US Face Value By Year

Anyone have a list of US Face Value by year? I see the post for the face value of the US commemorative year sets. I would be interested in the value of all the stamps including the definitive, priority, and express. Fore example is someone offers a 1940 - 2000 mint collection, what is the face value.

Thank you in advance.

I think Linn's recently published such a list.

I can generate one out of the Stamp Smarter SQL database but it is late right now so I'll look in the morning.
Don

I think the best you can do is a close approximation tailored to each collection you encounter. Here's why ...

Every collector will have a slightly different idea/definition of what is "complete" for a particular time period. Just for a few examples ... Would it include both wet & dry printings of the late 1950s? Tagged/untagged versions mainly from the mid-late 1960s? Paper varieties? Booklet single stamp or an entire pane? Coil single or pair or longer strip? Large and small hole coil varieties on Liberty coils? A stamp like 1296d, a significant perforation variety, yet only a lower case catalog number? Or 1414a and 1415a-18a precancel versions of the Christmas stamps? Not to mention the recent thread here about many issues being printed with both luminescent and non-luminescent inks. Etc. Etc.

And simple face value doesn't capture the value of many of these better varieties.

Look here:
http://virtualstampclub.com/2022usnew.html

Open each year's list of new issues. Explore the USPS Order Numbers link and you can calculate denomination for each stamp. Their list goes back to 1997.

You could also just page through any Scott catalogue and total up the denominations issued in any given year

Wrote a quick SQL query and bingo...

The above is annual (1847 - 2009) face value total by regular issue major AND minor Scott catalog numbers. This is what a person would pay for full face value for every major and minor catalog number (excluding 'back of back stamps') each year. Click on image above to view at full resolution.

1847 $0.65
1851 $0.30
1852 $0.02
1853 $0.03
1855 $0.43
1856 $0.05
1857 $0.81
1858 $0.10
1859 $0.27
1860 $1.49
1861 $1.74
1862 $0.77
1863 $0.63
1866 $0.15
1867 $3.13
1869 $2.13
1870 $2.05
1871 $1.95
1873 $2.00
1875 $6.14
1876 $1.75
1879 $1.72
1880 $2.07
1881 $0.04
1882 $0.26
1883 $0.12
1887 $0.06
1888 $1.29
1890 $1.72
1893 $16.44
1894 $10.05
1895 $12.84
1897 $0.02
1898 $4.49
1899 $0.02
1901 $0.30
1902 $0.21
1903 $9.17
1904 $0.21
1906 $0.05
1907 $0.08
1908 $0.59
1909 $3.10
1910 $0.24
1912 $2.14
1913 $0.33
1914 $2.84
1915 $1.87
1916 $2.69
1917 $12.12
1918 $7.15
1919 $0.96
1920 $4.29
1921 $0.13
1922 $1.22
1923 $14.44
1924 $0.29
1925 $0.73
1926 $0.54
1927 $0.56
1928 $0.18
1929 $1.33
1930 $0.20
1931 $2.13
1932 $0.94
1933 $0.25
1934 $1.65
1935 $0.15
1936 $0.20
1937 $0.72
1938 $18.96
1939 $0.67
1940 $1.71
1941 $0.03
1942 $0.11
1943 $0.63
1944 $0.20
1945 $0.35
1946 $0.26
1947 $0.23
1948 $0.86
1949 $0.18
1950 $0.33
1951 $0.18
1952 $0.39
1953 $0.38
1954 $0.68
1955 $2.89
1956 $5.97
1957 $0.47
1958 $1.40
1959 $1.08
1960 $1.53
1961 $0.79
1962 $0.92
1963 $0.88
1964 $1.25
1965 $1.54
1966 $12.48
1967 $5.11
1968 $5.82
1969 $1.38
1970 $2.40
1971 $3.22
1972 $2.71
1973 $4.78
1974 $3.70
1975 $5.35
1976 $11.11
1977 $5.48
1978 $11.20
1979 $13.06
1980 $8.61
1981 $15.97
1982 $28.79
1983 $26.67
1984 $11.86
1985 $35.91
1986 $21.92
1987 $27.71
1988 $27.65
1989 $19.43
1990 $12.93
1991 $59.51
1992 $76.31
1993 $40.16
1994 $77.08
1995 $91.41
1996 $43.50
1997 $61.70
1998 $97.21
1999 $84.47
2000 $148.28
2001 $60.56
2002 $102.39
2003 $29.94
2004 $29.64
2005 $52.02
2006 $154.64
2007 $152.84
2008 $203.22
2009 $115.33

Don

Extraordinary!

Don,
I will stand by my post above, I believe that the answer is fuzzy without a full-list transparency to see exactly what is included in the "major and minor" varieties.
Several questions:
1847: why not a total of just 0.15 for a basic #1 and #2?
How do your total handle the example I listed in my previous post such as coils, booklet, wet/dry printing, mid-1960s tagging, etc.

You have to consider the way Amos assigns catalog numbers throughout the decades and how my database interfaces with those numbers. For example, some of the modern listings do not include 'major' numbers (i.e. #4524 'Go Green' sheet) for each single stamp. The major Scott number (#4524 the entire sheet) does not have a face value in my database. Scott lists 'a-p' as single stamps and these have a face value (44 cents). So including 'minor' numbers was the only way to not exclude data.

Typically, folks who deal with data want the largest data set they can get and they can then filter out what they want. In this case, I made an assumption that the OP wanted to know annual face value. And of course inflation would ideally also be factored in with this kind of analysis.

It took me less than 10 minutes to pull this data above out of the database. The OP can request this data this data from me (in spreadsheet format) and then he can filter and/or add in new data (i.e. inflation, BOB data, etc.) to solve the questions he is asking.

My post was only meant to be a helpful data source and perhaps a good starting point.
Don

I have read that back in the day, stamp dealers had this info memorized, and it would make it very quick/easy to figure out value of collections. e.g. if they saw collection was complete 1920-1970 they know exactly what it is worth.


Don, is the database publicly available? A spreadsheet with all US issues would be very incredibly useful.

I do not offer a direct download of the US database but it forms the foundation of many of the Stamp Smarter US features (i.e. US Identifier, Plate Block Lookup, etc.). Various 'views' of the entire database are available including the powerful 'Advanced View' which supports advanced filtering capabilities for anyone who bothers to spend 10 minutes learning how to use it. It is here https://stampsmarter.org/public/Stamps_US.php
Don