The Unlimited Useful Life Of US Stamp

The unlimited useful life of US stamp never ceases to surprise me, what a magnificent quality!!!...I have found among my copies this SC#836 from 1938 with a cancellation from 1988...Perhaps it is something normal and assumed in the USA but it seems surprising to me to use a 50-year-old stamp...and even more surprising is that these continue to have their value for life as long as they are not canceled wow!! I think in Australia stamps also have this quality but I don't know about other countries...It's great to be able to use a classic stamp today, or at least know that you can do..

That cancellation is not for 1988, but for 1938. The third digit is a 3.

Upsss is true....sorry

I agree, the original stamp was used in 1938.

There have been a nunber of threads here over the years on the use of old stamps.
A quick look through my pile of recent mail reveals this Scott 641 issued in 1927 (and in regular use until replaced by the Prexies), used as partial franking in December 2023.

Still using 3 cent stamps from the 40s & 50s to go with my 5 bicentennial 13 cent stamps on my current mailings to make the 0.68 rate. Expect the next increase will be to .70, so I'll use up a lot of 5 cent stamps.

On the subject of "unlimited useful life"--I think officially the cut off is Civil War, you can only use stamps after the Civil War. Does anyone have the exact text on that?

But I wonder, is there ever pressure to put a stake in the ground and change this, maybe put a limit of 10 years? I have to imagine it is a big cost to have to have to accept and process old stamps not to mention lost revenue. Other countries have much more limited useful lifespans. So why is US different?

The break in the UK was the introduction of decimal currency fifty-odd years ago. More recently, use of decimal definitives was ended and new, bar-coded definitives introduced - the main driver for abandonment of the use of older definitives was the need for enhanced revenue security.

December 31, 1919 nice late use.

I've mailed many letters with older stamps, usually poorly centered or missing gum. At least there's the bonus of receiving full value vs the thousands of face value lots that get auctioned off at 50%.

Keep in mind the mint postage being used today was paid for previously. USPS/USPOD have had their money for years without providing the paid for service.

While it may be a liability, I would suggest it is not "lost revenue".

Any US postage stamp issued after the Civil War can still be used for postage!

I believe that all Canadian stamps beginning with the large Queens issue
of 1868 are still valid for postage.
No Canadian stamp was ever demonetized by Canada Post.
So if you want to stick a QV Diamond Jubilee $1 on a letter go ahead,
it will be delivered.

October 25, 1948...another nice late use.

Walkman82, a very nice item!

Well, from my post of a week ago, revenue security didn't last long!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68786782

The BBC article states "The genuine stamp on the left is difficult to distinguish from the fake on the right"

Actually the so called fake on the right looks sharper than the genuine on the left.
How is the general public supposed to know what is a counterfeit?
I doubt if the posties know the difference or do they even care.

Apparently it's the same with Canadian counterfeits as well.