Photo at right is a plate strip of 11, with the plate numbered stamp centered in the strip and a
non-numbered stamp at top and bottom.

Click on the photo to see a larger image.

39¢ Crops of the Americas
(Sennett Security Products)
Self Adhesive Coil of 100 (5 designs)
Scott # 4005 Plate # S1111
Scott # 4007a Strip of 5 or 11 with plate # S1111
Series USPS - NA ~ PNC3 - Flora and Fauna
Issue Date & City March 16, 2006, New York, NY 10199 (Mega Stamps Show)
Nationwide Sale March 17, 2006
Designer Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Art Director Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Typographer Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA
Artist Steve Buchanan, Winstead, CT
Engraver Southern Graphic
Modeler Donald H. Woo
To Press / Initial Quantity Winter 2005 / 1 Billion stamps
Coil Size 100
Printer Sennett Security Products, (SSP)
Press Cerutti, 950
Process Gravure
Where Printed American Packaging Corporation, Columbus, WI
Where Processed Unique Binders, Fredericksburg, VA
Plate Size & Interval 950 stamps per revolution / plate # every 25 stamps
Paper Type Prephosphored, Type II, Surface Coated
Adhesive Type Pressure Sensitive
Tagging Type Prephosphored, Uneven Tagging
Die Cut Gauge 10.2 Horizontally (Peak/Valley - Valley/Peak)
Colors Magenta, Yellow, Cyan, Black
Image Size (w x h) 0.81 x 0.72 in. / 20.57 x 18.29 mm
Overall Size (w x h) 0.96 x 0.87 in. / 24.38 x 22.10 mm
Back Numbers None
Earliest Known Use March 3, 2006 (Linn's - 10 July)
USPS Order Numbers 784140 PSA Coil of 100 - $39.00

784163 First Day Cover - $3.85
Availability Most post offices nationwide
Official Announcement The Postal Service will issue Crops of the Americas definitive stamps in five designs, on March 16, 2006, in New York City at the Mega Stamp Show.  The First-Day-of-Issue ceremony will take place at the Mega Stamp Show. The stamps, designed by Phil Jordan, Falls Church, VA go on sale nationwide March 17, 2006.

These stamps will be available in three formats:

PSA vending booklet of 20 (Item 675700).
Pressure-sensitive (PSA) double-sided booklet of 20 (Item 675800).
PSA coil of 100 (Item 784100).

Artist Steve Buchanan, Winsted, Connecticut, created each of the five stamp designs. As reference, he used slide photographs made by his wife Rita Buchanan's research in the late 1970s on indigenous agricultural methods in the southwestern United States.

The crops depicted in the stamps - corn, chili peppers, beans, squashes, and sunflowers - had been cultivated in the Americas for centuries when Europeans first arrived in the New World.
Press Release Click here for the story.
Note These stamps come in a stick of 10 coils with a cardboard core.  Scott lists a strip of 5 and a strip of 11 as 4007a.  The strip of 11 is pictured to the right.

Below are the Scott numbers for the individual stamps in the strip:
• 4003 - 39¢ Crops of the Americas - Chili peppers
• 4004 - 39¢ Crops of the Americas - Beans
• 4005 - 39¢ Crops of the Americas - Sunflower and seeds
This stamp exists with and without a plate number.
• 4006 - 39¢ Crops of the Americas - Squashes
• 4007 - 39¢ Crops of the Americas - Corn
Note These stamps come in a stick of 10 coils. Click here for a scan of a stick of  3.
Philatelic Products
There are no philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
Distribution: Item 784100, $39.00 Crops of the Americas, PSA Coil of 100
Initially, SDOs will receive two automatic distributions of the Crops of the Americas definitive stamps in PSA coils of 100.
The first distribution will be completed on February 15, 2006. The second distribution will be completed on March 9, 2006.
Distributions are rounded up to nearest master carton size (800 coils).
Initial Supply for Post Offices
SDOs will not make a subsequent automatic distribution to Post Offices. All Post Offices requiring quantities of Item 784100 must order them from their designated SDO using a separate PS Form 17. SDOs must not distribute coils to Post Offices before March 10, 2006.
Philatelic Requirement
SDOs will not receive a separate quantity Item 784100 for their authorized philatelic centers. Philatelic centers must be supplied their quantities from the initial automatic distribution made to SDOs.
Additional Supply
Post Offices requiring additional coils must requisition Item 784100 from their designated SDO using PS Form 17.
From these initial distributions of Item 784100, APDs will not receive additional quantities of Item 784100 for fulfilling supplemental orders from SDOs. Additional quantities of this definitive stamp coil will be made available to SDOs via subsequent automatic distributions, shipped directly from the supplier to the SDOs.