Leap Year has U.Va.’s zip code

Once every 100 years, the date matches the ZIP code. This month it’s U.Va.’s turn.

The Rotunda will be featured in a special U.S. Postal Service cachet to celebrate the convergence of the ZIP code and the date—22904. Serving U.Va., it is the only ZIP code in the country that reflects a leap year.

Special cachet envelopes, designed by philatelist Eugene V.I. Walker, feature a photograph of the Rotunda, the seal of the City of Charlottesville, along with the ZIP Meets Date logo and the 2-29-04 cancellation. They will be available at the main post office on Route 29 starting March 1 (since Feb. 29 falls on Sunday). Customers can purchase cancellations with the 2-29-04 date for 30 days at the main post office and then for another 90 days from the district post office in Richmond. Some may also be available at the post office in Newcomb Hall.

Ada M. Cobbs, supervisor of customer service at the Charlottesville post office, said Acting Post Master Sonny L. Cubbage will sign some of the cachets, which will sell for between $3 and $5 each.

When designing the cachet, Walker, who works on them with his nephew Gary R. Rendano, usually incorporates an image of the local post office. Since there is no free-standing post office at the University, they used an image of the Rotunda.

“It was my nephew’s idea,” he said. “He took it off the Internet.”