2001.01.29        USA Priority and Express Mail Stamps

To meet with the new postage rate effectived from Jan.7, USPS revealed two new designs for the priority and express mail. The $3.50 Capitol Dome stamp, featuring a nighttime view of an illuminated Capitol dome, graces the new 1-pound Priority Mail rate, while the $12.25 Washington Monument featuring an eastward view of a silhouetted monument at sunrise, with the Capitol silhouetted in the background, graces the single new 8-ounce Express Mail rate.

Technical Details

Stamps $3.50 Capitol Dome stamp $12.25 Washington Monument stamp
Issue Date and Place  Jan. 29, 2001, Washington, DC 20066.
photographer Robert Llewellyn, Earlysville, Va Patricia Fisher, Washington, D.C.
designer, art director and typographer Derry Noyes, Washington, D.C
modeler Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit, N.C.
Printing process offset (hidden text: one line, "Priority Mail") offset (hidden text: one line, "Express Mail")
Printing contractor, printer and processor BCA, Browns Summit, N.C.
Printing press Goebel 670
colors process cyan, magenta, yellow, black
paper prephosphored type II
gum self-adhesive
print quantity 125 million stamps 35 million stamps
format pane of 20 (one design)
size 1.09 inches by 1.42 inches (image); 1.23 inches by 1.56 inches (overall); 7.13 inches by 7.26 inches (pane)
plate numbers  "B" followed by four single digits
marginal markings  "©USPS 2000," plate numbers, pane position diagram; bar code, price
Original information from USPS News