War Of 1812: Uss Constitution

Would anyone want to venture a guess as to why the War of 1812: USS Constitution regular issue would be sold out? I had a really hard time getting it after it was issued and finally bought a sheet through KC. Seems odd.

Doug

Poor planning on the part of the USPS.

The USS Constitution stamp was issued in a quantity of only 25 million. That's the one of the lowest quantities issued for any US "Forever" stamp in 2012. The only 2012 "Forever" stamps that were issued in lower volume (20 million) would have been the Edgar Rice Burroughs, O. Henry, Jose Ferrer and American Poets stamps.

In contrast, the USPS issued 100 million Cherry Blossom stamps and 70 million William H. Johnson stamps and even 30 million Civil War stamps that year.

In my opinion, the USPS grossly under-estimated the general public's interest in the USS Constitution stamp.

You can still buy the uncut, imperf press sheet though:
https://store.usps.com/store/browse...tPressSheets

I find that the selvage and the back of this sheet is very attractive, and have opted not to break up the sheet. I wonder if other collectors have also decided to do this. If so, perhaps this contributes to the short supply.