The United States Postal Service (USPS) is celebrating its 250th anniversary with special stamps featuring a familiar face.
The first new stamp will have a picture of Benjamin Franklin, who was appointed as the first postmaster general by the Second Continental Congress in July 1775.
USPS says the design is a 1875 reproduction of an 1847 5-cent stamp, one of the first official U.S. postage stamps.
The Benjamin Franklin stamps will be exclusively available in a 32-page booklet — Putting a Stamp on the American Experience — that celebrates the cultural importance of U.S. stamps.
“Highlighting the popular series and subjects that give the stamp program its range and depth, this booklet — only the fourth ever issued by the Postal Service — commemorates the 250th anniversary of our nation’s postal system and celebrates the enduring influence of stamps on our shared heritage,” USPS said.
The second special anniversary stamp is actually a collage of 20 stamps. Titled “250 Years of Delivering” and designed by cartoonist Chris Ware, USPS said the pane of stamps invites the public to spot a fun array of familiar postal items and icons while following a mail carrier on her rounds through four seasons of the year.
Both will be available in July.
