I have exhausted my on-line and reference resources on this one. It is not a revenue stamp (or so I have been told) but what is it? When was it issued and for what purpose? Thanks in advance.
re: Would like information about this Japanese stamp
This is a 'trade tax' stamp. I can't quite pin the date down, but this category of stamps was only used 1948-1949. (My guess was it was post-WW2 because the writing is left to right.)
It is Shimomura 21 in the 'trade tax' section. Unused or used catalog value as of 2003 was 30 yen, so about 30 cents.
Hope that's helpful!
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re: Would like information about this Japanese stamp
Let me amend my last post.
This stamp may also be Shimomura 5 in the same category. Without some heavy-duty translating, I can't determine the difference between #5 and #21. Nevertheless, it shows the same catalog value, unused or used, of 30 yen.
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"You gotta put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone. (Hoots the Owl -- Sesame Street)"
re: Would like information about this Japanese stamp
Thank you so much for this information! I was sorting through an old collection from Japan and this was included. I was really stumped!
So that I can learn even more, please tell me more about this description:
"Shimomura 21 in the 'trade tax' section" - What catalogue is this? Or is it a specialty resource book? I have never heard of it.
re: Would like information about this Japanese stamp
One more question. Do you know what the symbol under the 1 stands for? I even searched an online site for Japanese symbols and could not find it. Thanks/
re: Would like information about this Japanese stamp
Sure. That symbol under the 1 is the Japanese symbol for "yen". (It does also mean 'round', but I think if you encounter it on a stamp where it looks like it's a currency symbol, you could safely assume it's a Japanese stamp.)
There is/was a catalog for Japanese revenues, called "Standard Catalogue of the Japanese Revenue Stamps". It wasn't published that often. Mine is from 2003. Mr. Shimomura was the editor.
He passed away several years, and someone else took up its updating and publication. It's now called the "Furuya" catalog, and I'm afraid I don't have one yet.
The Shimomura catalog lists about 20 categories of 'fiscal' stamps, of which 'trade tax' is one. Others include 'silk', documentary, tobacco, medicine, justice, playing cards, among others.
For *each* type of revenue stamp, the numbers start from 1, so I was trying to specify the catalog number of the stamp for the 'trade tax' stamp listings.
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