Completeness: U.S. postal note stamps

Stamp Market Tips By Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

United States — Postal note stamps, first issued Feb. 1, 1945, are an obscure category of back-of-the-book stamps.

Issued in 18 denominations ranging from 1¢ to 90¢, they are listed in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers with numbers prefixed by the letters “PN.”

The catalog describes them thusly: “Postal note stamps were issued to supplement the regular money order service. They were a means of sending amounts under $1. One or two postal note stamps totaling 1¢ to 99¢ were affixed to United States Postal Note cards that came in $0 to $10 denominations, and they were canceled by the clerk. The stamps were on the second of three parts, the one retained by the post office redeeming the Postal Note. They were discontinued March 31, 1951.”

The Scott Specialized U.S. catalog values the set of 18 (Scott PN1-18) in mint never-hinged condition at $48.60. A used set is valued at $5.40.

It is hard to put together a good set with all the stamps in very fine grade or better. A mint never-hinged set in very fine grade is well worth $40 to $45.

The Scott U.S. Specialized catalog notes that plate number blocks of four are valued at four to five times the value of a single stamp. Plate number blocks of four are hard to find and are a good buy at six to eight times the value of a single stamp. 

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