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How to Identify a Mark on a 2000 First Class Stamp

Before postage stamps, letters were carried to the recipient who paid the fee to the postal carrier. In 1840, the idea of prepaying postage was instituted, reversing the previous arrangement so the sender began paying the postage. The first U.S. stamps were worth five and 10 cents. In 2000, it cost 33 cents to mail a 1 oz. letter using U.S. first class stamps. The markings on stamps follow the same basic pattern.

Things You'll Need

Magnifying glass
Stamps issued in 2000
Bright light

Instructions

- 1
  Look on the stamp for the country of origin. The issuing country will be written on all stamps, including the United States. Only Great Britain, the originator of the postage stamp in 1840, can issue stamps without the country name. First class stamps issued in the U.S. have USA printed on them.
- 2
  Try to find whether the rate of the first class stamp is displayed. In 2000 that rate was 33 cents. Sometimes, the U.S. Postal Service does not print the cost of the stamp on it. Three stamps were issued in 2000 containing no denomination. The designs include a U.S. flag superimposed over a farm, the Statue of Liberty and a panel of four lilies. All of these stamps are worth 33 cents.
- 3
  Determine the image displayed on the stamp. Stamps contain vignettes, images of people and various events often contained within a frame. The Postmaster General appoints the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, consisting of a maximum of 15 individuals, to review thousands of suggestions for designs and events for issue each year. Only 20 new subjects are issued per year. The committee evaluates ideas with 14 major criteria, including events featuring American or American-related subjects. No living person can appear on a U.S. stamp.
- 4
  Read the inscription. U.S. stamps containing a portrait, event or cause contain an inscription identifying the subject. The year the stamp was issued is also printed on the stamp. Prior to 2000, the U.S. Postal Service issued rate-change stamps that did not contain the rate but included alphabetic characters. They stopped this practice in 1999 at the letter H.
- 5
  View the perforations on the edge of the stamp. Originally, the perforations were produced to make separating sheets of stamps easier. A gauge measures the number and size of the teeth on the perforations. One way to thwart counterfeiting is to make the teeth uneven, making the stamp harder to copy.
- 6
  Look for watermarks. These markings are often invisible to the naked eye and are also intended to make the stamp harder to counterfeit. Watermarks are made by imprinting a design or mark on one layer of the paper or fiber during the printing process. Some are visible but most can only be detected by using special viewing scopes, light boxes or a fluid that makes the watermark visible.

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