United States, Scott #3261 (Michel #3065)(Yvert&Tellier #2831)(Staanley Gibbons #3538), used(o), 1998, Priority and Express Parcel Mail Space and Aircraft Series, stamp shows the Space Shuttle ‘Atlantis’ Landing; the Space Shuttle Program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by NASA which accomplished routine transportation for earth-to-orbit crew and cargo operations from 1981 to 2011; the shuttle, composed of an orbiter, launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank, carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 pounds of cargo into low earth orbit; when its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and land like a glider; the shuttle is the only winged crewed spacecraft to have achieved orbit and landing, and the first reusable, crewed, space vehicle that could make multiple flights into orbit; the ‘Atlantis,’ shown on this stamp, was the fourth operational shuttle and was first flown on October 3rd, 1985; twenty-six years later, after 33 missions, carrying 207 crew members; spending 306 days in space, orbiting the earth 4.848 times, and traveling over 125 million miles, it was retired after its last mission in July 2011; $3.20 priority mail parcel rate, serpentine die cut simulated perforations at scale: 11½, offset lithography printed by the Banknote Corporation of America (BCA); stamp has a hidden indicia 3D message in large font, horizontal line printing: ‘ENTERPRISE/ COLUMBIA/ CHALLENGER/ ATLANTIS/ ENDEAVOR/ DISCOVERY’ over the stamp's surface, only readable with the special USPS glass, issued in panes with non-water soluble self adhesive gum, Scott 2025 Catalog Value: $1.50; nicely centered (superb), half-to-three-quarter circular, black-inked, single-rimmed, 180° inverted, socked-on-the-nose cancellation centered on lower border, left of center and extending out and up over most of the lower left quadrant of the stamp and well into the main image, good perforations, stamp was lifted from the mailing envelope using the Bestine solvent and placed on a piece of black trimmed card stock for an attractive and uniform album appearance with other stamps of the period similarly mounted; centering and mounting warrant a selling price premium. This is not a 'bait-and-switch;' the stamp you see will be the one you receive.
Please review my terms of sale. If you are not ordering from the United States, there is a $US1.65 additional postage expense that needs to be added to the price of the stamp. If you are ordering from the United States, there is only a $US0.73 added postage expense. Also, if you make additional purchases from my offerings, they can all go in one mailing at no extra shipping expense for the added purchases. I will send the purchase by US first class mail, since the relatively low value of the stamp does not warrant signature or tracking mail. Hence the buyer assumes risk of loss or non-delivery. I will keep a scan of my mailing to verify that the correct mailing address was used. If not satisfied, return the stamp to me at your own expense, and I will refund the cost, but not my postage to you. If the stamp is not as described, I will refund the cost and reimburse you for postage both ways.
By way of reference, I am an American Philatelic Society (APS) member (195176) and an American Stamp Dealers Association )ASDA) member. Thank you for looking, and I hope this is the perfect stamp to fill that gap in your collection.
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