The announcement that the USPS was issuing a new commemorative stamp with the Inverted Jenny design (Scott #C3a) was terrific. Or so I thought. Then I saw that the stamp was being issued with a $2 denomination. Disappointment set in.

Why on Earth would the USPS take one of the most popular and well known US postage stamps and issue it in a denomination that few people will ever need? Why not issue it as a Forever stamp at the First Class mail rate?

Didn’t we just get a $2 Wave of Color stamp? Why do we need another $2 stamp? Gosh, the $2 Bobcat stamp has lived on for many years and did duty all by itself. Now we have two new $2 stamps less than a year apart.

In my opinion, I think the USPS blew a golden opportunity with the new Inverted Jenny stamp.

If they would have issued it at the First class rate, think of how many new collectors it could have brought to the hobby. When a real Inverted Jenny is sold, often times it attracts at least some coverage in the national media. Many people in the general public who are not stamp collectors have at least heard of the “stamp with the upside down plane.” They know it’s valuable and would love to own one.

In my opinion, the USPS should have issued it as a Forever stamp. They should have distributed that stamp to every post office in the US. Obviously, stamp collectors are going to buy this stamp. I think many in the general public would have bought this stamp too. It’s the next best thing when you can’t afford to own the original. A stamp issue like this would prove very popular and possibly launch thousands of people into the world of organized philately.

Sure, stamp collectors are going to buy this stamp. But how many post offices are going to stock this stamp? Not many.

Think of how many would have been used on first class mail. People would see it on the envelope, get excited about it, and go to their local post office to see if they could buy some.

Who is going to use this stamp? Stamp collectors and dealers will use it when sending insured mail or packages. But its use is going to be very limited. Large businesses that mail heavy items are going to continue to use their postage meters. They aren’t going to fool around trying to use stamps. Large businesses haven’t used postage stamps for many years. It’s more efficient for them to use meter stamps. They aren’t going to change now just because the USPS issued a $2 stamp with the upside down plane on it.

Sorry USPS. I think you blew a golden opportunity. Issued as a Forever stamp, I think millions of copies would have been saved. That would be pure profit to the financially struggling USPS. It would have introduced stamp collecting to many people which could have enticed people to buy even more commemorative stamps later on for their collections.