Are old Breast Cancer Stamps still valid?

[kijip]

So, when I was going through all of our books, many of which have been in storage at my mom's for years and years, to donate to T's school book fair, I found 4 sheets of breast cancer stamps from like 2000. I actually don't know when they are from, but they were in a copy of Von Mises' Theory of Money and Credit so chances are good they are from either 2000 or 2001 when I took my first class on money theory :jammin:. I paid 35 or 40 cents a stamp for them but they are unmarked with a value. I think what happened is that I bought them for Christmas cards and then tucked them away, could not find them and thus just bought more for my cards.

Are they still good as is, like Forever Stamps? If I can use them now, great. Or do I need to add additional postage? I know they still sell the design as of recently, but they must have been charging 45 or 50 cents. The idea was that you paid the postage and the excess beyond the price went to breast cancer research. Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this. It's 80 stamps and I want to use them. :)

[vonfirmath]

I think they are still valid. Try one and see.

[sariana]

I would call 1-800-ASK-USPS and ask.

I am always finding old stamps and never know what I should do with them.

[Snow mom]

I'm sure they are still valid but not like forever stamps-- you'll have to add more postage. I know for a while they were printing stamps before postage hikes with things like "F rate" that said it was going to be this particular class of rate but not what the amount was. I guess they needed more time to print stamps and hadn't yet decided what the rate was. I'm sure there's a way to figure out what the rate was, or you might just want to stop by the post office and ask them about it.

[vonfirmath]

The F rate, etc. stamps are a special thing they did because they need lead time to print stamps -- more lead time than they get if they wait to find out what the new fee will be. So they've been going through the alphabet and each letter means something different. Each letter has a specific value that one has to figure out if you are going to use them.

The breast cancer stamps are different. they were paid for at a rate that is higher than the stamp is worth in the first place. they don't have a denomination or a rate on them. And they are continuing to sell breast cancer stamps now that look just like the ones that they used to sell. So I believe her breast cancer stamps are going to be able to be used as full postage for the equivalent of "1 stamp" on a regular size first class envelope.

[rlu]

You can also send an email and ask, rather than go to the actual office. I did that when I found some old stamps to find out how much they were worth (.36). My thinking is that unless they are marked different than the current breast cancer stamps that you can use it w/o extra postage.

Just look at the usps website, it has an email address somewhere.