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How long is Forever?

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

It's been about three months since the first U-S Forever stamp was issued -- the stamp you 
can use, well, forever, to pay to mail a first-class letter, no matter how high postal rates 
go. How's it doing?

I don't get much mail with stamps on it, other than from stamp collectors, but I haven't seen 
many of the Forever stamps in use. Collectors are most often using Star Wars and the Jamestown 
triangle stamps. Non-collectors are using the fixed-price Flag stamps. Why? Probably because 
the flag stamps come in rolls and sheets, which many mailers prefer, and the Forever stamps 
don't. They're only available in small-quantity units.

Before rates went up in mid-May, some postal clerks were mistakenly selling the Forever stamps 
at thirty-nine cents, the old rate. Oops.

There's no word on just how well the stamp is selling, but chances are sales will spike just 
before the NEXT postal rate hike, when mailers can buy them for the old rate and use them at the 
new one.

But collectors like the classy Liberty Bell design. It's a stamp we won't mind seeing for years 
on end!

Canada, by the way, has had its own "Permanent" stamps since last November, with no reported 
problems.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more about stamps and stamp collecting, 
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com

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