USPS revamps semipostals; Alzheimer’s stamp returning
Semipostals are postage stamps offered with an added cost (surtax) that is considered a voluntary donation to a specified cause.
The USPS, which introduced its first semipostals in 1998, has so far issued them all at the prevailing first-class domestic letter rate, which is currently 55¢, and sold them with a small added surtax, currently 10¢ per stamp.
The Alzheimer’s semipostal (Scott B6) was issued Nov. 30, 2017, and taken off sale when its designated two-year sales period ended Nov. 30, 2019.
Early U.S. semipostals had been issued as the result of legislation passed in Congress. The Alzheimer’s stamp was the first in the USPS discretionary semipostal program, which developed new semipostal stamps within the Postal Service.
The Postal Service planned to issue five semipostal fundraising stamps one at a time over a 10-year period under its discretionary program, with each stamp to be sold for no more than two years. The second stamp offered in this program is the nondenominated (55¢+10¢) Healing PTSD semipostal (Scott B7) issued Dec. 2, 2019, and currently still on sale.