Found a very cool old postcard of the S.S. Africa-Maru that was sunk by a torpedo in 1944 during WWII. I haven't had any luck figuring out the stamp that I thought wouldn't take me long to find at all. Well..... three weeks later and my forehead is beginning to form a dent from slamming into my laptop repeatedly after falling asleep, night after night, looking for this *$@
%& stamp! So I would appreciate any help identifying it, that is before I end up with brain damage caused by a stamp...lol!
The past is a foreign country, they do things different there. 12 Mar 2012 03:05:16pm
re: Japan: stamp identification
Shaun:
In my "JAPANESE POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE" (1984) it is identified as a regular issue
of 31 October 1913, "Tazawa" series, unwatermarked; and, if I understand the hieroglyphics correctly,
1,000,000 were issued. This particular catalogue numbers the stamp as 101(regular issue) but it
could also be 112(regular issue) of 14 May 1920, with watermark, W1. The red colour of stamp 101
appears to be richer than that of stamp 112. In both cases, the mint stamp is valued roughly 2.75 times more
than the used stamp.
John Derry
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 300 categories 14 Mar 2012 11:53:32am
re: Japan: stamp identification
Jan-Simon is correct, it is most likely Scott #132, but the original scan is too grainy to be able to tell for sure that it is not #120. The difference is that #120 was issued earlier, in 1913 on plain unwatermarked paper.
#132 was issued May 20, 1914, making it the likelier choice for a stamp that is cancelled April 26, 1919. #132 was issued on watermarked granite paper (paper with coloured fibers embedded in it). It's these fibers that will prove positive id (without having to watermark a stamp on a postcard!), but as I said, the picture is too grainy to tell for sure.
First off, I am completely blown away at how much you all know and then realizing how little I do! Hours, days, and weeks I've been trying to find that stamp and it was a matter of minutes it took for you all! WOW!!! I apologize for the grainy scan and am trying to provide a better image. In the meantime I have two additional challenges for you stamp gods! Both of them I'm assuming are Japan and both are obviously unused. Let me know if it would help if I scanned the back of them as well. Thank you all and this top notch site for providing me with sanity!