Personalized Postage Stamps - are they valuable?

Ever since the US Mint began its highly popular Statehood Quarters program -see our statehood quarters- the United States Postal Service has been searching for a similar marketing program to revive public interest in postage stamps. The USPS's announcement to offer personalized stamps -your picture on a stamp- has indeed piqued public interest. Unfortunately, when the USPS or Mint releases new products, new collectors' thoughts often turn to value.

The thinking goes that since one person or family is likely to hold the only copies of a given personalized stamp that it will be rare and therefore valuable. Rare, yes. Valuable...not likely. Value requires a collectible to not only be scarce but also in demand. While you may end up being the only person on the planet to own a postage stamp featuring your loved one, cat. dog, etc, it is highly unlikely that your stamp will be widely known or in demand.

If one really thinks about it, personalized stamps capture the true essence of collecting: the capture of a moment in history and a treasure in the eyes of the beholder.