Lander, WY —The Lander Post Office will offer a Special Postmark commemorating the upcoming Solar Eclipse. The Postmark is available beginning August 21 and will only be available for 30 days at the office, located at 230 Grandview Drive.

The Special Postmark incorporates the City, Date of the Eclipse, the time and duration of the totality, and the latitude and longitude of Lander.  Any item bearing current First-Class postage stamps will be postmarked at no charge, said Lander Postmaster Patrick Hollingshead.

“We encourage all those in the community to come out and buy a sheet of the Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever Stamps and receive the Special Postmark,” said Hollingshead. “The special postmark when combined with the Stamp will make for a great collectible.”

The Total Eclipse of the Sun Stamp was issued June 20, 2017, and is a one-of-a-kind Forever Stamp which transforms the solar eclipse image into the Moon from the heat of a finger. Once cooled, the image reverts back to the eclipse. The stamps are sold in panes of 16 Forever Stamps and are available now at Post Offices nationwide and online at usps.com/shop.

Thermochromic inks are vulnerable to UV light and should be kept out of direct sunlight as much as possible to preserve this special effect. To help ensure longevity, the Postal Service is offering a special protective sleeve to hold and protect the stamp pane for a nominal fee. The back of the stamp pane provides a map of the August 21 eclipse path and times it may appear in some locations.

This stamp image is a photograph taken by retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak of Portal, AZ, who is considered by many to be the world’s leading authority on total solar eclipses with 27 under his belt.  The photograph shows a total solar eclipse seen from Jalu, Libya, on March 29, 2006.

“A total eclipse of the Sun is simply the most beautiful, stunning and awe-inspiring astronomical event you can see with the naked eye — but you’ve got to be in the 70-mile-wide path of totality,” said Espenak.

The Postal Service printed 60 million of the stamps.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf. Follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/usps), Instagram (instagram.com/uspostalservice), Pinterest (pinterest.com/uspsstamps), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/usps), subscribe to our channel on YouTube (youtube.com/usps), like us on Facebook (facebook.com/usps) and view our Postal Postsblog (uspsblog.com).

For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.