Year of the Dragon Stamps Celebrates Lunar New Year Forever First Class Postage Stamps

This is the Year of the Dragon sheet, part of the Postal Service's Lunar New Year series in which each zodiac animal appears as a decorated three-dimensional mask rather than as the animal. The dragon's face fills the frame in reds and golds, patterned with motifs drawn from Asian textiles. The selvage carries line drawings of all twelve animals in the cycle with the dragon marked. Sheets of 20, catalogued as Scott 5829, issued at the 68-cent rate.

Dragon years carry more weight than the rest of the cycle - it is the one sign parents plan births around, and Lunar New Year mail spikes accordingly. The window is narrow: red envelopes, cards and invitations all move in the two or three weeks before the date, which falls between late January and mid-February. Buyers order in quantity for that reason. As Forever stamps, the leftovers keep their value for ordinary letters the rest of the year, and the next dragon year is 2036.