Muhammad Ali Forever Postage Stamps

The photograph is an Associated Press frame from 1974, black and white, Ali in gloves with his fists up and his eyes straight down the lens. Antonio Alcala art-directed the issue and set two designs in a checkerboard across the pane, with ALI alternating top to bottom down the sheet - a layout meant to call up fight posters, footwork, and the chant that followed him around the world. The Postal Service dedicated it in Louisville in January 2026, and printed it as a one-time run.

1974 is a pointed year to pick. It is the year of the Kinshasa fight, seven years after he was stripped of the title for refusing the draft, and the face in the picture belongs to someone who had already lost and regained a career. Panes of 20. Boxing gyms, Louisville businesses and sports charities buy these; so do people who want a face on their mail that means something specific. As a Forever stamp it holds its value against the one-ounce rate whatever happens to postage.