First Se-Tenant Booklet Stamps
On March 11, 1977, the USPS issued its first se-tenant stamps in booklet form.
The booklet was issued at the INTERPEX stamp show in New York City. It was the 19th annual exhibition and it marked the first time in several years that the US and UN issued stamps at the show.
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The se-tenant booklet was one of the most significant issues. The booklet was produced especially for vending machines that couldn’t accept more than $1. The $1 booklet contained seven 13¢ stamps and one 9¢ stamp. At the time, 9¢ was the postcard rate and 13¢ was the first-class letter rate. The 9¢ stamp design was the same as US #1591, except while the earlier issue was printed on grayish paper, the new one was on white paper. The 13¢ stamp was a new design and was also the first multicolor stamp issued in booklet form.
People attending the show could purchase the booklets or loose panes, so they could get First Day Covers. Interestingly, the loose panes were perforated 10 x 10. Previous booklet stamps were perforated 11 x 10½, as were the full booklets available at the exhibition.
At some point after the exhibition ended, booklets were discovered that were perforated 10 x 9¾. When Scott Catalogue assigned these booklets a major number, speculators drove the price up to $300.00, though the price has dropped significantly since then.
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Loose panes perforated 10×10? I’ve never heard of these. A quick check of the Scott Specialized for US doesn’t have them listed either. It seems that these would be listed as a major number similar to the 1623B variety.
I remember when these were released. I thought it was so cool that a booklet had more than one type of stamp in it, and with a different denomination. Now it’s pretty much common place. A lot has happened in forty-four years.
I had the same reaction about cool. Unfortunately, the overwhelming glut of issues that followed over the years drove me away from US collecting US.
At the time these booklets came out I was not only interested in the different perf types of the panes, but the location of the “registration” mark at the top of the pane. Some were on the right, some on the left. Ha! ha! Kind of interesting considering the images on the the stamps. Collecting varieties of all of the Americana issue was a fun endeavor.
No matter what, I say enjoy your stamp collections, and forget the speculators. When we’re gone no one will know the true value of your stamps anyway because theydon’t know and for the pleasure you can’t put a price on it.
I haven’t seen issues like this for awhile.