Round $1.10 Global Forever Stamp Unveiled

Today's USPS Beyond the Perf announcement involves the new round Global Forever Stamp valued at $1.10 for international mail:



The following description is provided:

I believe just 7 stamps for 2013 have been revealed. So far this design gets my vote for stamp of the year!

Peter

Yes, I agree - a very attractive stamp. Perhaps this will become one of USPS' best sellers. It will look exceptionally striking on a cover.

If USPS also releases this without perforation you can cut it to a square one! :)

Like the idea but a US stamp and they do not even show America. What the heck.

Well, at least, it does show the Eastern seaboard. There's probably no way to display a world globe that would make all parties happy. If USPS placed North and South America dead-center in the middle of the globe, some folks would accuse them of blatant ethnocentrism. Can't ever win in this "politically correct" world - can't even break even! Heck, can't even say "Merry Christmas!" without offending someone. A very sad state of affairs.

P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everybody.

The design shows most of the area covered by the Global rate.
That seems appropriate.

Seems to me if they wanted to depict most of the areas covered by the new First-Class Mail Global Forever Stamp ("Letters to all international destinations (1oz.) — $1.10" from USPS website) they would have centered it on Europe/Asia/Africa, not the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Regards, Robert

I like the picture of earth on it, but I'm not very fond of the border. The perforations look even more fake than usual.

It'd look nice in a mini- sheet...

How much more would it have cost to print a set of these, showing all of the continents/oceans on that mini-sheet?

Peter

You're not the only one who feels that way. I think if the border was in color the stamp would stand out on a letter more than just a plain white perforated border.

Here's a few other points also worth commenting about:

It's understood to be an international rate stamp, but only covers 1 oz. mail worldwide, but up to 2 oz. to Canada. I suspect this is going to confuse mailers to Canada who wonder why they must pay the increased rate even if they have only a 1 oz. piece of mail to Canada, as the same $1.10 rate will still apply.

The perforations do look a bit odd, don't they?

I wonder if they will have plate numbers? As the stamps are going to be available in panes of 20 stamps, it will make it rather interesting for those who still collect "plate blocks" of stamps.

It will also be interesting to see just how postal clerks will react to customers who want to purchase just "a few stamps" rather than an entire pane of 20. Will they be able to separate them easily if the stamps are to be sold as "singles" and not immediately applied to a piece of mail?

Also, with the date "2013" so prominent in the circular design, will folks mistake these stamps as only being valid in calendar year 2013 as opposed to "Forever"?

I suspect the shape of the stamp, although unique, will cause more confusion to the mailing public that many may opt to just purchase two conventional "square" stamps for the new rate (a $1 stamp and a 10 cent stamp) which may actually be better understood by non-collectors than a Global Forever stamp.

What do you think?

Picturing the Atlantic ocean as it does, it conjures up the idea of the original transatlantic airmail stamp issued by the US (C30). Of course we no longer route all outbound mail through Europe anymore.

Imperf press sheet?

Amen!
And Merry Christmas to you also.

To finish with, yes I will purchase a number of these since I do collect odd shaped stamps. The border does blend quite a bit with the rest of the backing though. Probably will do the same on a letter.

Just be glad they didn't issue 4 different stamps with the globe in 4 different positions.

For anyone who may have had this question in the back of their mind about the new Round "Global Forever" Stamp that will be valued at the new $1.10 rate for international mail, effective January 27, 2013, here's an excerpt from the Postal Bulletin dated December 13, 2012 confirming that with this new issue all future "Global Forever" stamps will be round in shape which will easily distinguish them from regular "Forever" stamps that are commonly used for domestic first class mail: