Cost of Global Forever Stamp: $1.75 for Any Country

A Global Forever stamp costs $1.75 from the US Postal Service, and one stamp pays for a 1-ounce letter or postcard to any country served by First-Class Mail International. The price rose from $1.70 on July 12, 2026 (USPS price announcement of April 9, 2026). The USPS Postal Store sells them in panes of 10 for $17.50.

Like the domestic Forever stamp, it has no printed price and does not lose value. The USPS says it never expires, even if the postage price goes up, so a Global Forever stamp bought at $1.10 in 2013 pays the full $1.75 today.

For a letter that contains only correspondence or non-negotiable documents, no customs form is needed (USPS). Anything with cash value, including cash and checks, falls outside that rule.

Both keep their value when prices rise; they pay for different mail.

• US Forever stamp: pays for a 1-ounce letter within the United States, 82 cents since July 12, 2026. Sold in books of 20 for $16.40.
• Global Forever stamp: pays for a 1-ounce letter or postcard to another country, $1.75 since July 12, 2026. Sold in panes of 10 for $17.50.

The international stamp came later. The first Forever stamp, a Liberty Bell design, was issued on April 12, 2007 (USPS Postal Facts); the Postal Service extended the idea to international mail with the Global Forever stamp in 2013 (Wikipedia).

You can, as long as the total covers the international price. Stamps.com states the general rule that the postage on an envelope must match or exceed the current rate and that stamps can be combined, and Stamps Forever, the USPS collectors' site, says that for international letters you either add postage or use a Global stamp.

With a Forever stamp counting at the 82-cent letter price, the options for a 1-ounce letter abroad ($1.75) work out like this (our arithmetic):

• Two Forever stamps: $1.64, 11 cents short. Add small-value stamps worth at least 11 cents.
• Two Forever stamps plus one additional ounce stamp (29 cents): $1.93, which covers it and overpays 18 cents.
• Three Forever stamps: $2.46, which covers it and overpays 71 cents.

If you post letters abroad more than occasionally, a pane of Global Forever stamps is cheaper than any of these combinations.

One Global Forever stamp covers 1 ounce. For heavier letters the price depends on the destination's price group. First-Class Mail International retail letter prices from USPS Notice 123, effective July 12, 2026:

• Up to 1 oz: $1.75 to every country
• Up to 2 oz: Canada $2.35, Mexico $2.60, all other countries (price groups 3 to 9) $3.50
• Up to 3 oz: Canada $2.95, Mexico $3.50, other countries $5.25
• Up to 3.5 oz: Canada $3.50, Mexico $4.15, other countries $5.75

Postcards are $1.75 to every country. Letters stop at 3.5 ounces; anything heavier goes as a large envelope, from $3.30 at 1 ounce up to 15.994 ounces. Nonmachinable letters, such as square envelopes, add 49 cents.

A practical example: a 2-ounce letter to the UK costs $3.50, which is two Global Forever stamps ($3.50) exactly.

The 1-ounce international letter price, which is what a Global Forever stamp pays, from Wikipedia's table of US postage rates and the USPS:

• January 27, 2013: $1.10 (the first Global Forever year)
• January 26, 2014: $1.15
• May 31, 2015: $1.20
• April 10, 2016: $1.15
• January 26, 2020: $1.20
• August 29, 2021: $1.30
• July 10, 2022: $1.40
• January 22, 2023: $1.45
• July 9, 2023: $1.50
• January 21, 2024: $1.55
• July 14, 2024: $1.65
• July 13, 2025: $1.70
• July 12, 2026: $1.75

Before 2013 there were two prices: in January 2012 a letter cost 85 cents to Canada and Mexico and $1.05 elsewhere. The single world price arrived with the Global Forever stamp.

Not from the online Postal Store, which sells them in panes of 10. The Poinsettia design, for example, is listed at $1.75 a stamp and sold only as a pane of 10 for $17.50. It was issued on August 26, 2018, was designed by Greg Breeding with William J. Gicker as art director, and is still on sale because a Global Forever stamp keeps its value.

If you need to send a single letter abroad, you do not need a Global Forever stamp at all: any combination of US stamps worth at least $1.75 does the same job, as shown above.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI, and every price and date was checked against the sources listed below: USPS Notice 123 (effective July 12, 2026), the USPS international mail page and price announcement, the USPS Postal Store, Stamps.com, Stamps Forever and Wikipedia. The stamp combinations and over- and under-payment figures are our own arithmetic. Prices are those in effect on September 25, 2026.