On April 25, 2008, in Burlingame, California, the Postal Service™ will issue 27-cent, Tropical Fruit definitive stamps in five designs. Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland, the stamps go on sale nationwide April 25, 2008.
The stamps will be available in the following formats:
Illustrator Sergio Baradat of New York, New York, created art that visually slices or halves five tropical fruits:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™, at The Postal Store® Web site at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
Tropical Fruit Stamps
Postmaster
1630 South Delaware St
San Mateo CA 94402-9998
After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by June 24, 2008.
Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first day of issue postmark. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24 or writing to:
INFORMATION FULFILLMENT
DEPT 6270
US POSTAL SERVICE
PO BOX 219014
KANSAS CITY MO 64121-9014
There are three philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.
Initially, stamp distribution offices (SDOs) will receive approximately 200 percent of their standard automatic distribution quantity for a PSA sheet stamp. SDO distributions will begin shipment April 3, 2008, and complete shipment May 8, 2008. Distributions are rounded up to the nearest master carton size (40,000 stamps).
SDOs will make a subsequent automatic distribution to Post Offices of their full standard automatic distribution quantity for a PSA sheet stamp using PS Form 17, Stamp Requisition/Stamp Return. SDOs may distribute stamps to Post Offices immediately upon receipt, but not before April 18, 2007.
Post Offices requiring additional stamps must requisition Item 105100 from their designated SDO using PS Form 17. SDOs requiring additional stamps must order them from the appropriate accountable paper depository (APD) using PS Form 17.
Issue:
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Tropical Fruit
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Item Number:
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105100
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Denomination & Type of Issue:
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27-cent Definitive
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Format:
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Pane of 20 (5 designs)
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Series:
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N/A
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Issue Date & City:
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April 25, 2008, Burlingame, CA
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(WESTPEX Stamp Show-No ceremony)
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Designer:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Art Director:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Typographer:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Artist:
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Sergio Badarat, New York, NY
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Modeler:
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Joseph Sheeran
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Manufacturing Process:
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Offset
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Engraver:
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N/A
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Printer:
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Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
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Printed at:
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Williamsville, NY
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Press Type:
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Stevens, Vari-size Security Press
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Stamps per pane:
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20
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Print Quantity:
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200 million stamps
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Paper Type:
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Nonphosphored, Type III
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Adhesive Type:
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Pressure-sensitive
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Processed at:
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Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
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Stamp Orientation:
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Vertical
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Image Area (w x h):
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0.73 x 0.84 in./18.542 x 21.336 mm
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Overall Size (w x h):
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0.87 x 0.98 in./22.098 x 24.892 mm
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Full Pane Size (w x h):
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5.35 x 4.93 in./135.890 x 125.222 mm
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Colors:
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Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
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Plate Size:
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240 stamps per revolution
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Plate Numbers:
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“P” followed by four (4) single digits
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Marginal Markings:
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Front:
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© 2008 USPS • Price • Plate position diagram • Plate numbers in four corners of pane
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Back:
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Barcodes “105100” in two positions • USPS logo
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For fulfilling supplemental orders from SDOs, the Memphis, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco APDs will each receive 8,000,000 additional stamps; the Denver APD will receive 2,880,000 additional stamps. The Kansas City Stamp Services Center (SSC) will receive 8,640,000 additional stamps for fulfilling supplemental orders from APDs.
Additional quantities of this definitive stamp will also be made available to SDOs via future automatic distributions, shipped directly from the supplier to the SDOs.
All SDOs will receive automatic distributions of $27.00 Tropical Fruit, PSA coil of 100. Distributions will be in multiple waves. Wave 1 shipments, which began March 25, 2008, will be completed by April 9, 2008. Wave 2 shipments, which begin April 21, 2008, will be completed by May 28, 2008. Distributions are rounded up to the nearest master carton size (800 coils).
SDOs will not make a subsequent automatic distribution to Post Offices. All Post Offices requiring quantities of Item 786300 must order them from their designated SDO using a separate PS Form 17, Stamp Requisition/Stamp Return. SDOs must not distribute coils to Post Offices before April 18, 2008.
Post Offices requiring additional coils must requisition Item 786300 from their designated SDO using PS Form 17. SDOs requiring additional coils must order them from the appropriate APD using PS Form 17.
Following the second automatic distribution to SDOs, the New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Memphis, APDs will each receive 57,600 additional coils; the Denver APD will receive 19,200 additional coils for fulfilling supplemental orders from the SDOs. The Kansas City SSC will receive 153,600 additional coils for fulfilling supplemental orders from APDs.
Additional quantities of this definitive stamp will also be made available to SDOs via future automatic distributions, shipped directly from the supplier to the SDOs.
Issue:
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Tropical Fruit
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Item Number:
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786300
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Denomination & Type of Issue:
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27-cent Definitive
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Format:
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Coil of 100 (5 designs)
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Series:
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N/A
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Issue Date & City:
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April 25, 2008, Burlingame, CA
|
|
(WESTPEX Stamp Show-No ceremony)
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Designer:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Art Director:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Typographer:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Artist:
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Sergio Badarat, New York, NY
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Modeler:
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Avery Dennison, SPD
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Manufacturing Process:
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Gravure
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Engraver:
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WRE ColorTech
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Printer:
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Avery Dennison, (AVR)
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Printed at:
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AVR, Clinton, SC
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Press Type:
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Dia Nippon Kiko (DNK)
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Stamps per Coil:
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100
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Print Quantity:
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500 million stamps
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Paper Type:
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Prephosphored, Type II
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Adhesive Type:
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Pressure-sensitive
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Processed at:
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AVR, Clinton, SC
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Stamp Orientation:
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Vertical
|
Image Area (w x h):
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0.730 x 0.840 in./18.54 x 21.336 mm
|
Overall Size (w x h):
|
0.870 x 0.982 in./22.098 x 24.942 mm
|
Colors:
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Magenta, Yellow, Cyan, Black, PMS 7418 (Red), PMS 5473 (Teal), PMS 390 (Light Green)
|
Full Pane Size (w x h):
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N/A
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Plate Size:
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480 stamps per revolution
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Plate Numbers:
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“V” followed by seven (7) single digits
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Marginal Markings:
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Plate numbers on every 40th stamp around coil
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— Stamp Services,
Government Relations, 3-27-08