Announced November 20, 2018. The most recent information will appear after the large illustration and the introductory description from the USPS. The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5340.The Year of the Boar is the 12th and final stamp in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The Year of the Boar begins on Feb. 5, 2019, and ends on Jan. 24, 2020. The stamp art depicts several bright pink peach blossoms on a branch. Peach blossoms, which often bloom just in time for Lunar New Year, mark the beginning of spring in Chinese culture. Artist Kam Mak created this original painting. Art director and stamp designer Ethel Kessler incorporated elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps — Clarence Lee’s cut-paper design of a boar and the Chinese character for “boar,” drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun — to create continuity between the series.

Updated December 7th: This stamp will be issued Thursday, January 17, in Houston, Texas.

Updated December 21st:

On January 17, 2019, in Houston, TX, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Year of the Boar stamp (Forever priced at the First-Class Mail rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 12 stamps (Item 564900). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 17, 2019, and must not be sold or cancelled before the first-day-of-issue. The Year of the Boar pane of 12 stamps may not be split and the stamps may not be sold individually.

Year of the Boar is the 12th and final stamp in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The Year of the Boar begins on February 5, 2019, and ends on January 24, 2020. The stamp art depicts several bright pink peach blossoms on a branch. Peach blossoms, which often bloom just in time for Lunar New Year, mark the beginning of spring in Chinese culture. Artist Kam Mak created this original painting. Art director and stamp designer Ethel Kessler incorporated elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps, including Clarence Lee’s cut-paper design of a boar and the Chinese character for “boar” drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun.

Availability to Post Offices: Item 564900, Celebrating Lunar New Year: Year of the Boar (Forever Priced at the First-Class Mail Rate) Commemorative Souvenir Sheet of 12 Stamps.Stamp Fulfillment Services will complete an automatic push distribution to Post Offices of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales.

Special Dedication Postmarks:
Only this pictorial postmark is permitted for Year of the Boar stamp. The word “Station” or the abbreviation “STA” is required somewhere in the design, because it will be a temporary station. Use of any image other than the following special pictorial image is prohibited.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Officeô or at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI — Year of the Boar Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

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 up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by May 17, 2019.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Year of the Boar Stamp
Item Number: 564900
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 12 (1 design)
Series: Celebrating Lunar New Year
Issue Date & City: January 17, 2019, Houston, TX 77074
Art Director: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Designer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Typographer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Artist: Kam Mak, Brooklyn, NY
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 12
Print Quantity: 20,100,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Pantone 3425, Pantone 872
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 0.84 in./36.068 x 21.336 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 0.98 in./39.624 x 24.892 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 7.24 x 5.92 in./183.896 x 150.368 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 21.97 x 11.965 in./558.038 x 303.911 mm
Plate Size: 144 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: N/A
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: CELEBRATING LUNAR NEW YEAR
Back: ©2018 USPS • USPS Logo • One barcode (564900) • Promotional text • Celebrating Lunar New Year text

December 24th:
The first day ceremony Thursday, January 17th, at 11 a.m. local time, at

Chinese Community Center
9800 Town Park Drive
Houston, TX 77036

You can register for the event here.

Updated December 24th:

Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue: The Digital Color postmark measures 2.76″x1.49″. The B&W pictorial measures 2.72″x1.19″. The “special” (local) postmark measures 2.66″x1.49″.