ABC Pairs

In the mid-1970s, the cost of sending an envelop weighing an ounce or less was thirteen cents in the U.S. The definitive stamp at the top of this album page was issued for that purpose and face amount. In the late 1970s, the post office sought approval to raise the rates, but didn’t know when it might happen and for how much. To prepare for the rate change, they printed non-denominational stamps, ones without a face-amount – withe letters A, B, and C. This way they could start selling stamps at the new rate without waiting to print them.

In May 1978, the A stamps were released for a price of fifteen cents each. In March 1981, the B stamps were sold to the public for a price of eighteen cents. And in October of the same year, the C stamps were sold for twenty cents each. There are similar stamps, lettering from A to H on other pages of this album and the next. After H, they switched to Forever stamps that were just sold at any time for whatever the cost was at the time, but could be used regardless when you bought them, even if the price increases.

Note

As you probably could guess, I don’t like the alphabet stamps. They’re too plain and not artistic. The ones on this page showing old vehicles or modes of transportation are well done and much better. Even if a stamp is temporary, they can still make it with a nice design.

Contains 10 spots: own 10 – 10 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed May 10, 2025

Stamp Details

The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.

spot

own

catalog

subject

description

comment

Flag Series

1.1

✓

1625

13 Star Flag over Independence Hall

13c (nov 1975)
definitive, multicolor

Eagle Series

2.1	✓	1743	Eagle	A (may 1978) definitive, orange
2.2	✓	1820	Eagle	B (mar 1981) definitive, violet
2.3	✓	1947	Eagle	C (oct 1981) definitive, dark orange brown

Transportation Definitives

3.1	✓	1897	Omnibus 1880s	1c (aug 1983) definitive, violet
3.2	✓	1897A	Locomotive 1870s	2c (may 1982) definitive, black
3.3	✓	1898	Railroad Handcar 1880s	3c (mar 1983) definitive, dark green
4.1	✓	2123	School Bus 1920s	3.40c (jun 1985) definitive, bluish green
4.2	✓	1898A	Stagecoach 1890s	4c (aug 1982) definitive, red brown
4.3	✓	2124	Buckboard 1880s	4.90c (jun 1985) definitive, brown black

Footnotes

Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.