U.S. #4348
Seacoast
American Scenes

Issue Date: August 15, 2008
City: Hartford, CT

Introduced in 1995, the American Scenes series pictures bold graphics showcasing the features representative of the four quadrants of the United States. In 2002, a prototype design of a stylized seacoast was issued to represent the northeast. The 5¢ Sea Coast definitive coil stamp is the third issue in the American Scenes series. It was re-issued in 2003 and again in 2004 in self-adhesive, water-activated, and perforation varieties by two different printers.

The 5¢ Sea Coast definitive coil stamp is used for pre-sorted bulk mailings by many non-profit organizations. The United States Postal Service issues permits to eligible groups which entitles them to mail pieces at a favorable rate. The non-profit definitives are purchased for a fixed price and placed on outgoing mail. Users pay the difference between the cost of the stamps and the actual postal rate when the pieces are mailed. The “NON-PROFIT ORG” inscription is considered to be a pre-cancel.

High issue quantities and low demand halted production of the Sea Coast non-profit definitives until 2008, when they were re-issued with water-activated adhesive in coils of 500 stamps each. The 2008 5¢ Sea Coast is close in appearance to the earlier Sea Coast coil stamps, which were designed by Phil Jordan and Tom Engeman.