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"Year of the Dog" and "Gold and Silver Stamp Sheetlet on Lunar New Year Animals - Rooster/Dog"

Year of the Dog - Mint Stamps

Gold and Silver Stamp Sheetlet on Lunar New Year Animals - Rooster / Dog

To celebrate the Year of the Dog, Hongkong Post will release the seventh Lunar New Year special stamp issue in the third series - "Year of the Dog"Special Stamps on 15 January 2006 (Sunday). Five-colour printing is used to capture the gradation of light and shade, accentuating the three-dimensional effect by enhancing the image detail of the four dogs against a background embellished with silver foliage. The set of stamps comprises four denominations: $1.4, $2.4, $3 and $5. Each stamp has a richly coloured background with gradations in tone, and features a dog in standing proud, which also incorporates traditional Chinese paper cutting techniques as a toast to the festive spirit of the Lunar New Year.

To farewell the Year of the Rooster and welcome the Year of the Dog, Hongkong Post is delighted to present the "Gold and Silver Stamp Sheetlet on Lunar New Year Animals - Rooster/Dog" on the same day as well. The stamps featuring the Rooster and the Dog are embossed and hot-foiled respectively with 24-carat gold / 99.9% pure silver and 22-carat gold / 99.9% pure silver. A certificate of authenticity is included, making the sheetlet a propitious souvenir for the Lunar New Year.

The stamps and sheetlet will be displayed at the General Post Office, Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office, Tsuen Wan Post Office and Sha Tin Central Post Office from 23 December 2005. Official First Day Cover of the Year of the Dog and Official Souvenir Cover of the Gold and Silver stamp issues will be put on sale at HK$1 each in all post offices on the same day. Advance orders for servicing self-provided souvenir covers will be accepted at 39 philatelic offices from 23 December 2005 to 3 January 2006.

All post offices (except mobile post offices) will open on 15 January 2006 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The General Post Office, Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office and Airport Post Office will maintain their normal Sunday business hours from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Hand-back service will be provided at all post offices (except mobile post offices) on 15 January 2006 for official and privately-made covers bearing the first day of issue indication and a local address. Two special postmarks will also be introduced and available for hand-back service at all post offices. The "GPO-1" postmark, "Philatelic Bureau" pictorial postmark and the philatelic office pictorial postmarks will be available for hand-back service at 39 philatelic offices on that day.

In addition, the public hall of the Hongkong Post Philatelic Bureau on 1/F., Trade Square, 681 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, will also open on 15 January 2006 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for hand-back service with the "Philatelic Bureau" pictorial postmark, the "GPO-1" postmark as well as the two special postmarks.

Information about philatelic products associated with this issue and the sales restriction per queuing customer starting from 15 January 2006 are as follows:

Products	Descriptions	Selling Price (HKD)	Sales Restriction
Year of the Dog
Mint stamps	Available in 4 denominations of $1.4, $2.4, $3 and $5.	$11.80 per set	10 sheets of stamps of each denomination (each sheet contains 25 stamps)
Souvenir sheet	Each containing a set of four stamps	$11.80 per sheet	20 sheets
Imperforated stamp sheetlet	Each containing a $5 imperforated stamp	$5.00 per sheet	20 sheets
Presentation pack	Each containing a set of four stamps	$20.00 per pack	5 packs
Picture card	A set of four airmail postage prepaid picture cards	$20.00 per set	5 sets
Serviced first day cover affixed with a set of 4 stamps	Affixed with a full set of stamps and datestamped with the special postmark (available at 39 philatelic offices on 15 January 2006 only)	$15.30 per cover	5 covers
Serviced first day cover affixed with a souvenir sheet	Affixed with a souvenir sheet and datestamped with the special postmark (available at 39 philatelic offices on 15 January 2006 only)	$15.30 per cover	5 covers
Serviced first day cover affixed with an imperforated stamp sheetlet	Affixed with an imperforated stamp sheetlet and datestamped with the special postmark (available at 39 philatelic offices on 15 January 2006 only)	$8.50 per cover	5 covers
Serviced maximum card	A set of four maximum cards (affixed with a set of 4 stamps and datestamped with the special postmark) (available at 39 philatelic offices on 15 January 2006 only)	$34.30 per set	5 sets
Gold and Silver Stamp Sheetlet on Lunar New Year Animals - Rooster / Dog
Stamp sheetlet	Each containing a set of two $50 gold and silver stamps	$100.00 per sheet	5 sheets
Presentation pack	Each containing a stamp sheetlet of two $50 gold and silver stamps	$120.00 per pack	5 packs
Serviced souvenir cover affixed with a stamp sheetlet	Affixed with a stamp sheetlet and datestamped with the special postmark (available at 39 philatelic offices on 15 January 2006 only)	$103.50 per cover	5 covers

Remark : The above philatelic products have been included in the 2006 Local Standing Order Service.

Stamp and Stamp Sheetlet Printing Details

Year of the Dog

Design :	Mr. Bon KWAN
Printer :	Joh. Enschede B.V., the Netherlands
Process :	Lithography
Stamp Size :	28 mm x 45 mm
Stamp Layout :	Pane of 25 stamps
Souvenir Sheet Size :	135 mm x 85 mm
Imperforated Stamp Sheetlet Size :	135 mm x 85 mm
Perforation :	13.5 x 13.25 (one elliptical perforation on each vertical)
Paper :	Paper with Security Fibres
Date of Issue :	15 January 2006

Gold and Silver Stamp Sheetlet on Lunar New Year Animals - Rooster / Dog

Design :	Mr. Bon KWAN
Printer :	Cartor Security Printing, France
Process :	Lithography plus Embossing and hot foil stamping with 24-carat gold and 99.9% pure silver - Year of the Rooster Embossing and hot foil stamping with 22-carat gold and 99.9% pure silver - Year of the Dog
Stamp Sheetlet Size :	135 mm x 90 mm
Stamp Size :	37.5 mm x 51 mm
Perforation :	13.33
Date of Issue :	15 January 2006