Santa's Wife Sells 'Unique' Stamp Error to New York Customer to Make it his Best Holiday Ever

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Jan 02, 2014, 11:05 ET

WAVERLY, N.Y., Jan. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ask Art Van Riper where Santa lives and he'll tell you it's the Waverly, NY, Post Office where he got something to make it the best Christmas ever.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140102/DC39550)

In a move to attract younger audiences to stamp collecting, the Postal Service recently issued a $2 version of the most famous stamp error in U.S. history - the 24-cent Curtiss Jenny airmail stamp that depicted the airplane flying upside down. A sheet of 100 stamps bearing this error was sold to the public. One stamp sold at auction in 2007 for $977,500. One hundred of 2.2 million $2 stamp sheets of the Jenny flying right-side up were randomly distributed among the nation's post offices to recreate the excitement of finding a stamp "error." (PRNewsFoto/U.S. Postal Service) (PRNewsFoto/U.S. POSTAL SERVICE)

Mrs. Claus — a.k.a. retail associate Betty Gable — sold him one of only 100 unique stamp sheets produced to replicate the excitement behind finding the most publicized stamp error in U.S. history — the 1918 Inverted Jenny stamp. In this case, Van Riper's purchase depicted the biplane flying the wrong way — the image was right-side up.

Van Riper purchased one of 100 Un-inverted Jenny stamp sheets that were randomly inserted among 2.2 million Inverted Jenny stamp sheets distributed nationwide. Three others have been purchased.

"I read about the Postal Service's initiative to draw more people into stamp collecting and figured I'd make a trip to the Post Office," he said. "I figured what the heck. If I don't pick the right-side up Jenny, these will make for great stocking stuffers and be perfect for mailing Christmas packages."

Gable recounted her side of the story about that November day. "When he came in to purchase the stamps, he said he wanted five sheets," she said. "I told him our office had 45 and he might as well buy them all I joked, as the last one will probably be the one. He did just that, and then called back to say the last one did contain the right-side up version. He was so excited. And for me, it was the most thrilling day of my 20-year career."

Included with the un-inverted stamp sheets is a congratulatory note inside the wrapping asking the customer to call a phone number to receive a certificate of acknowledgement signed by the Postmaster General.

Van Riper is the third purchaser of un-inverted Jenny stamps who has come forward with his find.

"He came to the Post Office to pick it up the certificate and showed it to us. We couldn't believe it," said Gable,

"Yes Virginia," said Van Riper. "There is a Santa Claus. Both he and his wife live at the Waverly Post Office. This has to be the best Christmas ever."

The Backstory
In a move to attract younger audiences to stamp collecting, the Postal Service recently issued a $2 version of the most famous stamp error in U.S. history — the 24-cent Curtiss Jenny airmail stamp that depicted the airplane flying upside down. A sheet of 100 stamps bearing this error was sold to the public. One stamp sold at auction in 2007 for $977,500.

Unique to the $2 stamp issuance, all sheets were individually wrapped in a sealed envelope to recreate the excitement of finding an Inverted Jenny when opening the envelope and to avoid the possibility of discovering a corrected Jenny prior to purchase.

The sheets were distributed randomly among the nation's Post Offices and at the Postal Service's Stamp Fulfillment Center which accepts stamp orders online at usps.com/stamps, and by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724). Additionally, some of the 100 also were randomly distributed at ebay.com/stamps.

Customers may view the Stamp Collecting: Inverted Jenny Forever stamps, as well as many of this year's other stamps, on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, on Twitter @USPSstamps or at uspsstamps.com, the Postal Service's online site for information on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 152 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With more than 31,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private-sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 42nd in the 2012 Fortune 500. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for seven years and the fifth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

Follow the Postal Service on twitter.com/USPS and at facebook.com/USPS.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service