USPS First Look - Ferns

It seems the Forever Ferns will be issued sometimes in March 2014 according to latest USPS Bulletin 2014 stamp issues schedule, much sooner than we were led to believe.

"Given that the backnumbers of both versions are five digits, it would seem that we no longer can count on the backnumbers to
help separate the 3K and 10K versions of the stamp. In fact, there is little to no reliable way to identify a 3K v. 10K single
that may happen to be applied to first class mail, unless one is adept at identifying a slightly bolder font as suggested by
Acanalizo. I don't know why the USPS does that...but then again, if the Scott Catalog doesn't identify any difference between the two varieties, I guess it's of little concern to most collectors"

For starters, the USPS doesn't specify how many digits the printers use for the back numbering - all they say is make them numbered and each printer does things differently (Ashton Potter drops the leading zeroes on theirs, so you can get 4 digits, 3 digits and 2 digits from differen parts of the same roll (I can't remember if the first stamp on the outside is numbered 10000 or not - if so then there is one with 5 digits).

Second of all, there is no reason to expect the stamps from 3k and 10k rolls to be any different as the only difference in their production is the number of stamps in the roll before they do a cut and start a new roll. Its not like they use different printing plates for the 2 different sized rolls. They just adjust the back end processing equipment to go from one size to the other.

The CCL coil of 10K Ferns item # for strip of 25 is 777303

Specs on new Ferns stamps
http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_006.htm

You can now buy the 10K coil of the Ferns "Forever" stamps online at this link. Note that collectors have the option of purchasing two strips of 10 stamps ($9.80) or a strip of 25 stamps ($12.25). (The latter is probably the preferred purchase if you are seeking a plate number strip with all stamp varieties represented.)

https://store.usps.com/store/browse...5cFirstClass