Celebrating the desolate beauty of the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) and its distinct desert environment, this Priority Mail stamp depicts a common scene throughout much of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Using the bold colors of the sun’s reflection off of the trees, rocks and other shrubby vegetation, artist Dan Cosgrove illuminates the desert scene in warm, golden hues. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp, which joins the $25.50 Bethesda Fountain as the 2019 installment in the American Landmarks series of high-value Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express stamps that began in 2008 with the $4.80 Mount Rushmore and the $16.50 Hoover Dam (Scott 4268-69).
The new $7.35 denomination of this stamp pays the cost of sending a domestic Priority Mail Retail Flat Rate 12.5-inch by 9.5-inch envelope. It will replace the $6.70 Byodo-In Temple stamp (Scott 5257) and flat-rate stamped envelope (Scott U697) issued January 21, 2018, reflecting an increase of 65¢.
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office or at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
FDOI — Joshua Tree Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
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. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by May 27, 2019.
