WV birthday stamp coming

First there was the Sesquicentennial license plate, then the Sesquicentennial coins.  Thursday Governor Earl Ray Tomblin unveiled the Sesquicentennial stamp. 

It’s a showstopper according to Chelsea Ruby, the executive director of the West Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission.

“It’s beautiful! I think it’s a great depiction of West Virginia’s landscape. It shows the mountains. It shows a sunrise,” Ruby said.

The image was captured by Roger Spencer along the Highland Scenic Highway in Pocahontas County. The U.S. Postal Service chose the picture to grace the special stamp.

“The postal service is going to be producing 30 million of these stamps which will be sold nationwide,” according to Ruby.

They go on sale on the state’s 150th birthday, June 20, in all 50 states.

“You can get them anywhere but what you can only get in West Virginia is the first day cancellation which will be available at the [Sesquicentennial] ceremony on the Capitol steps on June 20th,” Ruby said.

Unlike the Sesquicentennial coins, which went on sale earlier this month and were limited to just 1,863, the stamps will be widely available. But Ruby predicts they won’t be around for long, even with 30 million in print.

“Just releasing [the information] Thursday morning, we’ve got so much interest, people saying, ‘Where can I get these stamps? How many can I get? Where do I get them canceled?’ I think this is going to become a real collector’s item.”

The Sesquicentennial stamp is a first-class Forever stamp. That means it will always be equal to the current value of USPS stamp.

To learn more about the Sesquicentennial celebration, log on to www.wv150.com.