The latest U.S. migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp will be issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior later this month.
Slated for release on June 29, the $25 stamp—commonly referred to as the “duck stamp”—will be valid for the 2018-19 waterfowl hunting season through June 30, 2019. The stamp features a pair of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) from an acrylic painting by Robert Hautman, of Delano, Minn. It will be the third U.S. duck stamp to feature Hautman’s winning artwork.
The first day of issue ceremony will be held in Hanover, and the event is free and open to the public.
The stamp will be issued in three different formats, including a pane of 20 stamps (being issued for the first time); an 85th anniversary souvenir sheet of four stamps; and a self-adhesive single.
Th stamp (original artwork shown) depicts two mallards.
NO TRADITIONAL GUM STAMP
This year’s stamp will also undergo a major change for the long-time duck stamp program, which dates back to 1934, when two mallards were shown landing on a marsh pond.
There will be no traditional gum stamp issued in 2018. The new format—a self-adhesive pane of 20 stamps—will replace the traditional gum stamp. The perforated pane of 20 self-adhesive singles will yield a stamp that measures 48 millimetres by 36 millimetres, which is about the size of the current U.S. duck stamp. The pane will have normal selvage markings and a plate number in all four corners.
The self-adhesive single will be the same size it has been since 1998.
The artist commemorative souvenir card, which was first issued in 1995, will again be released along with two first-day covers with cachets.
The U.S. federal junior duck stamp will also be issued on June 29. The format will not change for the junior stamp, which will be issued as a gummed pane of 30 stamps.
For more information, visit fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp.php.