3.4c School Bus single

Object Details

Description

The 3.4-cent coil stamp featuring a 1920s school bus was issued June 8, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, at the NAPEX show. It was issued as part of the Transportation Series that was initiated in 1981. The stamp was available in post offices nationwide the next business day, June 10, 1985.

The 3.4-cent denomination met the new basic minimum per-piece rate for carrier route third-class bulk mailings by nonprofit organizations effective February 17, 1985.

Buses were used as a major mode of public transportation throughout the world, particularly by nations with advanced road and highway systems. In the United States, thousands of buses are used in inter-city service and for local and suburban transit as a convenient and economical means of transportation.

At the time of the stamp's issuance, a substantial portion of the nation's bus fleet was comprised of school buses that were used to transport approximately 50 percent of the nation's students. Millions of students had been transported for educational purposes since a school district first hired a farmer to convey children to school in a wagon in 1859.

The School Bus stamp was available in precanceled form for qualified bulk mailers.

The stamp was designed by Lou Nolan of Washington, DC; typographer was Bradbury Thompson; art director was Derry Noyes; modeler was Ronald C. Sharpe; engravers were Kenneth Kipperman (vignette) and Gary Slaght (letters and numerals). The intaglio process was used. The stamps were issued in coils of 500 and 3,000.

Reference:

Postal Bulletin (May 9, 1985).

mint

Credit line

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

June 8, 1985

Object number

1999.2004.405

Type

Postage Stamps

Medium

paper; ink (dark bluish green); adhesive / engraving

Place

United States of America

See more items in

National Postal Museum Collection

Title

Scott Catalogue USA 2123

National Postal Museum

Topic

Cars & Trucks

U.S. Stamps

Record ID

npm_1999.2004.405

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8b322e5c1-2346-46bb-bce1-c9e1a664f976