1989 Moon Rover Proofcard, #C124

Often called the ultimate philatelic issue, the Fleetwood Proofcard is a distinctive commemorative with an elegantly embossed surface. Each Proofcard bears an original work of art complementing the theme of the stamp and created exclusively for Fleetwood by a leading American artist. Proofcards are often collected on their own, but would also make a beautiful addition to your existing stamp or cover collection.

The 45 cent Moon Rover stamp was issued on November 27, 1989, in Washington, D.C. This stamp was one of four designs released together as part of the Future Mail Transportation series, created to mark the 20th Universal Postal Congress. Postal officials used this set to imagine how mail might be delivered in the years ahead, moving beyond trucks and planes to vehicles suited for space travel.

The design shows a lunar rover carrying mail across the surface of the moon, with a ringed planet and a distant moon visible in the night sky above. This scene was one of four futuristic mail delivery concepts featured in the set. The other three designs pictured a hypersonic airliner traveling through space, a hovercraft gliding above the ground on a cushion of air, and a space shuttle involved in a mail transfer far above Earth. None of these vehicles exist in real life. Each was based on ideas from the transportation and postal industries about what future mail delivery could look like.

This stamp was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing using a combination of lithography and engraving, and it carried a 45 cent airmail denomination to reflect its rate at the time.