The Boston 2026 World Expo was the twelfth international stamp exhibition held in the United States. An event that takes place every ten years and which, in 2026, coincided with the commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, marking the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. The previous such event had been the World Stamp Show – NY2016 in New York, at which ‘Post & Go’ issues played a prominent role (see article, and in VARIABLE 41).
I would like to point out once again that although this website specialises in the study of variable value stamp issues, we will nevertheless provide just a few details by way of introduction to this major exhibition – possibly the biggest philatelic event held this year … whilst we await Philataipei 2026 ….
Boston 2026 was largely sponsored by the USPS, the United States Postal Service, and took place from May 23rd to 30th at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre.
According to figures from the organisers, the event brought together over a hundred dealers, a similar number of philatelic societies, and 31 postal administrations, spread across a large ‘Dealers Booth’ area and four Regional Pavilions.
These pavilions, representing Europe, Asia/Pacific & Middle East/Africa, the Americas, and Polar Philately, hosted the relevant postal administrations and philatelic societies, many of which organised meetings and gatherings and exhibited relevant stamps and postal history collections. More than 700 collections, comprising a total of nearly 4,000 frames, took part in the competitive philatelic exhibition.
A large proportion of the 20,000 registered visitors attended during the first three days of the exhibition (public holidays, including Memory Day); on the following days, there were far fewer visitors. Visitors were also able to take part in and visit the “beginners” philately workshops, where there were large glass display cases containing millions of used stamps donated by collectors from across the country (below, left), a Lego area, and an exhibition dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II.
Of the thirty international postal administrations, a dozen had their own stands (below, the area with the European postal administrations), some were only present during the first few days, and the rest were represented by dealers or philatelic associations. The uncertainty surrounding customs duties, coupled with the high cost of stands and accommodation at such a long-running event, did not help matters.
Even so, several postal authorities released special products and issues and organised first-day-of-issue ceremonies during the event; among them, and as far as our field of study is concerned, Correos.
And, of course, the large USPS stand. The United States Postal Service was one of the main protagonists, with daily issues (which, incidentally, were very modest compared with other countries and at similar events), each accompanied by its own unveiling ceremony.
A particular highlight was the ‘Stamp Encore’ on the second day, featuring a stamp chosen by public vote from among the 25 most popular stamps issued over the last 30 years.
Each day was dedicated to a different theme: 250th Anniversary of the United States, Favourite Stamp Day, Stamp Collectors’ Day, Letter Writing Day, International Peace Day, Sports Day, Honouring Heroes Day, and Youth and Family Day.
USPS produced first day postmarks for all the issues available to visitors, as well as themed postmarks and datestamps.
Correos at Boston 2026
The Correos philatelic service, representing Spain and Andorra (Spanish Postal Administration), was one of the seven European postal administrations attending Boston 2026 with its own stand, and once again with variable value stamps as the main highlight.
The design, edited by Correos which has been reproduced on the postcard, features the exhibition’s logo and the Spanish Navy ‘s ship San Telmo, based on a painting by Alejo Berlinguero (1745–1805) and held at the Naval Museum in Madrid.
Why was the San Telmo featured in the issue for Boston?
The Boston 2026 exhibition also included a major Polar Philatelic Exhibition, specialising in postal and philatelic themes relating to the Arctic and Antarctica, one of the most popular among collectors.
Then again, the San Telmo was a large 74-gun warship of the Spanish Navy, launched in 1788, which was lost during a storm off Cape Horn in September 1819 along with its 644 passengers and crew. Although there is no archaeological evidence to support this, certain indications – such as the discovery of wreckage on the northern coast of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands – suggest that the ship may have drifted towards Antarctica, making its crew the first human beings to set foot on this continent.
Correos had previously dedicated a stamp issue to this ship in the 1995 ‘Historic Ships’ series (see cover at the end of the article).
The issue for Boston is Correos’ seventh international ATM issue following on from the designs for Essen (article and VARIABLE 49) and Macao (article and VARIABLE 50) in 2018, Paris in 2019 (article and VARIABLE 55), Taipei in 2023 (article), Jakarta in 2024 (article), and Seoul in 2025 (article).
The philatelic service unveiled this ATM issue on Monday May 25th at a well-attended official ceremony on the third day of the event, attended by Nuria Lera, Director of Philately and Institutional Relations at Correos.
Attendees were given an illustrated leaflet containing information about the issue. The ceremony concluded with a signing session featuring the three participants: the master of ceremonies, Jay Bigalke of Scott Stamp LLC; Nuria Lera of Correos; and Armağan Özdinç, International Post Office Relations Chair.
The signed double paged folder shown in the image above (signatures blurred for privacy reasons) includes a strip featuring the set of four stamps with the special ‘Presentación emisión ATM’ postmark (May 25th) and the general Boston 2026 exhibition postmark
The ‘Navío San Telmo – Boston 2026‘ issue with the MDCC permanent code was available from May 23rd from the Spanish philatelic service, and during the eight days of the exhibition in Boston; in this case the stamps were printed from the desktop computer system installed at the Correos stand with the special BO26 code and with a graphic.
The stamps printed in Spain with the MDCC code have the Spanish wording, ‘23-30 mayo Boston‘, and the first block of the bottom code is P5ES26; P for Production, corresponding to the computer system, 5 for the month of printing (May), ES for Spain and 26 for the year of issue.
In contrast, the stamps issued in Boston are printed in English, ‘May 23-30 Boston‘ and include a special graphic with one of the ship’s cannons. The first block of the bottom code is P5US26; US identifies the stamps printed in the United States.
The four stamp set programmed for Boston 2026 for the first time include, for Spain (though not for Andorra), the indicators corresponding to the four current tariff zones: Tarifa A, B, C & D. Tarifa D indicator corresponds precisely to the first weight step for the United States (see table of tariffs).
Computer system – Madrid
Code MDCC
Computer system – Boston
Special code BO26
The images show ‘Tarifa A’ stamps and the corresponding receipts issued on the first and last day of Boston 2026 (note the numbering).
By way of promoting this special issue and following on from Jakarta in 2024 (see article) and Seoul in 2025 (article), the philatelic service once again programmed in the third special strip that was given as a gift with every purchase of variable value stamps over a value of €100. This strip is automatically printed by the computer system and composed of two illustrated labels without postal value, at the beginning and at the end of the strip together with two central stamps with Tarifa A3, the postage rate corresponding to the third weight step for domestic mail (see table of tariffs).
The illustrated labels and stamps included in these strips have the same bottom code as the rest of the stamps printed by the computer system in the same session or purchase, with the sequential stamp number. These just include an additional -E (‘Especial’) at the end of the code to identify that they are part of these special strips.
Once again, (quite apart from any curiosity value or interest this philatelic item may arouse) this strip includes two authentic (and different!) variable value stamps showing the Tarifa A3 rate, with the ‘May 23-30 Boston‘ wording and two different graphics one with the cannon and the other which could be the dome of the First Church of Christ in Boston.
Only about 40-50 special strips were printed throughout the exhibition.
Complementing the ATM issue, Correos also produced a new die-cut postcard and a commemorative cover, as well as two special postmarks: a general one, ‘ATM Punto Filatélico’, dated 23–30 May (images below), and another, ‘Presentación emisión ATM’, dated May 25th (right). This cover also includes the original stamp dedicated to the same ship, issued in 1995.
Left, commemorative cover with the two printing varieties, special postmark and ‘America 250 Boston’ postal mark in red
The artist and stamp designer Chris Calle (pictured on the right, during a signing session) designed a beautiful official series of eight illustrated unserviced cachet covers, dedicated to the exhibition’s daily themes.
The images below show the covers for May 23rd (the first day of the exhibition – 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Day), May 25th (ATM ceremony – Stamp Collectors’ Day) & May 30th (last day – Youth and Family Day), which we prepared with mixed postage featuring the Correos ATM and US issues, each bearing its corresponding daily postmark.
The philatelic service also released two TUSELLO (official personalized) stamps for Boston 2026, each with its postcard and special postmark; one of them reproduces the stamp issued in 1976 dedicated to Bernardo de Gálvez.
Thank you, Boston!
(English edition rewritten by J. Gareze – August 2026)
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