Decimals in Face Values

I’m here to answer some recent questions I’ve received about what to do about the decimal points in the face value of vintage postage. Some older stamps from the 1950s to 1980s will have these, mainly found on coil stamps. In a Forever Stamp world, they are a bit of an oddity and hard to wrap your head around at first.

First, the WHY…

Some older stamps have a 1/2 cent because that was the 1 oz rate at the time. Nowadays, USPS will up postage from 50 to 55 cents without batting an eye, but when the postage amount was 4 cents, a 5 cent jump would be crazy. We didn’t have half penny coins at the time, but when buying a sheet of stamps or a coil, the math would work out to an even number.

USPS worked within existing (Americana) and new (transportation) series through the late 20th century to provide bulk mail stamps, which have a slightly lower rate than regular first class rates. This resulted in decimal points.

But do they work?

Yes! They are worth exactly what the face value says they are. However, you should NEVER round up when it comes to postage with decimals. a 4.9 cent stamp counts as 4.9, NOT 5 cents. One way to make them work is to add together two whose decimals equal a cent. A 4.9 cent and a 7.1 cent, for example.

Want to take a look at more of them? See decimal points postage & coils here.