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The Definitive Word On Stamps

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

Definitives are the workhorse stamps: Issued to cover specific rates and needs, they're 
smaller than commemoratives, usually less colorful, and the subjects are often not as 
flashy. Sometimes, though, they stick around longer than commemoratives. There's always 
a need for a one-cent stamp, for example.

But something struck me about this year's U-S program: Some of the most interesting and 
attractive stamps are definitives.

This year's flag stamps in rolls show the star-spangled banner at different times of the 
day. The 62-cent Dragonfly stamp, for an obscure rate, is beautiful, and  the Tropical 
Fruit stamps for postcards are eye-catching -- just the sort of thing to use on a picture 
postcard from your vacation. The Sunflower stamp for letters comes out next month, and 
it's attention-getting. 

And sometimes the subjects do rival those on commemoratives. This year's Literary Arts 
stamp was for Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings -- but I'll bet more people know author James 
Michener, who is now on a DEFINITIVE.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, 
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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