# 3680-83 - 2002 37c Contemporary Christmas: Snowmen, linerless coil
37¢ Snowman Coil Stamps
Contemporary Christmas
City: Houghton, MI
Quantity: 300,000,000
Printed by: Guilford Gravure
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 8 ½ vertically
Color: Multicolored
Experimental Linerless Coil Stamps
Throughout the 1990s, self-adhesive stamps grew in popularity for their convenience. So the USPS began looking for ways to produce the stamps more efficiently.
The process to produce these stamps would turn out to be quite complex. For example, the 32¢ Flag over Porch stamps were being printed by Stamp Venturers in Richmond, Virginia. They were shipped to 3M Corporation in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, they were coated with adhesive on the back and silicone on the front. The stamps were then shipped back to Stamp Venturers, cut down into 100-stamp coils, and packaged similarly to tape dispensers.
In 2002, the USPS issued another set of linerless coils, which featured snowmen. Customers could purchase a container for the stamps for $1. After these stamps were produced, the USPS decided that linerless coils didn’t provide significant production savings. They also required new or modified equipment for affixing stamps, so no more linerless coils were produced.
37¢ Snowman Coil Stamps
Contemporary Christmas
City: Houghton, MI
Quantity: 300,000,000
Printed by: Guilford Gravure
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 8 ½ vertically
Color: Multicolored
Experimental Linerless Coil Stamps
Throughout the 1990s, self-adhesive stamps grew in popularity for their convenience. So the USPS began looking for ways to produce the stamps more efficiently.
The process to produce these stamps would turn out to be quite complex. For example, the 32¢ Flag over Porch stamps were being printed by Stamp Venturers in Richmond, Virginia. They were shipped to 3M Corporation in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, they were coated with adhesive on the back and silicone on the front. The stamps were then shipped back to Stamp Venturers, cut down into 100-stamp coils, and packaged similarly to tape dispensers.
In 2002, the USPS issued another set of linerless coils, which featured snowmen. Customers could purchase a container for the stamps for $1. After these stamps were produced, the USPS decided that linerless coils didn’t provide significant production savings. They also required new or modified equipment for affixing stamps, so no more linerless coils were produced.