2026 Postcrossing Global Forever Stamps

2026 Postcrossing

• Raises awareness of Postcrossing – writing postcards to people in other countries
• Set of 4 triangular stamps
• Covers international rate

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Value: $1.70, International postage rate
First Day of Issue: May 26, 2026
First Day City: Boston, Massachusetts
Quantity Issued: 20,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 8

Why the stamp was issued: This stamp was to highlight Postcrossing, a program that allows people to write and receive postcards from around the world.

About the stamp design: Illustrator Jackson Gibbs is the artist behind the stamp designs.

Special design details: The Postcrossing stamps are a stamp "first" - twice!  Since 2013 when Global Forever stamps were first issued (Scott #4740), the stamps have all been circular.  These Postcrossing stamps are the first time the USPS has issued a Global Forever stamp that was not circular.  Also, it's the first time the Global Forever stamp has been issued as a se-tenant.  

First Day City: The Postcrossing stamps were issued during the Boston 2026 World Exposition.

Unusual fact about these stamps: Members of the Postcrossing community had asked the USPS Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee to issue a Postcrossing stamp for years. This set of four was produced in response to those requests.

History the stamp represents: In 2005, a Portuguese software student named Paulo Magalhães had a simple wish — to find postcards in his mailbox. He built a website to make it happen, hosted on an old home computer in a storage room in his home. Twenty years later, Postcrossing has grown to more than 805,000 members in over 200 countries who have exchanged more than 85 million postcards.
The idea is straightforward. Request an address and Postcrossing randomly assigns you a stranger to write to anywhere in the world. Write something personal, add a unique postcard ID, and send it off. When your recipient registers that ID, you become eligible to receive a postcard in return. In 2025 alone, members collectively sent postcards more than 16 billion miles, farther than Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object in space.
In an age of instant digital communication, a handwritten postcard still does something a text message cannot. You can hold it, see the handwriting, and feel a sense of the person behind it. At a time when the world can feel divided, 805,000 people in over 200 countries are quietly crossing every border one postcard at a time. Members organize meetups, support disaster relief, and celebrate World Postcard Day every October 1st.
The connections made are worth much more than the cost of a stamp.