A Commemorative Or A Definitive In Disguise?

Hi Everyone,
I am in a stamp group, and in preparation for a "Commemorative Only" Round Robin, I wanted to make sure I know the difference between the two.

So, I went online read up and now I am even more confused. For instance these two stamps state they are both definitive. The $2.00 stamp on the right, might look like a commemorative but since 1990, it has been on sale, making it a definitive, right?




And then the article shows another two stamps, and says that both of these are commemorative:



So, I was wondering if you all can post some of your commemorative and definitive that might look like the other. Hope that makes sense LOL.

Here is the link with the stamp images and info that I read:
http:// (Offsite URL shortening not allowed) /4y4p74e

Thank you all!
SueStamps

To oversimplify the answer... A commemorative issue commemorates a specific event / person and is on sale for a limited time and may or may not be part of an overall set of issues. A definitive does NOT commemorate any specific event or person, and is part of a set of issues that can ( and usually are) REPRINTED until the need for a new denomination happens. I am sure someone will correct me if I have mis-spoken on this.
Bob

I would agree with the above definitions. HOWEVER, the US Postal Service has the ability to put a wrench in it sometimes. Most recently they have come up with a new category of stamps beyond just "Commemorative" and "Definitive". The new category is "Special" issues.

What is a "Special" issue? According to USA Philatelic, they include the following: The Love, Wedding, Christmas/Holiday, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, Breast Cancer Semipostal (and presumably the new Save Wildlife Species Semipostal), and the Neon Celebrate stamps.

If my understanding is correct, these "Special" stamps are typically on sale for an extended period of time and in the case of holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, there have been cases where the stamps were re-introduced the next holiday season in order to use up existing stock.

Of course, the very fact that virtually all US First Class stamps are now "Forever" stamps, it becomes a gray area, because (in theory anyway) there is no reason to remove a stamp from sale until stocks are fully depleted. I say "in theory", as I understand the USPS still removes Forever stamps from sale after a period of time, even though (in my mind) it kind of defeats part of the purpose.

This has been one of the most debated philatelic subjects of all time. No matter how you define the conditions for each, there are stamps which can be categorized either way. I am in total agreement with with PoStat4evR in that a commemorative is issued for a specific or short duration whereas a definitive is not.
I guess one way to think about it is every stamp design is a definitive. If you can relate the stamp subject to an event, occurrence, or extraordinary achievement, and the issuance is intended to be of a limited quantity over a limited time period, it becomes a commemorative. Example: you could say that the presidential issue of 1938 is in honor of U.S. presidents and should be commemoratives, but since the were not issued in a limited quantity or for a limited time, they are classified as definitives. All in all, the definition cloud is still dark.

Interesting references that should be read regarding this matter:

- Defining definitives and commemoratives

http://www.linns.com/howto/refreshe...rcourse.aspx


- Definitive or commemorative? It's hard to tell

http://www.linns.com/howto/refreshe...rcourse.aspx


- Definitive stamp?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitive_stamp


- Commemorative stamp?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commemorative_stamp


Cheers

I guess that rather depends on how long is a 'Specific' or 'Short' time.
It also depends on what country or countries one is referring to.

Definitely not black and white.