6029 – 2025 First-Class Forever Stamps – Boston 2026: Old North Church

US #6029
2025 Old North Church

• Part of Boston 2026 Stamp Show set
• Issued in anticipation of international stamp show
• Two designs show Boston’s role in American Revolution

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Boston 2026 Stamp Show
Value:  78¢, First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  August 14, 2025
First Day City:  Schaumburg, Illinois
Quantity Issued:  6,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Intaglio
Format:  Pane of 20
Perforations :  Die Cut

Why the stamp was issued:  This is one of two stamps issued to bring attention to the Boston 2026 World Stamp Show.

About the stamp design:  The stamp pictures Boston’s Old North Church.  Digital illustrations by Dan Gretta were used by USPS art director Greg Breeding to create the stamp images.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue ceremony took place during the 2025 Great American Stamp Show, held in Schaumburg, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

About the Boston 2026 Stamp Show set:  Two stamps.  One incredible night.  The Old North Church and Paul Revere’s midnight ride are forever linked by an act of resistance that helped birth a nation.
In the shadows of April 18, 1775, church sexton Robert Newman climbed the tower of Old North and lit two lanterns in defiance of British control.  Just blocks away, Revere waited in readiness.  When he saw the signal (two lights, “by sea”) he took off on horseback, racing through the countryside to sound the alarm.
Issued at the 2025 Great American Stamp Show in Schaumburg, Illinois, these stamps celebrate the Boston 2026 World Stamp Expo.  The World Stamp Expo happens every 10 years and is a gathering of collectors, postal historians, and philatelists from around the globe.  Each Expo brings with it special US stamp issues, released in advance to commemorate not just the event itself, but the culture, history, and art it showcases.
This time, the stamps look ahead to America’s 250th birthday and honor Boston’s defiant role in our nation’s founding.  Together, they capture a moment of courage that changed the world — and remind us why stamps remain one of the most powerful storytellers in history.

History this Stamp Represents: In the still darkness of April 18, 1775, two lanterns flickered from the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church — a silent signal that set history in motion.  This single act of communication, simple yet daring, warned colonists the British were advancing by sea.  What followed was the opening chapter of the American Revolution.
Today, the Old North Church still stands in Boston’s North End, a proud survivor from colonial days.  Built in 1723, it’s the city’s oldest remaining church building.  Its Georgian architecture once welcomed patriots like Paul Revere and Robert Newman, the church sexton who hung the lanterns that night.  Risking arrest, Newman slipped past British guards to climb the tower, sending that iconic signal that sparked a revolution.
This Forever stamp, issued in advance of the 2026 Boston World Stamp Expo, honors not only a structure, but a symbol.  It reminds us that liberty is often lit by quiet courage — and that one small act can ignite great change.
Collectors from around the globe flocked to Boston in 2026, where the steeple that once guided patriots helped guide philatelic history.  Fittingly, a stamp carried its light forward — from lantern, to letter, to legacy.