The U.S. Postal Service has issued 44-cent Gulf Coast Lighthouses commemorative stamps in five designs in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 20 stamps and a booklet of 20 stamped postal cards. Designed by Howard E. Paine of Delaplane, VA, the stamps are on sale nationwide. 100 million stamps have been printed.

The U.S. Postal Service continues its popular series of lighthouse stamps by artist Howard Koslow, Toms River, NJ, with the 2009 issuance of five Gulf Coast Lighthouse stamps: Matagorda Island, Texas; Sabine Pass, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; Sand Island, Alabama; and Fort Jefferson, Florida. Each stamp features an original acrylic painting by Koslow based on recent photographs of the lighthouses.

Known as “hurricane alley,” the Gulf Coast weathers many powerful storms each year, including Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the region in 2005. In addition, the land along the coast is swampy and marshy in many places and given to erosion, making it doubly difficult for lighthouses to withstand heavy rains and winds. The five lighthouses featured on the stamps are some of the few that remain standing.

Koslow also painted the five Pacific Lighthouses stamps issued in 2007; Southeastern Lighthouses stamps issued in 2003; the Great Lakes Lighthouses stamps issued in 1995; and the five stamps in the 1990 lighthouses booklet.

Customers have 90 days from the official first day of issuance date to obtain first day of sale postmarks on new stamps and stationery items. Collectors may request a local first day of sale postmark by mail only. There is no charge for servicing of first day of sale postmarks up to 50 covers. Mail-in customers must supply a self-addressed envelope with sufficient return postage applied to return the serviced covers.

To obtain the first day of sale postmark, mail stationery items bearing Gulf Coast Lighthouse stamps to: Customer Relations USPS, 79 Mid Cape Terr Ste 8, Cape Coral, FL 33991. Please specify which city you are requesting a postmark for—Fort Myers, Cape Coral or Naples, Florida; if not specified, the postmark applied will be for the return address city. All orders must be postmarked by October 24, 2009.

For more information about purchasing stamps, stamps by mail, postal regulations, a free subscription to USA Philatelic magazine, Post Office events, the location of the nearest postal store or contract unit, or for answers to your specific Postal Service questions, contact USPS at 1-800-275-8777, or visit www.usps.com.

To schedule a presentation for your community, club or group on how the Postal Service brings the Post Office to your home or office computer, call 239-573-9638.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.