Series "b" And Eagle Stamps

[thudthwacker]

This is very tangentially related to the act of writing, insofar as it involves the US Postal System and the postage stamps thereunto appertaining, and their possible use for the purpose of sending a card or letter which will, I assure you, be written with a fountain pen. (That said, if this is stretching the connection a bit too far, I request that the fine admins delete this thread and accept my apologies.)

 

I've been looking around on theBay, and have found a few people selling various vintage stamps in the 32¢ - 34¢ range. Of course, as the first-class letter rate in the US is currently 50¢, any of those would require additional postage. I was pleased to find that 18¢ is a quite common denomination -- and while it will result in overpaying by a bank-breaking 2¢ in some cases, I think I'd be okay with that.

 

One stamp caught my attention in particular: the Series B and Eagle stamp (I believe that's it's formal name). It's a very handsome stamp, with a stylized white eagle against a purple background, and the words "B US Postage". They're fairly plentiful, I like them, and they would make it very easy to use the various vintage stamps I have my eye on. My problem: they don't state their denomination. Nowhere on the stamp does it say "18¢". As a result, I'm not sure if they're still worth, well, 18¢. I was hoping that some knowledgeable philatelist could assist me -- I confess that I don't have the vaguest clue who else to ask. I did some Google searches, but it didn't turn up an answer. (Also, if I'm honest, if there are some knowledgeable philatelists around here, I'm very happy to furnish them with an opportunity to talk about something they enjoy.)

[flyingfox]

You can see all the prices of unmarked stamps here. Hopefully I can attach the link without any problem....

 

http://alphabetilately.org/G2.html

[thudthwacker]

You can see all the prices of unmarked stamps here. Hopefully I can attach the link without any problem....

 

http://alphabetilately.org/G2.html

 

 

Well, according to that page, at least, these are still valid postage, and worth what they were worth when issued. Excellent! Many thanks!

[pajaro]

Very interesting link. I have let my stamp collection of US stamps lapse for a few decades. I enjoyed looking at those stamps.

[flyingfox]

Yea, some of vintage stamps are absolutely beautiful!

 

I often buy discount postage off of eBay, and the site helped me figure out the value of bunch of those “unnumbered” stamps, to the point where I have it bookmarked.

[thudthwacker]

Yea, some of vintage stamps are absolutely beautiful!

 

I often buy discount postage off of eBay, and the site helped me figure out the value of bunch of those “unnumbered” stamps, to the point where I have it bookmarked.

 

Pity the author doesn't much care for the Eagle A-D series stamps. I really like their minimalism. Also, they won't be distracting when I put one next to the Bugs Bunny or Snoopy stamps I just picked up on eBay.

 

The page also helped me by letting me know why these stamps even exist; it didn't occur to me that the postage rate was changing fast enough (and unpredictably enough) that there was a logistics problem in having enough stamps printed, fast enough, with the right face-value denominations.