Hawai'i residents can celebrate 50 years of statehood next month for just 44 cents.

The Herb Kane-designed 2009 Hawai'i statehood stamp will be released Aug. 21 with special cancellations and sales of the stamp at the Hawai'i Convention Center. The issue celebration is part of a daylong commemoration at the convention center.

In a 10:15 a.m. ceremony, Gov. Linda Lingle and postal service Honolulu district manager Daryl Ishizaki will officially unveil the stamp. Cancellations — as well as sales of the stamp, a commemorative envelope and related items — will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the center's exhibit hall.

The stamp will be available at post offices nationwide the same day.

"I think everybody in stamp collecting will want that, and everybody will go down and get it," said Harry Foglietta of the Hawaiian Philatelic Society.

Most stamp collectors in Hawai'i are more interested in vintage stamps, Foglietta said. But he recalled that the issue of the Duke Kahanamoku stamp seven years ago drew about 1,000 people.

Artist and historian Kane created the painting reproduced on the stamp, of a surfer and canoe paddlers. Kane also designed the stamp that commemorated the 25th anniversary of statehood in 1984.

"For the 25th anniversary stamp there was a tremendous response," said Duke Gonzales, a postal service spokesman in Hawai'i. "There were lines out the door. We expect a similar response this time as well."

Gonzales said the postal service expects to sell "many thousands" of the stamps.

Stamps like this are usually mailed out a few weeks before their issue, and the 2009 stamp has probably not arrived yet in Hawai'i, Gonzales said.