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2017 Have a Ball! Baseball Basketball Vollyball Postage Stamps

$7.99 USD $14.30 USD Save $6.31 USD
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#3 Most Popular Issue of 2017 As Voted by Stamp Collectors

 
The USPS issued the Have A Ball! stamps on June 14th 2017. The pane of 16 featuring eight different designs presents a special coating applied only to selected areas.  This gives the stamps a textured feel. Mike Ryan was the designer while Greg Breeding served as the art director for these beautiful textured stamps.

Ball games have been played around the world for thousands of years.  One of the first was called ōllamaliztli and was played by several pre-Columbian cultures including the Mayans and Aztecs. Like modern sporting events, ōllamaliztli matches were important social gatherings attended by people of many different backgrounds.

While other early ball games used leather balls, ancient Mesoamericans lived near rain forest and were able to make solid rubber balls from the Castilla elastica tree.  In ōllamaliztli, the ball (weighing up to nine pounds) was bumped with one’s hip with the goal of hitting it through a stone hoop 20 feet off the ground.  It was a dangerous sport that often resulted in both teams being covered in bruises from the heavy ball. 

Ōllamaliztli became extremely popular and archaeologists have found evidence of ball courts from modern-day Nicaragua all the way to the state of Arizona.  While the official rules of the original game are lost to history, it made its mark on Central American culture.  Some native populations still play a modified version of ōllamaliztli today. 

Modern U.S. sporting events have many similarities to those held by the Aztecs and Mayans thousands of years ago.  People bet on their favorite teams, have parties with friends, and share victory celebrations with complete strangers.  Sports bring people together to share in the thrill of victory and celebration of America’s athletic prowess.  They are more than just games, they are important parts of our culture.

  
Issued: June 14, 2017
First Day City:  Hartford, WI
Type of Stamp:  First Class
Printed by:
  Ashton Potter Ltd.
Method:
  Offset
Self-Adhesive
2017 Have a Ball! Baseball Basketball Vollyball Postage Stamps 2017 Have a Ball! Baseball Basketball Vollyball Postage Stamps 2017 Have a Ball! Baseball Basketball Vollyball Postage Stamps

Frequently Asked Questions

How it works?

A Forever® stamp is for sending domestic mail weighing up to 1 oz via First-Class Mail®.
Purpose: Send letters and cards up to 1 oz (approximately 4 sheets of regular, 8-1/2" x 11" paper in a rectangular envelope)
within the U.S., including U.S. territories and military bases overseas.
Value: Always valid for the First-Class Mail 1 oz rate, even if postage rates increase. Visit First-Class Mail and Postage to view
current rates.
Other Uses: Pair this stamp’s value with other postage to meet mailing costs when additional postage is required.


Use the Retail Postage Calculator to determine the exact cost of your mail.

Why is "FOREVER" crossed out in the image?

When you see "FOREVER" crossed out, it's just an anti-counterfeiting treatment we added to the official website, brochures or e-commerce display images to prevent others from directly downloading high-definition images and then printing them as fake stamps. We call this practice digital masking; the actual purchased physical Forever Stamp, FOREVER, will not have the streaks on it.

So the lines in your picture:

  • It does not mean that the stamp has expired;
  • It does not mean that you cannot continue to use it;
  • Nor a postmark;
  • It's just an artificial anti-copying line added to the display image.

Note: If the physical stamp you receive actually has this crossed line printed on it, be cautious. It may be a display sample, a replica or a fake stamp, rather than a normal usable stamp.

What are the common types of stamps, and how do they differ?

U.S. postage stamps are primarily categorized based on their intended use, postage class, and issuance theme. Common types include:

  • Forever Stamp: Valid for standard domestic letters within the U.S. These stamps typically do not bear a fixed face value; they remain valid for mailing a standard one-ounce letter at the current rate, even if postage prices increase in the future.
  • Global Forever Stamp:  Primarily used for standard international letters or postcards sent from the U.S. to other countries. The main difference between this and a standard Forever Stamp lies in its scope of use and postage value.
  • Postcard Stamp: Designed specifically for domestic postcards that meet USPS size standards; the postage rate is typically lower than that for standard letters.
  • Additional Ounce Stamp: Used to cover the cost of weight exceeding the first ounce; these are usually used in conjunction with a Forever Stamp or other stamps.
  • Two-Ounce and Three-Ounce Stamps: Suitable for heavier letters, greeting cards, wedding invitations, or multi-page documents, eliminating the need to combine multiple stamps to cover the required postage.
  • Fixed-Value Stamps: These stamps display a specific monetary value (e.g., 1¢, 5¢, or other amounts) and are primarily used to make up postage differences or in combination with other stamps.
  • Commemorative and Thematic Stamps: Typically issued to mark historical events, cultural or artistic themes, holidays, notable figures, animals, or natural landscapes. While suitable for regular mail, these stamps are also popular among collectors due to their unique designs and limited release periods.

It is important to note that a stamp's theme and its postage class can overlap; for example, a holiday-themed stamp might also be a Forever Stamp. When purchasing, check for markings such as FOREVER, GLOBAL, POSTCARD, ADDITIONAL OUNCE, or a specific face value to confirm the stamp's intended use.