# 4957a - 2015 First-Class Forever Stamp - Imperforate Chinese Lunar New Year: Year of the Ram

U.S. # 4957a
2015 49¢ Imperforate Year of the Ram

Celebrating Lunar New Year

The Year of the Ram stamp was issued to in honor of the Lunar New Year, which began on February 19, 2015.  The year is also called the Year of the Goat and Year of the Sheep.  Each year, people of Asian descent celebrate the start of a new year with colorful festivities.

The stamp pictures a Tray of Togetherness or Chuen-Hop.  A traditional part of New Year celebrations, the wooden tray is set out for guests and contains dried fruit, candies, and other treats.  The design also includes a cut-paper illustration of a ram and the Chinese character for the animal written in grass-style calligraphy.

Value:  49¢ first class letter rate

Issued:  February 7, 2015

First Day City:  San Francisco, CA, at the Chinese Culture Center

Type of Stamp:  Commemorative (Imperforate)
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products
Method: Lithographed in sheets of 144, with 12 panes of 12

Self-Adhesive:
Quantity Printed:  72,000 stamps

The Year of the Ram stamp is the eighth in the Lunar New Year series.  It is the second series celebrating the Lunar New Year.  The designs for this series have been created by Kam Mak, who was born in Hong Kong and grew up in New York’s Chinatown.  Each stamp pictures a different aspect of the Lunar New Year celebrations.  The cut-paper design and Chinese character name in calligraphy were also part of the previous series.