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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations September 14-15, 2002:


It's good to be the King.


The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.


You may have heard or read recently that Elvis Presley is still the most
popular U-S stamp subject ever. 


But there are some questions about that.


First, the Postal Service-commissioned survey only looked at stamps from
late 1988 on. That cuts out the very-popular stamp issued for the Moon
Landing in 1969. By another measure, that stamp was almost twice as popular
as Elvis. The World Columbian Exposition stamps a century earlier were also
very popular


Second, the survey measures what the Postal Service calls "retention" --
stamps purchased but not used. Tossing a few sheets of stamps in a drawer
isn't the same as collecting them, and what often happens to those stamps is
that, after awhile, they come back on the market, at face value or below,
and are used for postage.


In other words, they're "UN-retained." I've already seen it happen with the
Elvis stamp.


Still, the King of Rock 'n Roll easily out-distanced all the other stamps on
the list...and that's impressive.


That's stamp collecting this week. 


I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News. 


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