When did US stamps get dates added to them?

BillyKingsley

Looking at the few I have scanned into my collection album most of them have dates, but most of them are stamps that I have recieved on letters in the past few years, well, back to the late 1990s. Most of them have the date of issue on them from that time period. But some of them are older and don't have the dates. So...when were the dates added?

How would I go about finding out when the earlier, undated stamps are from? Is there a guide book of some sort? I care nothing of "value", I just want to know more about them.

Here is my album of the few I've gotten recently...

My Stamp collection album on my website

BillyKingsley

Nobody?

covers

Billy - As you have discovered, some stamps have dates others don't. Many commemorative stamps have dates. Most definitive (regular) issues don't.

If you wish to study stamps, buy a set of Scott catalogs (I am sure any single volume of the set will cost multiples of the value of the material you show on your site though). Maybe try a local library to borrow a set.

BillyKingsley

Thanks, Richard! Maybe once I dig the collection out if it's hiding spot and I know what all I have I will get that from the library.

ernie11

Can't pinpoint the year exactly, but I thin I've seen the dates on them as early as 1995.