USPS Zodiac Animal Masks

About the USPS Lunar New Year NFT Series

The USPS Lunar New Year NFT Series follows the underlying 12-year physical Lunar New Year stamp series that USPS has been issuing since 2020 — with one zodiac animal per year in the Chinese-Asian lunar calendar.

The 12-Year Stamp Series 2020-2031

USPS' physical Lunar New Year stamp series is planned as a 12-year programme, with artist Camille Chew designing all editions:

NFT editions have been appearing since 2022 (three years after the start of the physical series). The first two stamps (Rat 2020, Ox 2021) were not issued as NFTs — the USPS NFT programme started with Day of the Dead in November 2021.

Camille Chew — the Lunar Artist

Camille Chew has been the consistent artist of the Lunar series since 2020. She is a mixed-media artist specializing in paper sculptures and 3D mask construction. Her process:

1. Hand-printed paper sheets — she prints patterns/motifs on paper (Asian textile inspirations)
2. Paper cutting — sheets are precisely cut
3. Folding and scoring — mask is folded into 3D form
4. Acrylic painting — additional details
5. Paper elements — flowers, tassels as ornamentation
6. Papier-mâché backing — stabilization
7. Studio photography by Sally Anderson-Bruce on white background
8. Stamp layout by Antonio Alcalá

This handcraft approach differs from digitally-illustrated Day of Dead NFTs (Luis Fitch) or the Disney/Marvel CGI aesthetic of other VeVe drops.

Drop Performance per Year

Mintages have decreased from Tiger 2022 (11,888 Common) to Snake 2025 (5,888 Common) — a reduction of approximately 50% over four years. This follows the general trend toward smaller mintages from 2023.

Stamp Pane Art at USD 120

USPS offers a Stamp Pane Art variant at USD 120 for each Lunar edition — an NFT representing a full 20-pane sheet of the stamp (instead of a single stamp). This corresponds to physical 20-pane stamp sheets.

For the Tiger edition 2022, the Pane drop appeared one day after the main drop:

• Stamp Art Drop: 31.01.2022, 8 AM PT, USD 6
• Stamp Pane Art Drop: 01.02.2022, 12 PM PT, USD 120

The price factor 20× reflects the stamp pane factor (20 stamps in one pane). Other NFT stamp issuers (FR, IT, JP) have not offered comparable formats.

Theme: Asian-American Cultural Heritage

The Lunar New Year programme reflects Asian-American communities in the US (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Malaysian, Filipino) — approximately 22 million people according to the 2020 Census.

The choice aligns with USPS' diversity representation in the NFT programme — Day of the Dead (Latino communities), Lunar New Year (Asian-American communities), Christmas (mainstream Christian traditions), Earth Day (environmental themes).

Designer Continuity

The Camille Chew continuity across all Lunar editions creates consistent visual identity:

• Each edition uses the same mask construction technique
• Collectors can acquire all 12 animals as a set over 12 years
• Camille Chew is identified with the series

This contrasts with FR NFTimbre (different artists per edition) or DE Architecture (AI-generated without artist identity).

Programme Context

The Lunar series represents a long-term commitment in the USPS NFT programme:

1. 12-year planned theme series (4 NFT editions released so far)
2. Single artist across all editions
3. Stamp Pane Art premium format at USD 120
4. Asian-American cultural representation
5. Mintage reduction from 11,888 to 5,888 Common over 4 years

The series is scheduled to continue through 2031, making it a multi-year programme commitment extending beyond typical 2-3 year programme cycles of other issuers.