Are US Semi-Postal Stamps Also Forever Postage?

US semi-postal stamps are non-denominated and only say "USA First Class +" indicating their mailing rate/category. They don't have "Forever" written on them. Perhaps I'm over-thinking this, but it would seem that they should also be Forevers. I have a number of extra ones and would like to use them on letters at the current postage rate, and just wanted to make sure before mailing. Are they "Forevers"?

No. They are valued at the First Class rate in effect at the time of issue.

As a practical matter, my local postal clerks treat them as forever stamps. That may not be correct though, it sounds like. It would be interesting to see if anyone has a postage due cover, based on this.

Matt

I believe they are valued at the First Class rate in effect at the time of purchase. I guess you're supposed to be on the honor system to add additional postage if you purchased them years ago. The Breast Cancer Awareness stamp has been around since, what, 1998?

Robert

All US semi-postal stamps issued to date have a defined issue value of base postage and that is what is charged by the USPS. Time of purchase does not change the value.

From the USPS website.



Robert

according to the USPS quotation listed above. The "value" of the stamp is based on the date that YOU purchased it. So if I purchased a stamp on on 1/26/2019 the cost of the stamp and the value would be 50c and would remain 50c even though the rate changed to 55c the next day. It's all based on the honor system. I guess for those First Class semipostal that are no longer autherized to be sold could be determined to have a definate vlaue, but the ones currently on sale couldn't

The value of these stamps does not change constantly based upon purchase date. To understand how this works go to the US semi-postal section of the Scott catalog and read the footnotes. Each issue is a bit different and the valuation can get somewhat complex.