If you want the Farmers Markets “Forever” stamps that were released last week, buy them now because the U.S. Postal Service will print only 100 million of them.

The stamps were released in a limited edition, which means that when the 100 million are all sold, they are unlikely to be reprinted, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman told The Hagstrom Report on Monday.

Limited edition stamps are collectible. The Washington Post on Sunday ran a story about the farmers market stamps and a woman from Philadelphia who traveled to Washington last Thursday for the first-day release of the stamp at the FRESHFARM market near the White House.

The woman, Joan Tittle, a retired gym teacher, travels the country to attend as many first-day stamp release events as possible. (See link).

At the event, Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said, “For years the Postal Service has celebrated — through the power of stamps — America’s agricultural abundance. Postage stamps have depicted fruit, flowers, corn and a bread wagon. Today, we’re celebrating farmers markets, which are a popular and communal pastime for many Americans, with the issuance of these four beautiful stamps.”

The stamps may be purchased at post offices nationwide and online, and special products for collectors also are available:

First-day postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They should affix the new stamps to envelopes, address the envelopes to themselves or others and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:
Farmers Markets
Special Events
PO Box 92282
Washington, DC 20090-2282

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, the price is 5 cents each. All orders must be postmarked by October 6, 2014.

First-day covers

The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and can be ordered online or by calling 800-782-6724.

Also available online

• A 11x16 double-matted and framed enlargement of the fresh flowers stamp, which includes a strip of the four stamps and a plaque with the first day of issue details. ($39.95)
• A set of eight Farmers Markets notecards, two of each stamp design, with eight embellished envelopes and eight stamps. ($13.95)
• An uncut press sheet for collectors, containing five panes of 20 stamps, 100 in all. ($49)
• The official first-day of issue ceremony program, which comes inside a envelope bearing one of the stamps and the first-day of issue cancellation. ($6.95)

US Postal Service Store — Farmers Markets Forever Stamps
▪ — First-Day Cover
▪ — Framed Art
▪ — Notecards
▪ — Press Sheets
▪ — Ceremony Program
▪ The Washington Post — Meet a Postal Service groupie, the woman who will collect every stamp

▪