It’s unusual to see a US stamp series issued over 24 years.  Originally planned as one 5-stamp set, the USPS kept issuing new lighthouse stamps because the public loved them. Howard Koslow, the artist of the stamps, told me he loved painting the designs but was surprised by their popularity.

Introduced in 1990, the Lighthouse stamp series commemorates “the classic coastal sentinels that reflect our nation’s seafaring past.”

US #2470-74 1990 25¢ East Coast Lighthouses First Stamps in the Series

The first set of five booklet stamps was issued to celebrate the US Lighthouse Service’s 200th anniversary.  Today, the service is an important part of the US Coast Guard, which also celebrated its bicentennial in 1990.  Since the 1990 Lighthouse stamps proved popular, several other five-stamp issues followed over the next several years.  Add them to your collection below.  Get the complete set and save money…

US #2969-73 1995 32¢ Great Lakes Lighthouses Five historical lighthouses, one from each of the Great Lakes.  Since the early 19th century, they’ve aided mariners through violent storms, fog, and ice. US #3787-91 2003 37¢ Southeastern Lighthouses Honors five lighthouses of  southeastern United States.  Some have survived through Civil War battles to continue guiding mariners to this day.

US #4146-50 2007 41¢ Pacific Lighthouses Pictures lighthouses on America’s Pacific coast.  They guide sailors through the waters of the Pacific Northwest coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and California. US #4409-13 2009 44¢ Gulf Coast Lighthouses These lighthouses had to withstand severe weather and the Civil War.  Few survived decades of erosion, and man’s attempts to save them. US #4791-95 2013 46¢ New England Lighthouses Some of the oldest in the US! Many have guarded America’s shorelines even before it became a country.  They’re now beloved landmarks.