Stamp Friday This Friday, June 7th, will see a lot of new stamps being issued by the USPS. Seven different issues, and some with several varieties, are being released. They include: Many of these stamps have different formats, that may not be apparent to most who use the stamps. However, to collectors who save these stamps mint, it will be quite an outlay to get the different varieties. It still seems odd to me that we are getting different varieties of the same stamp with values on them and nondenominated. It should be interesting to see if the nondenominated stamps get relatively little postal use, since the value stamps will be available at the same time. I would imagine most would prefer to receive stamps with rates on them. Hawaii Post Is it legal to issue private stamps? It sure is, and there is one company that issues some very beautiful stamps - That is Hawaii Post, and they are located on the internet at: http://www.hawaii-post.com - They offer urgent delivery service in the Waikiki area of Oahu. It’s an expensive hobby to collect these stamps mint, because they are issued at a rate to pay an actual service, which costs several dollars. If you are interested in ordering these stamps, the web site has details. It would be really interesting to see an example of these stamps used. I believe that they probably sell more stamps to collectors, and that not all of their clients would use stamps on the packages. If anyone has seen used copies of these stamps, please let me know. It definitely would be an interesting part of modern postal history. Euro Stamps Some countries who adopted the Euro this past January will be devaluing their older stamps this month. Each country set their own policy as to what to do with the older stamps. Some set a very short date for former currencies to be invalid, and others will indefinitely allow for former stamps to be used. For example, Austria is allowing schilling stamps to be used until June 30 - After that date, they can only be exchanged at the main post office in Vienna. If you are in Luxembourg, after June 30th, the older stamps can not be used or exchanged. The full effect of the Euro probably has not been felt yet. A lot of dealers though are going to be holding stamps in their inventory that can no longer be used for postage, and that might have a serious effect on the value of these stamps. It is probably not the time to be buying newer issues over the past decade or so from European countries. A Great Club Website Browsing the internet for stamp sites can be a lot fun. While doing this, I came across a well designed club site - The Mid-Cities Stamp Club of Texas. Besides talking about the club, they offer collecting information, news, and resources. Their stamp club newsletter is well designed, and is available online for all to see. The web site address for this club is: http://www.mid-citiesstampclub.com/ - Check it out! 1840 Penny Black Giveaway Ever want to own the very first postage stamp created, which is the 1840 Penny Black from Great Britain? It's being given away as part of a website promotion. There will be ads in print periodicals over the coming weeks and months. If you want to get a chance to win this stamp with no obligation, then visit http://www.stampcentral.com/penny.htm Thanks for reading, see you next week. Alan Cohen Visit StampCentral.com at http://www.stampcentral.com - dozens of philatelic dealers and more joining all the time. One new dealer this week: CCS - http://www.stampcentral.com/ccs Send collecting interests, receive customized price lists. L&C - http://www.stampcentral.com/ls Sports - Flowers - Art - Space - Scouts - Cats - Dogs & many more topicals Pomexport Ltd. - http://www.stampcentral.com/pomexport/ Chinese, Greek, Roman, Judean, Indian, Byzantine, Medieval & modern.