It's over. Beta testing of the Neopost webenabled stamp test program is over as of August 31, 2003; the program proved successful, all indications are that USPS will put the machines in post offices nationwide, and soon these stamps will be familiar to everyone--prices of the beta testing material will soar. The program produced the world's first webenabled stamps, the first classic stamps of the twenty-first century--which is why the stamps are sought after. They were produced initially in four-stamp sheets and then, after June 20, 2002, in ten-stamp sheets. Krause-Minkus 2003 lists them at page 422. The listing is quite faulty; it suffers from errors and omissions, and lists the stamps INDIVIDUALLY--as if collectors are going to break out a single stamp from a sheet! Let's see if Scott shows more intelligence. Krause notes that the stamps appeared "with little or no fanfare." Before the appearance of Krause, these items more or less flew below the level of philatelic radar. USPS was demanding, Neopost secretive, collectors grabbed and hoarded, dealers were rebuffed at every turn. According to recent information from an insider, the program was killed by internal politics at USPS. To this day, there are only about about twenty collectors in the world with any Neopost sheets, with comparatively few examples offered--mostly on Ebay, where collector ignorance has insured rock-bottom prices. Most of the current owners are non-philatelists and in the early days they sold indiscriminately. However, as of March 28, 2004, there hasn't been a complete four-stamp sheet set on the market in over two years, so apparently even they have wised up. The kiosks dispensing these stamps were often in secure locations, although otherwise accessible to the public (for example, the author purchased sheets and is not affiliated with Neopost or any of its customers or licensees). Often these items are presented on Ebay with few descriptive details, and purchasers are obliged to form their own estimate of value. It is to aid in this research that the present catalogue has been compiled. Once the items achieve Scott listing--with album spaces needing to be filled--there will suddenly be a large market for these items, and accurate information will be vital.

So if you plan on bidding, do your research here! I have seen several extremely important items on Ebay knocked down for a paltry several hundred dollars--you might latch onto something truly important if you nail it down by seeing where it figures in this catalogue. But in case you don't get beyond this part of the catalogue, here are two summaries. Read these, even if you're not particularly interested in learning any of the finer points. These sections alone will give you some idea of degree of rarity with which you are dealing:

THE FOUR-STAMP SETS. There are about 2 1/2 times as many four-stamp sheets as there are ten-stamp sheets, but four-stamp sheet complete sets are rarities. Avoid buying single sheets--you'll never be able to complete the set. Complete sets are where the money is--complete sets are, sheet for sheet, worth five times as much as an individual sheet broken out from a set.

Of the four-stamp sheets with the flag design (98% of the sheets produced), approximately 7500 of the $1.36 "sets" were produced (the smallest amount available--one sheet of four stamps); there are 283. These sets are approximately on the order of rarity of the 48-cent special printing newspaper stamp, PR43, of which 268 were issued and which has a Scott catalogue value of $2250. Approximately 350 of the $2.72 sets were produced; there are 104. Approximately 400 of the $4.08 sets were produced; there are 105. Approximately 380 of the $5.44 sets were produced; there are 121. These three sets are approximately on the order of rarity of the 24-cent special printing, 175, of which 90 are extant and which has a catalogue value of $2000. Approximately 850 of the $6.80 sets were produced; there are 102. These sets are approximately on the order of rarity of the 7-cent special printing, 196, of which 100 are extant and which has a catalogue value of $2450. If you are bidding on a four-stamp sheet or set, you may want to go further on in the catalogue (the varieties are listed chronologically, so check the date of the sheet on which you are bidding) to see what color it is. Here is a list of the sets by color: light blue: $1.36 (183); $2.72 (19); $4.08 (18); $5.44 (18); $6.80 (22). Intermediate blue: $1.36 (76); $2.72 (45); $4.08 (47); $5.44 (50); $6.80 (67). Blue: $1.36 (24--13 blue2); $2.72 (20--10 blue2); $4.08 (20--10 blue2); $5.44 (20--9 blue2); $6.80 (22--13 blue2). So you can see that some of the sets in particular shades are EXTREMELY rare.

THE TEN-STAMP SETS. Every ten-stamp sheet is a superrarity. Period. These are the aristocrats of CVP. Again, avoid buying single sheets because you'll never be able to complete the set (unless, of course, a single sheet comprises a complete set). Note that these are the ten-stamp sheets from June 30,2002, and after. The ten-stamp sheets from June 21-29 are described in the catalogue.

23 Cents (Postcard) sets

20 stamps (2 sheets)--28

30 stamps (3 sheets)--7

40 stamps (4 sheets)--7

50 stamps (5 sheets)--7

Total number of 23 Cents (Postcard) stamps--1400

23 Cents (2d ounce) sets

10 stamps (1 sheet)--26

20 stamps (2 sheets)--6

Total number of 23 Cents (2d ounce) stamps--380

37 Cents sets

20 stamps (2 sheets)--31

30 stamps (3 sheets)--7

40 stamps (4 sheets)--8

50 stamps (5 sheets)--11

Total number of 37 Cents stamps--1700

50 Cents sets

10 stamps (1 sheet)--28

Total number of 50 Cents stamps--280

60 Cents (2 ounces) sets

10 stamps (1 sheet)--29

20 stamps (2 sheets)--8

Total number of 60 Cents (2 ounces) stamps--450

60 Cents (foreign) sets

10 stamps (1 sheet)--26

Total number of 60 Cents (foreign) stamps--260

70 Cents sets

10 stamps (1 sheet)--26

Total number of 70 Cents stamps--260

80 Cents sets

10 stamps (1 sheet)--28

Total number of 80 cents stamps--280

3.85 sets

1 sheet (1 stamp)--31

1 sheet (2 stamps)--8

1 sheet (5 stamps)--8

1 sheet (10 stamps)--7

Total number of 3.85 stamps--157 stamps

13.65 sets

1 sheet (1 stamp)--34

1 sheet (2 stamps)--8

1 sheet (5 stamps)--7

1 sheet (10 stamps)--6

Total number of 13.65 stamps--145 stamps

Like the beginning of the beta testing, its end and the disabling of the kiosks, were unannounced and unforeseen. When the ten-stamp sheets were issued in June 2002, several new kiosks were placed in operation. It was felt by the specialist collectors that this meant that beta testing would go on for some time and there would be new locations. The ten-stamp sheets, available in a greatly expanded number of sets and denominations, would be cheap and plentiful. Even the specialists, the author among them, made few attempts to get any. This was a costly mistake. The end of the program inverted all values as absolutely as if Nietzsche himself had been at the controls. The scramble is now on to secure ten-stamp complete sets (as usual, sellers sacrifice at least 80% of the value of a sheet when they sell it separately from the rest of the sheets, if any, of the set), which were saved in far fewer numbers even than the already scarce four-stamp sheets; the four-stamp sheets are already contemporary classics. In fact, the ten-stamp sheet sets are so rare that there is only a slight premium for sets produced at kiosks other than Baltimore, which produced most of them. The exception is Hayward, because its machine #5 produced not only the very first webenabled stamps, but also remained in production throughout the entire beta testing period and was even taken to all the trade shows (of course, it was also used to test paper and indicia changes). Sheets from this historic machine will always command a substantial premium over sheets from any other machine, even machines producing fewer numbers (although there are surprisingly few sheets from the Hayward machine).

Beta testing was terminated to allow Neopost and USPS to evaluate the data gathered thus far; apparently, new kiosks are to be deployed and new stamp designs issued once the evaluation is over and any changes are implemented. We don't know where or when, but we do know that the look of the material and the deployment will be noticeably different; the post-beta testing material will form its own unit. Thus, the beta testing is now a completed chapter of philatelic history, and so of course the collector goal becomes completeness in telling this completed stamp story--competitive exhibiting demands it. Each numbered, bold item is an invitation to you to offer the amount listed. If you are interested in doing so, please email philneo2001@yahoo.com. PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE ITEM NUMBER IN WHICH YOU ARE INTERESTED.