On January 8, 2009, in New York, New York, the Postal Service™ will issue a 42-cent, Celebrating Lunar New Year commemorative stamp in one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) commemorative sheet of 12 stamps (Item 573800). Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland, the stamp goes on sale nationwide January 8, 2009. The $5.04 Celebrating Lunar New Year commemorative sheet may not be split and the stamps may not be sold individually.
The U.S. Postal Service® introduced its Celebrating Lunar New Year series in 2008. This is the second stamp in that series, which will continue through 2019 with stamps for the Year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. In 2008, a stamp depicting festive red lanterns was issued to mark the Year of the Rat.
Art Director Ethel Kessler and artist Kam Mak, who grew up in New York City’s Chinatown and now lives in Brooklyn, decided to focus on some of the common ways the Lunar New Year Holiday is celebrated. To commemorate the Year of the Ox, which begins January 26, 2009, they chose a lion head of a type often worn at parades and other festivities. Kessler’s design also incorporates elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps, using Clarence Lee’s intricate paper-cut design of an ox and the Chinese character drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun for “Ox.”
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™, at The Postal Store® website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice,
Issue:
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Celebrating Lunar New Year
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Item Number:
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573800
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Denomination &
Type of Issue:
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42-cent Commemorative
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Format:
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Souvenir Sheet of 12 (1 design)
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Series:
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Lunar New Year
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Issue Date & City:
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January 8, 2009, New York, NY
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Designer:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Artist:
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Kam Mak, Brooklyn, NY
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Art Director:
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Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
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Typographer:
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Greg Berger, Bethesda, MD
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Modeler:
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Donald Woo
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Manufacturing Process:
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Offset, Microprint “USPS”
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Printer:
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Banknote Corporation of
America, Inc./SSP
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Printed at:
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Browns Summit, NC
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Press Type:
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Alprinta, 74
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Stamps per Pane:
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12
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Print Quantity:
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60 million stamps
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Paper Type:
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Prephosphored, Type II
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Adhesive Type:
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Pressure-sensitive
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Colors:
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Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow,
PMS 872 (Gold)
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Stamp Orientation:
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Horizontal
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Image Area (w x h):
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1.42 x 0.84 in./36.07 x 21.34 mm
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Overall Size (w x h):
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1.56 x 0.98 in./39.62 x 24.89 mm
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Full Pane Size (w x h):
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7.14 x 5.78 in./181.36 x 146.81 mm
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Plate Size:
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144 stamps per revolution
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Plate Numbers:
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N/A
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Marginal Markings:
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Stamp side:
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Header: “CELEBRATING LUNAR
NEW YEAR”
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Back:
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© 2008 USPS • Descriptive text
• USPS logo • “.42 x 12 = $5.04”
• Barcode “573800”
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address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
Celebrating Lunar New Year Stamp
Postmaster
421 Eighth Ave., Rm. 2029B
New York, NY 10199-9998
After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by March 9, 2009.
Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first day of issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24 or writing to:
Information Fulfillment
Dept. 6270
U.S. Postal Service
P.O. Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014
There are eight philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
- 573861*, First Day Cover, $.80.
- 573862*, First Day Cover w/Full Pane (B&W), $7.54.
- 573864*, Cancelled Full Pane (Traditional B&W), $7.54.
- 573865*, Digital Color Postmark, $1.50.
- 573884*, Uncut Press Sheet, $45.36.
- 573891*, Ceremony Program, $6.95.
- 573894, Lunar New Year Note Cards/red envelopes, $13.95.
- 573899, Cancellation Keepsake (DCP cover/pane), $6.54.
Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.
Stamp distribution offices (SDOs) will receive approximately 50 percent of their standard automatic distribution quantity for a PSA sheet stamp. Distributions are rounded up to the nearest master carton size (2,000 commemorative sheets/24,000 stamps).
SDOs will make a subsequent automatic distribution to Post Offices of 50 percent of their standard automatic distribution quantity using PS Form 17, Stamp Requisition/Stamp Return. SDOs must not distribute this commemorative sheet to Post Offices before January 2, 2009.
Post Offices requiring additional quantities of Item 573800 must requisition them from their designated SDO using PS Form 17. SDOs requiring additional commemorative sheets must order them from the appropriate accountable paper depository (APD) using PS Form 17.
For fulfilling supplemental orders from SDOs, the San Francisco APD will receive 516,000 additional commemorative sheets; the New York APD will receive 380,000 additional commemorative sheets; and the Memphis and Chicago APDs will each receive 240,000 additional commemorative sheets
All Post Offices must acquire and maintain a supply of each new commemorative stamp as long as customer demand exists, until inventory is depleted, or until the stamp is officially withdrawn from sale. If supplies run low, Post Offices must reorder additional quantities using their normal ordering procedures. The $5.04 Celebrating Lunar New Year commemorative sheet may not be split, and the stamps may not be sold individually.
— Stamp Services,
Government Relations, 12-4-08
