Andy Pastuszak
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Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,533 
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jun 4, 2021 16:01:09 GMT
The USPS used to have 3 different stamp designations: commemorative, definitive and special. Things like the Christmas, Kwanzaa, Eid, Hanukah and Love stamps were all classified by the USPS as "Specials" in the US Postal Bulletin.
At some point, the USPS stopped classifying stamps in the Postal Bulletin by one of these 3 categories.
Stamp collectors have always just used commemorative and definitive.
So, should all specials be lumped into in commemoraratives now? Or were they always commemoratives by philatelic standards?
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,348
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Jun 5, 2021 10:00:44 GMT
The catalog and album producers have been involved in defining groupings as well. If you look at the USPS postal announcements, they have defined series like Holiday Celebrations (Christmas, Diwali, Kwanzaa, etc.) I assume your question relates to grouping on album pages.
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djcmh
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Posts: 772
What I collect: Worldwide
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Post by djcmh on Jun 5, 2021 14:45:35 GMT
At Colnect holiday stamps are listed under commemorative as they are commemorating an event (the holiday for that year) and, generally, are only sold for a short period of time the way commemoratives are.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,533
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jun 7, 2021 2:57:31 GMT
At Colnect holiday stamps are listed under commemorative as they are commemorating an event (the holiday for that year) and, generally, are only sold for a short period of time the way commemoratives are. That's how I feel. |
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daveg28
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Posts: 1,015
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jun 7, 2021 13:46:39 GMT
Short, limited sale time means, to me, commemorative. You can't buy Christmas stamps in June, so there you go.
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brightonpete
Departed
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On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on Jun 7, 2021 17:54:13 GMT
You can't buy Christmas stamps in June, so there you go. |
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,015
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jun 7, 2021 18:17:40 GMT
You can probably get last year's here in the U.S., too, if your local post office didn't sell them all. They sell them at the grocery store in booklet form, too, but once they sell them all, they're gone. Usually, though, they're gone.
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,348
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Jun 7, 2021 18:35:25 GMT
If I understand the USPS policies, definition will be reprinted as needed to meet demand. Commemoratives are one printing and that is it. The USPS will sell them at the Stamp Fulfilment Center until they sell out or about 2 to 3 years. The post office will not likely reorder them once they sell out since it is a hassle dealing with unsold stamps.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,533
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jun 18, 2021 21:57:19 GMT
If I understand the USPS policies, definition will be reprinted as needed to meet demand. Commemoratives are one printing and that is it. The USPS will sell them at the Stamp Fulfilment Center until they sell out or about 2 to 3 years. The post office will not likely reorder them once they sell out since it is a hassle dealing with unsold stamps. Commemoratives are sold until the USPS recalls them from sale. Once recalled, remaining stock is either sold through stamp fulfillment or destroyed.
I read an interesting article a few years ago about the Simpsons stamps from the 2000s. The USPS severely overestimated demand for these stamps and there are palettes and palettes of them sitting in Kansas City. They won't destroy them, and they won't sell them, because they're not forever stamps.
I think the USPS should overprint the word "Forever" on them and just reissue them on some Simpson's anniversary.
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