Forever Stamps History
Forever stamps started on April 12, 2007, when the US Postal Service released the Liberty Bell stamp at 41 cents. That's the direct answer to when Forever stamps began. And here's the part that still surprises people: every one of those 2007 Liberty Bells remains valid for a full one-ounce first-class letter today, no matter what the rate has climbed to since.
I deal in surplus postage for a living, so the history of Forever stamps isn't trivia to me. It's the origin story of my whole business. Below: why USPS invented the Forever stamp, the full price timeline from 2007 to now, and how a stamp that never loses validity quietly created a resale market.
Why USPS Invented the Forever Stamp
Picture a rate change before 2007. The first-class rate jumps from 37 to 39 cents, and suddenly the sheet of stamps in your desk drawer is two cents short. You either stand in line at the post office for 2-cent make-up stamps, or you slap two full-rate stamps on the envelope and eat the loss. Multiply that by a hundred million households and every business mailroom in the country.
The Postal Service printed make-up stamps by the hundreds of millions around each rate change, and customers hated the whole ritual. So in early 2007, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved a fix: a stamp sold at the current first-class rate, with no denomination printed on it, that would cover a one-ounce letter forever. The Liberty Bell design went on sale April 12, 2007 at 41 cents, a full month before the 41-cent rate even took effect (that happened May 14).
Skeptics predicted disaster. People would hoard cheap stamps, the thinking went, and USPS would end up delivering tomorrow's mail at yesterday's prices. USPS made the opposite bet: getting paid years before performing the service is a good deal, and the customer goodwill was free. By 2011, nearly every new first-class stamp design carried the Forever mark. The concept won.
Forever Stamps Price History: Every Rate Change Since 2007
If you want the price of Forever stamps over time, here is every adjustment since launch. What year did Forever stamps start climbing fastest? Look at 2021 onward, when USPS moved to raising rates roughly twice a year under its Delivering for America plan.
| Effective date | Rate | Change |
|---|---|---|
| April 12, 2007 | 41¢ | Forever stamp debuts (Liberty Bell) |
| May 12, 2008 | 42¢ | +1¢ |
| May 11, 2009 | 44¢ | +2¢ |
| January 22, 2012 | 45¢ | +1¢ |
| January 27, 2013 | 46¢ | +1¢ |
| January 26, 2014 | 49¢ | +3¢ (temporary surcharge) |
| April 10, 2016 | 47¢ | −2¢ (the only decrease ever) |
| January 22, 2017 | 49¢ | +2¢ |
| January 21, 2018 | 50¢ | +1¢ |
| January 27, 2019 | 55¢ | +5¢ (steepest jump: 10%) |
| August 29, 2021 | 58¢ | +3¢ |
| July 10, 2022 | 60¢ | +2¢ |
| January 22, 2023 | 63¢ | +3¢ |
| July 9, 2023 | 66¢ | +3¢ |
| January 21, 2024 | 68¢ | +2¢ |
| July 14, 2024 | 73¢ | +5¢ |
| July 13, 2025 | 78¢ | +5¢ |
| July 12, 2026 | 82¢ | +4¢ |
One caveat on the bottom row: this table records history through July 2025. Rates keep moving, so for the current first-class rate, check usps.com directly. This page was last reviewed in July 2026, and I'd rather point you to the source than publish a number that goes stale in six months.
Notice the shape of that timeline. From 2007 to 2018, the rate crept up 9 cents in eleven years. From 2019 to 2025, it jumped 28 cents in seven. Anyone who bought in bulk during the slow years is sitting on postage that cost far less than it's worth at the mailbox today.
How the Forever Concept Changed Stamp Buying
Once a stamp's value floats with the rate, buying early stops being a convenience and starts being a strategy. Every announced Forever stamps price increase triggered a stock-up wave. Ahead of the January 2019 move from 50 to 55 cents, businesses bought coils by the case; a mailing operation running 20,000 letters a month saved about $1,000 a month just by ordering in December instead of February.
Then life happens. Companies go paperless or close their doors. A mailroom shuts down and someone finds forty sealed rolls in a supply cabinet. Estates get settled and the family discovers a filing box of stamp sheets accumulated over fifteen years. None of it expired, all of it holds full mailing value, and the owners usually just want it converted back into cash.
That's the surplus market, and it's where a shop like mine comes from. We're an independent merchant with no affiliation with the US Postal Service. We buy verified surplus postage from businesses, estates, and collectors, then pass part of that discount along. Browse our surplus Forever stamps and you'll see exactly what this history predicts: older commemorative sheets sitting next to recent flag coils, all worth the same at the mailbox.
The timeline above also explains why discounted postage can exist at all without anything shady going on. A roll purchased at 49 cents in 2015 carries today's full first-class value, so there's real room between what the original buyer paid and current face value. We break down how that math works in our Forever stamp price guide.
Forever Stamp History: Quick Questions
When did Forever stamps come out for international mail?
January 27, 2013. USPS launched the Global Forever stamp at $1.10, applying the same rate-proof logic to a one-ounce letter mailed anywhere in the world. Like its domestic cousin, a Global Forever keeps full international value no matter how many increases follow.
Can I still use Forever stamps bought in 2007?
Yes. A Liberty Bell purchased at 41 cents in 2007 mails a one-ounce first-class letter today at full value, no make-up postage required. Validity never lapses, which is the entire point of the program, and the reason older surplus stamps are worth buying at all.
Has the rate ever gone down?
Once. On April 10, 2016, the first-class rate dropped from 49 to 47 cents when a temporary surcharge expired. Anyone who stocked up in 2014 technically overpaid for two years. It hasn't happened again, and given the current rate schedule, I wouldn't wait around for a sequel.