by Charles Hughes

Created on: March 03, 2009

You may have seen these stamps on your mail and thought they looked a little different, despite their rather plain Liberty Bell design, but you weren't quite sure why they looked different. On closer inspection, you realize that they lack any denomination, and unlike the old transition stamps that were issued during postal rate changes, they don't bear any letters, either. No "A", "B", "C", etc. Instead, in small letters, they say: "USA FIRST-CLASS FOREVER".

"Forever," you think. Nothing is forever. Not even diamonds. But these stamps are - at least to a certain extent. Two hundred years from now, your great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter might find one of your old 44-cent forever stamps that got pushed to the back of your old desk drawer, and she'll be able to use it to mail a letter, probably saving her a hundred bucks, at least, given the ravages of inflation. This is radically different from other first-class stamps that, while they would probably still be valid for postage, would only save your distant heir the paltry number of cents that the stamp cost you.

Forever Stamps were introduced in 2007, and they benefit both you and the U.S. Postal Service. If you buy Forever Stamps, instead of ordinary first class stamps, you avoid the rate-change hassle of having to use the 1- or 2-cent stamps that usually make up the difference between the old and new rates. For the thrifty-minded, they're a blessing. If you know that a rate change is pending, you can stock up and save a little money. Forever Stamps are available in booklets of 20 stamps, and also in sheetlets of 18 stamps. You can buy them at your local post office, online at usps.com, and also at automated postal centers and ATMs. They are continually available, not just in the short periods before and after postal rate changes.

For the Postal Service, Forever Stamps ease the crunch of having to print and distribute massive amounts of new stamps in the usually short intervals between getting a new rate approved and the date it takes effect. It's also easier for postal workers to calculate how much postage was affixed to a package when a transition stamp is used to pay part of the postage. A Forever Stamp will forever be worth the current one-ounce first-class rate ... or until it is cancelled, whichever occurs first.

So, I guess diamonds' unique status is still safe - if not forever, at least for a little while longer.

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