USPS Chinese New Year 1992-2004 Stamps Issue

The designs in the USPS Chinese New Year 1992-2004 Stamps Issue are based on intricate paper-cut designs for the twelve animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. The first stamp  was a rooster stamp issued on December 30, 1992 for the 1993 Year of the Rooster. Twelve stamps were issued, one per year, with the appropriate first class postage denomination for the year of issue.  The second design was a dog for 1994 which is shown on the postcard above. The dog is  a Pekinese, the royal dog of China. The Chinese characters on the left translate as "Year of the Dog."

The postcard below shows the design for 2001, which was the Year of the Snake. Other years of the snake include 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 and this year 2013. According to the description on the back of this postcard "Silence, great wisdom, and sympathy are hallmarks of the snake. People born in the Year of the Snake are romantically deep thinkers."

The stamp used on the postcard is from a souvenir sheet of 37-cent Lunar New Year stamps in twelve designs issued on January 6, 2005. The 2005 sheet was a double sided pane of 24. A similar souvenir sheet of 12 stamps was issued issued with the 39-cent denomination on January 29, 2006.

source: The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps

My postcards show the denominations of the original series of stamps. It is hard to find any information on the postcards issued by the United States Postal Service. I discovered that there is also a set/series of postcards all with the 37-cent denomination.

Here is a list of the stamps in the original series:

1993  29-cent Year of the Rooster
1994  29-cent Year of the Dog
1995  29-cent Year of the Boar
1996  32-cent Year of the Rat
1997  32-cent Year of the Ox
1998  32-cent Year of the Tiger
1999  33-cent Year of the Rabbit
2000  33-cent Year of the Dragon
2001  34-cent Year of the Snake
2002  34-cent Year of the Horse
2003  37-cent Year of the Ram
2004  37-cent Year of the Monkey

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog