NEW YORK CITY — The U.S. Postal Service will announce several new and innovative stamp products during the World Stamp Show-NY 2016, which begins Saturday, May 28 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The new products include The World Stamp Show Souvenir Portfolio, a book with a number of impressive digital and tactile features; the 2015 eGuide to U.S. Stamps, a digital version of the Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps, 42nd Edition; the USPS StampApp, the only official U.S. stamp collecting app; and new Forever stamps that are water soluble.

The water soluble feature is available on the Classics Forever stamps, which will be issued during the show on Wednesday, June 1. The pressure-sensitive adhesive on the stamps make them water soluble, enabling philatelists to remove these special stamps from envelopes after they have been used by soaking them in plain water.  This is the first time this feature has been included on a Forever stamp. 

“Stamps have a way of connecting the world, and now it’s happening digitally,” said Postal Service Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Jim Cochrane.  “Leveraging digital technology is incredibly important to the future of stamp collecting, and increasingly, you will find new technologies embedded within stamps that will have the potential to bridge the physical and digital.”

USPS StampApp
The USPS StampApp is the only official U.S. collecting app and the only collectibles app that includes an entire reference library along with user-generated content for philatelists to upload their own stamp collection. Designed for collectors and stamp enthusiasts of all ages, StampApp affords users beautiful, high-resolution imagery of the U.S. stamp archive, with details and production specifications that are important to collectors. Users can manage their personal collections on StampApp, knowing that everything is securely and permanently stored in the Cloud, where it is always accessible on all of their devices.

• Browse the entire USPS stamp archive, from the Postmaster's Provisionals of 1845 to the 2016 first quarter issues.
• Inventory, valuate and manage your own collections, with extensive fields for condition, purchase price, specifications, current values and the like.
• Personalize your viewing content by selecting stamp information and data fields of choice.
• Create "Wish Lists" by browsing the USPS archive and selecting desired stamps.
• Share your wish lists with others via email or social media.
• Export your entire personal collection to XML, Excel or Plain Text format.
• Stamp and collecting data sync automatically among all your devices.
• Upload images to StampApp from your personal collection.

The USPS StampApp will be available on usps.com, Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

2015 eGuide to U.S. Stamps
The Postal Service crosses philately’s digital divide with the brand new 2015 Postal Service eGuide to U.S Stamps.

The U.S. Postal Service takes the lead in digital stamp display with a first-of-its-kind eBook of stamps. Like its print-book brother, the eGuide to U.S. Stamps encompasses more than 7,000 U.S. stamps from 1845 to the present. This is the only official compilation of U.S. postage stamps issued by the Postal Service. Extensive content includes detailed listings for each stamp with color illustrations, dates of issue, quantities issued, and separate listings for design variations. Multiple categories are covered — definitive, commemorative, airmail, duck stamps, stamped envelopes, and more — all organized into easily accessible indexes with an updated Stamp Series section that lists all stamps issued per series.

The benefits of the  eGuide to US Stamps include:

• Immediately downloadable and always available, requiring no internet connection once downloaded
• Pinch and zoom for close-up and full page viewing
• Responsive and accurate full-text search capability
• Links to external-referenced resources and internal links via comprehensive indexes
• Customizable font preferences and sizes
• Perfectly portable – tuck the entire U.S. stamp archive into your pocket or purse

The Postal Service eGuide to U.S. Stamps will be available for reading on Kindle, Apple and Android tablets and phones, and can be purchased online at over 1,000 eBook retailers including the Apple Store, Google Play, Amazon, and Barnesandnoble.com.

The World Stamp Show Souvenir Portfolio
The World Stamp Show Souvenir Portfolio is a coffee-table book that features information about each of the eight stamps to be released during the Show. The design elements in this book include lenticular, textured and even Augmented Reality sprinkled throughout the pages. It also includes sleeves for inserting the stamp panes being issued during the week of the show, which must be purchased separately. The August 2015 World Stamp Show-NY 2016 stamp pane is included. The Portfolio can be purchased at World Stamp Show-NY 2016.

Learn more about the innovative new stamp products along with many other digital features at the U.S. Postal Service’s exhibit booth at the World Stamp Show-NY 2016, which continues through June 4. The United States plays host to this sanctioned international stamp show only once every 10 years.

On June 2, during the show, United States Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan will dedicate a pane of 16 stamps featuring America’s National Park Services in celebration of their centennial year.  This event will be webcast and coincides with special dedication ceremonies across the nation that day. Also throughout the week, the U.S. Postal Service will dedicate seven other commemorative postage stamps on site.

These products and many of this year’s other stamps may be seen on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps or via Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website https://www.usps.com/stamps/, the Postal Service’s online site for information on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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