United States/BOB & Other : US Parcel Post Shanghai
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Harvey I think, therefore I am - I think! 10 Jun 2019 08:22:54pm
I saw pictures of US Offices in Shanghai with overprinted US Parcel Post stamps( called Darrah Type III ). I can't find any mention in my US Specialized Scott catalog and I'm wondering if anyone out there can supply me any information. Like are they expensive?, do they have Scott #'s?, Why are there no spaces in my album?, etc. Can anyone tell me when they were done and any other information about them. They look fascinating, but are probably out of my price range. I can't find any on E-Bay or Worthpoint!
In 1913, various US stamps (not just parcel post stamps) were overprinted without authorization by the US postmaster in Shanghai, John Darrah. The next week the Postmaster General found out about it, and ordered the stamps withdrawn from sale/use. Some of the unauthorized stamps were used, with just a few covers being known to exist. Whether or not they are valuable is up to how much one wants to pay for it.
Since they were unauthorized, they will not be in the usual catalogs.
They do appear to be listed in the Chan Catalog of Chinese stamps.
Overgeneralizing, 'value' is a computation of 'desirability' and 'rarity', that happens in the marketplace.
Is there any idea of just how many of these unauthorized overprints were used in the mails (ie, GPU on cover)?
Also, not having seen these, I might expect that a 'homemade' overprint might be easily faked.
The topic of conducting census of existing material like this using counts and statistics was recently discussed at the Philatelic Gathering. However, I was not in attendance. Vince?
-Paul
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Harvey I think, therefore I am - I think! 11 Jun 2019 12:05:28pm
re: US Parcel Post Shanghai
Should I assume that this discussion does not apply to what is commonly called "United States Offices in China" that is commonly in most albums and catalogs and given Scott's numbers K1 to K18? They are quite expensive and I can afford to pick up one occasionally but since they are in albums they must be recognized for postal use. Is it possible to find a list of others that exist whether authorized or not? The only ones I can find pictured on line are the US Parcel Post stamps. There are at least 3 types of overprints and they look like they are easy to fake. I found a set of 9 parcel posts that sold at auction for $1900 for Q1 - Q9 with type III overprint and they appear to be used. Here is a link to the auction if anyone wants to check it out: http://www.rumseyauctions.com/auctions/chapter/21/62
Does anyone out there have some pictures they can share? They seem to make an interesting addition to a collection of US BOB if the price is right.
Sorry Michael, I just noticed your reference to the Chan Catalog - I'll see if I can find one.
here is the first page of an article in the latest ASD&C magazine
with an image of a fake Shanghai overprint on a 4ยข Parcel Post -
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Harvey I think, therefore I am - I think! 13 Jun 2019 08:16:55am
re: US Parcel Post Shanghai
Thanks for posting that. I don't know what to do about fakes, I'm sure they're out there just waiting for gullible people like me. I bought an expensive bi-sect a while ago and, even though it was tied by postmark that can be faked also. He sent his own letter of authentication,but all that that means is that he believes it to be OK. I guess we just do what we can and just enjoy the hobby! Thanks again!
To help get so-called "album weeds" out of circulation, you can send them to the American Philatelic Society. The items will be placed in the APS reference collection where they will be used to identify fakes and such.
When sending stamp donations to the reference collection (don't send "floor sweepings"), make sure to include a note what you're doing.
American Philatelic Society
Attn: Krystal Harter
100 Match Factory Place
Bellefonte PA 16823
