Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly Stamps (Butterfly Series, Butterflies, Insects, Black, Blue) Vintage Unused USPS Postage 66c

Discover the charm of these vintage, unused “Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly” postage stamps, a delightful addition to your correspondence! 

This stunning 66-cent self-adhesive stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS) on January 23, 2013, in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

The USPS celebrated the spicebush swallowtail on its third butterfly stamp issuance for large greeting card envelopes that required additional postage that year. Known as one of the most beautiful and intriguing of the swallowtail butterflies, the spicebush swallowtail is named for the plant on which its caterpillars commonly live, the spicebush. The stamp art is a colorful, highly stylized depiction of the butterfly.

Nationally acclaimed artist Tom Engeman of Frederick, MD, working under the direction of Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, created this stamp’s design on a computer using images of preserved butterflies as a starting point. The result is a highly stylized, simplified image of a spicebush swallowtail rather than an exact replica.

Both as caterpillars and butterflies, spicebush swallowtails hide from their predators in plain sight. They do this by mimicking other creatures or their surroundings. The caterpillar later morphs into what looks like a small green snake, with yellow and black markings that resemble a snake's eyes and a false forked tongue. The butterfly’s chrysalis mimics a dried brown leaf, complete with veins.

In 2010 the United States Postal Service (USPS) introduced the first stamp in the “Butterfly Series.” This series was designed to address the needs of greeting card envelopes that required additional postage due to "nonmachinable" characteristics. Such envelopes, which may be oddly shaped, vertical, lumpy, rigid, or adorned with clasps, ribbons, or buttons, required this special stamp even if they weighed less than an ounce. Before the release of these stamps, some greeting card envelopes indicated "extra postage required," and the Greeting Card Association actively promoted the use of a butterfly silhouette image on greeting card envelopes to denote extra postage requirement.

These unused vintage stamps are perfectly suitable for use as current postage for mailing with USPS, as long as you use the adequate amount of postage to achieve standard postage rates according to the weight of your mailing.