The Year of the Dragon zodiac stamp is on fire
To snap up this set of stamps
Many philatelic enthusiasts queued up all night
Some people called it "hard to get a ticket"
January 5th
China Post issues special stamps for the Year of Jiachen
A set of two stamps
The patterns are "Tianlong Xingjian" and "Chenlong Xianrui" respectively
"I arrived at the post office at 6 o'clock in the morning on the 5th, and the uncles and uncles in line were chatting enthusiastically. On the social platform, a fan told about his "ticket grabbing" experience, saying that in December last year, the whole family did not book a dragon ticket, so he thought about going to the post office early in the morning to try his luck on the day of issuance. I didn't expect the uncles and aunts to be earlier, and when they got to him, there were only quadripartite couplets and postage packs, and the large and small booklets were all sold out.
"The dragon ticket in 2024 is really too hard to buy!" Liu Tao (pseudonym), who also did not grab the stamp, told reporters that Chinese have always had a special cultural complex for the zodiac "dragon". 2024 is both a leap year and a dragon year, and as a major zodiac, it is not surprising that dragon tickets are sold "crazy".
Mr. Wang, a philatelic fan in Shanghai, has been collecting stamps for more than 40 years, and he laughs that "from a young man to an old man". On January 1, he first went to the Longmen Road Branch in Huangpu District to buy a lot of envelopes with the words "Longmen Road Post Branch", went home to write the address, and pasted the first three rounds of stamps for the Year of the Dragon, and specially brought them on the 5th, and then pasted the latest Year of the Dragon stamps.
He said: "It is also a kind of fun to use Longmen Road envelopes, cover Longmen Road stamps, and bring 4 rounds of "dragon tickets". ”
On the 8th, the reporter came to a postal outlet in Xicheng District, Beijing as a consumer to inquire about the sale of stamps, the staff said that there is only one stamp commemorative album left, which contains large stamps (32), small stamps (12), small booklets, quadripartite and a 0.5 grams of gold jewelry, priced at 498 yuan.
"Stamps for the Year of the Dragon are very sought-after, so be sure to grab them if you want to. According to the staff, on the day of the 5th issue, there were already many people queuing up before the outlets opened, and the outlets sold 1920 sets of tickets on the spot, 65 small booklets, which were sold out in two hours, and the commemorative album also contained gold ornaments in addition to stamps, etc., and the sales speed was relatively slow, but there was only the last one left.
Outside the postal outlets, the reporter also met merchants who sold stamps for the Year of the Dragon at a higher price. "I'm 65 years old, I've been in this business for more than 20 years, and a lot of regular customers in the neighborhood know me. The merchant said that on the 5th, some customers queued for 15 hours, and after grabbing it, (the customer) only left a small cashier's ticket, and the rest were all sold at a higher price. Although the merchant did not disclose the recycling price, she repeatedly assured that if she wanted to buy more, she would pay ten, and if she wanted to buy more, she would also have the goods.
On an e-commerce platform, a set of large-edition tickets with a face value of 38.4 yuan (naked version) is quoted at 215 yuan, with a premium of 459.9%, while a set of small-edition tickets with a face value of 14.4 yuan (naked version) is priced between 30 yuan and 45 yuan, with a premium range of 108.33% to 212.5%.
△ Screenshot of a product on an e-commerce platform.
According to the relevant person in charge of China Post, "Jia Chen Year" special stamps 1 set of 2, the name of the pattern is "Tianlong Xingjian" and "Chenlong Xianrui", combined with the characteristics of zodiac culture and stamp art, highlighting the cultural heritage of self-confidence and self-improvement in the new era. The first image of the stamp, "Dragon Marching", is derived from the Nine Dragons Wall of the Forbidden City, symbolizing the spirit of vigorous progress and unremitting self-improvement. The second image of the stamp, "Chenlong Xianrui", is derived from the traditional Chinese auspicious pattern "auspicious dragon arch", which expresses the good wishes of good weather and peace for the country and the people.
The set of stamps designed by Wang Huming, Beijing Stamp Factory Co., Ltd. using rubber engraving overprint process printing, a full set of stamps face value of 2.40 yuan, plans to issue 29.98 million sets, layout two 1.8 million editions, 4.5 million small booklets. Starting from 5 January, consumers can purchase this set of stamps at designated postal outlets, philatelic network halls, China Post mobile app, China Post Micro Post WeChat Mall and China Post Mall WeChat Mini Program.
△ Year of the Dragon zodiac stamp issuance. Source: State Post Bureau
Wan Zhe, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said that the reason why stamps for the Year of the Dragon are popular is partly because the dragon is usually a symbol of auspiciousness and auspiciousness in China. Therefore, not only the Year of the Dragon stamps, but also commemorative coins, commemorative banknotes and other peripheral products related to the "Dragon" are more popular. On the other hand, stamps themselves also have certain financial attributes and value-added space.
He said that people's expectations for stamps are different from those in the past. Whether stamps can meet new consumer needs in the process of consumption upgrading and cultural upgrading, and achieve subversive breakthroughs in culture and aesthetics, has become a key factor to attract young collectors.
Source: Nanfang Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China-Singapore Jingwei, Chengdu Business Daily