The United States Postal Service (USPS) has introduced a new set of stamps titled “Low Denomination Flowers,” each adorned with unique floral illustrations. This collection, announced today, features five different stamps designed to capture the natural elegance of various flowers, adding a charming touch to any correspondence.
The stamps include illustrations of a purple fringed tulip, poppies and coneflowers, daffodils, peonies, and red tulips. According to Lisa Bobb-Semple, USPS Director of Stamp Services, these stamps aim to enhance the aesthetic appeal of mailed messages. “These stamps will add elegance and warmth to any piece of mail, and make each message as special as the flowers they feature,” Bobb-Semple stated. She also highlighted a creative aspect of the stamps: each stamp displays a number of flowers corresponding to its denomination, such as five flowers on the five-cent stamp.
The artistic process behind these stamps was led by Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, who utilized the photographic talents of Harold Davis. Davis, known for his detailed and radiant floral photography, created the images by photographing each flower arrangement on a lightbox. This technique, combined with multiple exposures, gave the flowers a luminous, almost transparent appearance. Further enhancing the aesthetic, Davis incorporated a scanned sheet of aged paper to achieve a cream-colored background, lending an additional layer of depth to the artwork. All featured flowers were grown in Davis’s backyard in Berkeley, California.
The stamp series is structured as follows: the one-cent stamp features a single purple fringed tulip; the two-cent stamp showcases two daffodil blossoms; three red peonies adorn the three-cent stamp; the five-cent stamp is embellished with five red tulip blossoms; and the ten-cent stamp presents a mix of six white poppies and four purple coneflowers, complete with greenery.
Available in panes of 20 or coils of 10,000, these stamps can be purchased at Post Office locations across the nation or via The Postal Store on the USPS website. Alongside their release, USPS has encouraged the use of the hashtag #LowDenominationFlowersStamps for sharing news and images of the stamps on social media, inviting enthusiasts and collectors alike to join in the celebration of this latest artistic addition to the postal service’s offerings.
