Are the Express Mail stamps incorrectly listed in the Scott catalog? Maybe. I don’t think the Scott catalog is going to change because of what I have to say.

Most collectors are familiar with Special Delivery stamps (they start with the “E” prefix in the Scott US Specialized catalog). In the simplest terms, the mailer paid an extra fee to have their letter (or package) treated special. When a special delivery item was received at the post office, a mail carrier would immediately take the item to the recipient. These letters didn’t wait for the normal mail delivery. The recipient got those letters much earlier in the day, well ahead of normal mail delivery.

Isn’t that what Express Mail is? If something is mailed Express Mail, it’s delivered ahead of the normal mail. The post office receives it and a carrier is immediately dispatched to deliver the Express Mail items.

Call it Express Mail. Or call it Special Delivery. In either case, the result is the same. Therefore, why are Express Mail stamps listed in the front of the Scott catalog with other ordinary stamps? Hmmm, food for thought!