Deep Sea Creatures United States, 2000 Strip of 5 Mint Stamps

The U.S. Postal Service issued five different deep sea creature stamps on Oct. 2, 2000. This item is a mint vertical strip of these 5 stamps. The bizarre creatures that live in this virtually unknown underworld are represented in this set by the Fanfin Anglerfish, the Sea Cucumber, the Fangtooth, the Amphipod, and the Medusa. Designed for the USPS by Ethel Kessler.

The actual size of this vertical strip of five stamps, which includes selvage tabs at the top and bottom, is 157mm x 40mm (6.18" x 1.57"). These stamps were originally issued in a pane of 15 stamps (three copies each of the five different designs; see item# USW20b) surrounded by sheet selvage. Possibly attached sheet selvage (can be easily removed if desired), at the left and right of the vertical strip (not included in the above image), varies due to the three different positions of vertical strips of 5 stamps within the sheet.