Forever Stamp Price: 82 Cents, and Old Ones Still Work

A Forever stamp costs 82 cents at the post office, or $16.40 for a book of 20. The price rose from 78 cents on July 12, 2026 (USPS).

What you pay and what the stamp is worth are separate things. A Forever stamp has no number printed on it; the Postal Service says it always represents the current price of 1-ounce First-Class postage. So its value is whatever a 1-ounce letter costs on the day you use it, regardless of what you paid. A Forever stamp bought for 41 cents in 2007 mails an 82-cent letter today.

Every design sold as a Forever stamp works the same way. In September 2026 the USPS Postal Store was selling, among others, Hank Aaron, Save Manatees, Declaration of Independence and U.S. Flag 2026 designs, all at 82 cents each. Some formats come in smaller panes, so the price per pack varies, but not the price per stamp.

Every price the Forever stamp has sold for, with the date it took effect:

• April 12, 2007: 41 cents (first issue, Liberty Bell)
• May 12, 2008: 42 cents
• May 11, 2009: 44 cents
• January 22, 2012: 45 cents
• January 27, 2013: 46 cents
• January 26, 2014: 49 cents
• April 10, 2016: 47 cents (a price cut)
• January 22, 2017: 49 cents
• January 21, 2018: 50 cents
• January 27, 2019: 55 cents
• August 29, 2021: 58 cents
• July 10, 2022: 60 cents
• January 22, 2023: 63 cents
• July 9, 2023: 66 cents
• January 21, 2024: 68 cents
• July 14, 2024: 73 cents
• July 13, 2025: 78 cents
• July 12, 2026: 82 cents

The price stayed at 55 cents from January 2019 to August 2021, and at 78 cents through January 2026, when the Postal Service skipped its usual winter increase. Since 2021 increases have come twice a year, and the price has risen from 58 to 82 cents in under five years.

Yes, however old they are. US stamps do not expire, and a Forever stamp pays the current 1-ounce letter price whenever it is used. The oldest Forever stamps, the 2007 Liberty Bell printings, are as valid as a book bought this morning.

Three conditions apply to any stamp: it must be unused, it must not be torn or heavily marked, and it must be genuine. Stamps.com notes that the Postal Service may refuse a stamp that is torn, heavily marked or cannot be identified as genuine, so buy Forever stamps from the post office or another source you trust.

Old stamps with a printed value, such as a 29-cent stamp from the 1990s, also remain valid, but only for the amount printed on them. You need to add postage to reach 82 cents.

One Forever stamp covers one ounce. For anything else, use the USPS price list effective July 12, 2026:

• 2-ounce letter: $1.11, which is one Forever stamp plus 29 cents
• 3-ounce letter: $1.40, one Forever stamp plus 58 cents
• Square or rigid envelope: add the 49-cent nonmachinable surcharge
• Postcard: 65 cents; a Forever stamp works but overpays by 17 cents
• Any country abroad: $1.75, one Global Forever stamp

Two Forever stamps on a 2-ounce letter are accepted, but they pay $1.64 for postage that costs $1.11.

Because a Forever stamp always pays the current rate, stamps bought before an increase keep their full postage value afterwards. Someone who bought a coil of 100 at 58 cents in late 2021 paid $58 for postage that would cost $82 to buy today.

That is a statement about postage, not about resale: the gain is only realised by using the stamps to mail things. It also only matters if the price keeps rising, which the Postmaster General expects: he has said the stamp should reach 90 to 95 cents (CBS News, July 2026).

Almost never more than their postage. Forever stamps are printed in very large numbers and sold everywhere, so a used one is worth very little and an unused one is worth about what it will mail.

The exceptions are the same as for any modern stamp: a genuine printing error, such as missing colours or missing die cuts, or a scarce format of an otherwise common design. The first Forever stamp, the 2007 Liberty Bell, exists in several versions with different catalogue numbers; the 2007 Liberty Bell page lists them, and stamp errors and varieties explains what counts as an error.

Photograph a stamp and the app identifies the design and issue, so you can tell whether you have an ordinary Forever stamp to mail with or something worth a closer look.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI, and every price and date was checked against the sources listed below, chiefly the USPS price list and announcements. Prices are those in effect on September 25, 2026.

The letter stamp is not the only Forever stamp. The Postal Service extended the idea in stages: all domestic first-class stamps became Forever stamps in 2011, the Global Forever stamp for international mail followed in 2013, and in 2015 postcard, nonmachinable surcharge and additional-ounce stamps were added, marked with their use rather than a printed price (Wikipedia).

What each costs at the USPS Postal Store in September 2026:

• Global Forever (any country, 1 oz): $1.75, $17.50 for a book of 10
• Postcard stamp: 65 cents; the Vibrant Leaves design was listed from $13.00 to $65.00 by format
• Additional-ounce stamp: 29 cents; School Bus design
• Two-ounce stamp: $1.11, $22.20 per book; Wedding Blooms, Elie Wiesel and Katharine Graham designs
• Three-ounce stamp: $1.40, $28.00 per book; Sarah Orne Jewett and Saul Bellow designs

Each of these is sold at exactly the current USPS price for that kind of mail (USPS Notice 123, July 12, 2026): $1.11 is the 2-ounce letter price and $1.40 the 3-ounce price. A search of the Postal Store for nonmachinable surcharge stamps returned no results in September 2026.

Forever stamps come in books of 20, coils of 100, 3,000 and 10,000, and sheets, according to the USPS Postal Store. At 82 cents each:

• Coil of 100: $82.00
• Coil of 3,000: $2,460.00
• Coil of 10,000: $8,200.00, which is the top of the price range the Postal Store listed for the U.S. Flag 2026 stamps

The price per stamp is the same in every format; larger coils only reduce how often you reorder. Online orders carry a handling fee of $2.10 up to $50 and $2.85 above (USPS Postal Store). For more ways to keep the cost down, see cheapest stamps.

Old Forever stamps are sold in two very different ways, and it helps to know which one you are looking at.

• At face value from the Postal Service. The USPS Postal Store sells Forever stamps at 82 cents each; in September 2026 it listed 98 Forever products, most at $16.40 for 20. Some come in smaller panes, such as a Barbie pane at $8.20 (ten stamps) and American Icons at $10.66, which is the price of 13 stamps. It sells current and recent designs, not retired ones.
• At a premium from resellers. Retired designs are sold by online shops, mostly to people choosing stamps for wedding invitations. Edelweiss Post, for example, listed 10 Peony Botanical Forever stamps at $79.99, 10 Red Flower at $54.99 and 10 Cardinal at $25.99 in September 2026: roughly $2.60 to $8.00 a stamp.

Whatever you pay, the postage value is the same. Every Forever stamp pays the current 1-ounce letter price, 82 cents, so a stamp bought for $8 mails exactly the same letter as one bought for 82 cents. The premium is for the design, not the postage.

Yes, buying genuine unused stamps from another seller is how the whole stamp trade works, and we found no rule against it. What is illegal is making, selling or using counterfeit postage, and that is the real risk when you buy outside the Postal Service.

The price tells you which risk you face. Retired designs sold above face value for weddings are priced for their looks. Current Forever stamps sold well below face value, especially in bulk and from sellers you cannot identify, fit the pattern the Postal Inspection Service describes for counterfeits. Mail sent with counterfeit postage can be treated as abandoned. Our page on counterfeit postage stamps lists the warning signs.

Use them. That is almost always the best value, because an old Forever stamp is worth 82 cents of postage today regardless of what it cost.

• Domestic letters: one stamp per 1-ounce letter. For heavier letters add 29 cents per extra ounce, or use two Forever stamps and accept the overpayment.
• Postcards: a Forever stamp works on a postcard but overpays, since postcard postage is 65 cents.
• Letters abroad: Forever stamps can be used on international letters if you add stamps to reach the $1.75 international price (AARP; USPS). Three Forever stamps come to $2.46, which covers it with room to spare.
• Selling them: unused Forever stamps are worth about their postage to a collector, so selling rarely beats using them. Check first for a genuine printing error, which is the exception; see stamp errors and varieties.

The stamps must be unused and undamaged to be accepted.