Images Courtesy of Frank Covey

<49¢> Star-Spangled Banner Flag
(Sennett Security Products)
Self Adhesive Coil of 100
Scott # 4868 Plate # S11111
Series USPS - NA ~ PNC3 - American Flags
Issue Date & City March 3, 2014, Washington, DC
Nationwide Sale March 3, 2014
Designer Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Exsisting Photo Gary Clark
Typographer Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Art Director Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Modeler Donald Woo
To Press / Initial Quantity Winter 2013 / 1.5 Billion stamps
Coil Size 100
Printer Banknote Corp. / SSP
Press Type Alprinta 74
Process Offset Microprint “USPS"
Where Printed Browns Summit, SC
Where Processed Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit, NC
Plate Size & Interval 800 stamps per revolution / plate # every 32 stamps.
Paper Type Phosphor Tagged Overall
Adhesive Type Self Adhesive
Tagging Type Phosphor Tagged Overall. A tagging break occurs between the stamps one left and two left of the plate numbered stamp. Also, a visible black seam line appears in the same location and then again about midway between plate numbers.
Die Cut Gauge 10.9 Vertically
Colors Cyan, Magents, Yellow, Black (PMS 665)
Image Size (w x h) 0.75 x 0.82 in. / 19.15 x 20.82 mm
Overall Size (w x h) 0.87 x 0.9\6 in. / 22.19 x 24.38 mm
Back Numbers None
Earliest Known Use February 18, 2014
USPS Order Numbers 789902 Full Coil of 100 - $49.00
789916 First Day Cover - $0.93 (Probably a random single from either AP or CCL)
Availability Available in some post offices in western Illinois by February 18, 2014.
Official Announcement On March 3, 2014, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue The Star-Spangled Banner First-Class Mail® stamp (Forever® priced at 49 cents), in one design. The formats available are a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 689000), produced by security printer CCL Label, Inc. and Sennett Security Products (SSP), a PSA coil of 100 stamps (Item 789900), and an ATM sheetlet of 18 stamps (Item 587900) produced by security printer SSP.

The stamp will go on sale nationwide March 3, 2014.

This stamp commemorates the 200th anniversary of The Star-Spangled Banner with a photograph of the flag that flies over Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore. This flag is a replica of the one that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner” after realizing Fort McHenry had withstood the British attack of September 13–14, 1814. The picture of the flag was taken against a backdrop of fireworks during an annual celebration of Defenders’ Day. Photographer Gary Clark said it was a challenge to get the fireworks and the flag in the same shot and that “the wind picked up quite a bit that night.” Art director Phil Jordan designed the stamp.

To learn more about the stories behind the stamps, visit https://www.usps.com/stamps/.
Note The date, 2014, is in the lower left corner of the stamp.
Note The coils of 100 come in sticks up to 10 rolls high which are attached to one another by pieces of uncut paper called bridges. Strips can be saved in the stacked coil block format with the tiny bridges holding the block together.
Microprinting USPS is microprinted vertically in the burst just above the tip of the flag pole.
Other Barcode on coil banding.
Distribution: Item 789900, $0.49-cent The Star-Spangled Banner First-Class Mail Forever PSA Coil of 100 Stamps ($49.00)
SDOs and SDCs have received their standard automatic distribution quantity for coils of 100 stamps. Distributions for coils are rounded up to the nearest master carton size of 800 coils.
Initial Supply to Post Offices
SDOs and SDCs will NOT make an automatic distribution to Post Offices. Additional versions of item 689000 and 789900 are already available, and Post Offices requiring these items must requisition them from the eBuy2 SEAM Catalog or via Touch-tone ordering. The availability of item 587900 for individual Post Offices to order from their normal SDC/SDO could be two to three weeks after the first-day-of-issue. Offices will be notified when these stamps are available to order through eBuy2.
Special Dedication Postmarks
Only the following pictorial postmark is permitted for The Star-Spangled Bannerstamp. The word “Station” or the abbreviation “STA” is required somewhere in the design, because it will be a temporary station.
Guidelines for Finalizing The Star-Spangled Banner Stamp Pictorial Postmark Art
The Star Spangled Banner Cancellation
The Star Spangled Banner Cancellation
To finalize The Star-Spangled Banner stamp pictorial postmark art, insert the date, city, state, and ZIP Code of the physical location of your event adjacent to the stamp image. Overall dimensions of the pictorial postmark must not exceed 4 inches horizontally by 2 inches vertically. Collectors prefer the dimensions 3-1/2 inches by 1.
The Postal Service™ must make all special postmarks known to collectors through advance publicity in the Postal Bulletin. Therefore, all special dedication cancellations must be reported to Stamp Services four weeks before the events using PS Form 413, Pictorial Postmark Announcement/Report.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at https://store.usps.com/store/, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
The Star-Spangled Banner Stamp
Special Cancellations
PO Box 92282
Washington, DC 20090-2282
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by May 3, 2014.
How to Order First-Day Covers
The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog, online at https://store.usps.com/store/, or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:
U.S. Postal Service
Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014
Philatelic Products
There are two philatelic products available for the coil of 100:
  •  789917*, First-Day Cover, $0.93.
  • 789922*, Digital Color Postmark, $1.64.
Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.