamp shows or conventions that may be happening hear you. Often the stamp dealers will also bring their "postage stamps" with them for people to dig through--lots of collectors fill out their stamp albums with these things since they are so cheap.

If you are interested and are still having a hard time locating anything, send me a message and maybe we can work out a trade. I'll be happy to pick up some for fellow zinsters.