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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations Nov. 6-7, 2004:

Nothing Definitive

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries. 

When stamp collecting reporters were briefed on the 2005 U-S stamp program this summer, 
there were no regular issues, or "definitives," in it.These are the work-horse stamps 
that cover various postal rates and stay on sale much longer than commemoratives. The 
subjects often include flags, presidents, famous (but not TOO famous) people and 
statues.

There aren't any scheduled for next year because postal rates are expected to go up the 
following year. The Postmaster General has promised no rate increase until then -- which 
almost everyone takes to mean that that's when there WILL be a rate increase. So why 
issue new thirty-seven-cent stamps now when they'll be outdated in less than a year?

It takes nearly a year for the Postal Service to get approval to raise domestic rates, 
so a filing is expected early next year....to take effect in early 2006.

Now this doesn't mean there WON'T be any definitives next year. They're often scheduled 
for release on short notice.

And that's Stamp Collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News. 

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