1964 Amateur Radio

We're coming up on the 50th anniversary of this one, which was intended to commemorate the first 50 years of organized amateur radio in the US, and which was apparently chosen to be released in Anchorage to honor the value of ham radio during the big earthquake earlier that year. I have not seen one of these in real life since my folks dispensed with my collection (!) shortly after I went out into the world on my own, but from photos I've seen recently, I'm reminded that the shading on the stamp seems quite remarkable for its era. Can anyone confirm what printing method was used for this one, how many were actually printed, and/or any other tidbits of information about it? Many thanks!

John

It was engraved, and 122,230,000 were issued. Still being used for postage today.

It must be common among purveyors of "discount postage" as I see it occasionally on the postage used by ebay shippers.

All the 5 cent stamps are, among the fact that almost everything issued after 1940 is postage.

The "lobby poster" announcing the Amateur Radio Stamp issue:

It was this stamp that started me collecting in 1964. Strictly U.S. commems at first. I haven't stopped since, although my collecting interests are now world-wide.

Don

I suspect that all of us who learned Morse Code back in the day (5 words per minute for the novice license) enjoyed that stamp; if you charted the now-100-year history of amateur radio, was that 50th anniversary also the apex?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Not by a long shot.

Some figures from ARRL:




I wonder how many stamp collectors are also amateur radio operators? (I am.)

Basil

I'm not a Ham but enjoy listening to them, although there seem to be fewer of them operating these days.

Lots more hams today, per capita, than 40 or 50 years ago. Looking at the ARRL numbers, from 1971 to 2011, the number of hams increased almost 250 percent. US population only increased about 50 percent over that time span.