Forever stamp cost: today, in 2027 and since 2007

The Forever stamp cost is set by the 1-ounce letter price. See its history and what the stamps in your drawer are worth today.

Independent site, not the Postal Service: prices read in its own price files.

Example: 20 stamps bought at 73¢· change a figure to see yours

What your Forever stamps are worth today

$16.40

20 letters of 1 ounce at today's $0.82

You paid$14.60
Gained since$1.80
Rise of the stamp price+12.3%
Worth from Jan 17, 2027$16.40 (no stamp change filed)
How this is computed

Compiled by Radif Partners · How the prices are built

The Forever stamp costs 82 cents, the First-Class Mail price of a 1-ounce letter in the Notice 123 price list read on November 13, 2026. That price took effect on July 12, 2026, up from 78 cents set on July 13, 2025, according to the chart of letter rates kept by the Historian of the Postal Service. A Forever stamp has no printed value: it always pays the current 1-ounce letter price, so a stamp bought at 41 cents in May 2007 mails the same letter today and is worth 82 cents, a rise of +100.0%. Since August 2021 the price has changed 8 times, often twice a year, against once a year or less before. Nothing changes on January 17, 2027: the Postal Service said on November 12, 2026 that its filing makes no change to stamp prices, and the January 2027 file keeps the letter at 82 cents. The calculator values the stamps you hold at today's price.

Forever stamp cost at every change since 2007

The table copies the first-ounce letter price from the Postal Service Historian, from the newest change back to May 2007. The column on the right gives the step from the change before.

USPS Historian, Rates for Domestic Letters Since 1863 (page dated August 2026).
EffectivePriceChange
July 12, 202682¢+4¢
July 13, 202578¢+5¢
July 14, 202473¢+5¢
January 21, 202468¢+2¢
July 9, 202366¢+3¢
January 22, 202363¢+3¢
July 10, 202260¢+2¢
August 29, 202158¢+3¢
January 27, 201955¢+5¢
January 21, 201850¢+1¢
January 22, 201749¢+2¢
April 10, 201647¢-2¢
January 26, 201449¢+3¢
January 27, 201346¢+1¢
January 22, 201245¢+1¢
May 11, 200944¢+2¢
May 12, 200842¢+1¢
May 14, 200741¢first row kept

What your Forever stamps are worth now

Count the stamps you hold and pick the price you paid. The calculator multiplies by today's price and shows the gain; it is a value in postage, not money the Postal Service would pay back.

Value of your stamps

Example: 20 stamps bought at 73¢· change a figure to see yours

What your Forever stamps are worth today

$16.40

20 letters of 1 ounce at today's $0.82

You paid$14.60
Gained since$1.80
Rise of the stamp price+12.3%
Worth from Jan 17, 2027$16.40 (no stamp change filed)
Back to the full calculator at the top →

Stamps with a printed value

Older stamps with a value printed in cents are worth only that value. To mail a letter with them, add stamps until the total reaches $0.82. For postcards, larger envelopes or several ounces, the First-Class postage page has the price at each weight, and the book of stamps page the price of a booklet or a coil.

Buying stamps ahead of a price change is the one saving a household can make on letters. The new price is announced weeks before it applies, so a book bought the day before still mails twenty letters afterwards.

Questions people ask before they mail

Tap a question to see the answer.

How much is a Forever stamp worth if I bought it years ago?

It is worth today's 1-ounce letter price, $0.82, whatever you paid. A book of 20 bought at 55 cents in 2019 cost $11.00 and now mails letters worth $16.40. The stamp is never refunded in cash, but it keeps mailing a standard letter after every price change.

Has the Forever stamp price ever gone down?

Once in the Historian's chart: on April 10, 2016 the first-ounce price fell to 47 cents, from 49 cents. Every other change since 2007 was a rise, and the rises have come faster since August 29, 2021, when the price reached 58 cents.

Will the Forever stamp cost more in 2027?

Not on January 17, 2027. The price change filed for that date concerns shipping products such as Ground Advantage and Priority Mail; the release states no change to stamp prices. Stamp prices move in separate mailing services filings, often in January or July, and none had been published when this page was read.

Next steps

How much is a stamp

The Forever stamp, the extra ounce, the postcard and the square envelope, and 2027.

Book of stamps cost

A booklet of 20 Forever stamps, panes and coils of 100: what they cost today.

First-Class postage

Letters, large envelopes and postcards by ounce, with stamps or a postage meter.

How many stamps do I need

Forever stamps for a letter or a large envelope by weight, and what you overpay.

Postal Service price files, manual chapters and filings behind this page (4)

Each price, rule and zone was read in these documents on November 13, 2026.

Compiled by

Independent publisher of US parcel price tables built from the Postal Service's Notice 123 price files and its domestic zone chart. Paid by no carrier: no commission, no affiliate link, no paid placement.

Checked on · Editorial policy · Contact

Prices are read from the Postal Service price files, never estimated. They leave out pickup, special handling, hazardous material and any extra service you add at the counter. The January 17, 2027 prices are proposed and await review by the Postal Regulatory Commission.