CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - JAPAN PHANTOM STAMP
Printed From: Cinderella Stamps Forum
Category: Cinderella Stamps
Forum Name: Cinderella Stamps
Forum Description: Discuss your stamps and collections here, latest acquisitions, wish lists and favourites...
URL: https://www.cinderellastampsforum.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=876
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 11:17
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - JAPAN PHANTOM STAMP
Posted By: ambrofos
Subject: CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - JAPAN PHANTOM STAMP
Date Posted: 08 November 2013 at 23:57
Hi - I have never saw this stamp before this weekend. It has a striking postmark of Yokohama, and it is clearly intended to be thought of a a postage stamp.  It has a design similar to the Cherry Blossom stamps of the mid-1870s shown below  Consider the famous Sutherland & Co. Local post stamps: These were issued in 1870 by an English-owned stagecoach
line that carried mail from Tokyo to Yokohama. The denomination "boo" derives from ichibuban, 一分判 which was a monetary unit at that time. The Ichibuban could be either made of silver or gold, in which case it was a quarter of a Koban. The pink ¼ boo stamp is one of six known copies; the yellow ¼ boo is one of eight.   As these also were local postage stamps centering around Yokohama. I wonder whether my stamp is entirely bogus or whether it too is a local carrier stamp? Has anyone seen this stamp before? ------------- AMB |
Replies:
Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 11 November 2013 at 10:23
|
Hi AMB From the image it looks as if the stamp itself is a good attempt at a bogus it is not real. Its looks more of the period than the Sutherland stamps - at a quick glance they look like they may have been 1971 GB Postal Strike stamps even. What I do not like is that you have an unlisted, possibly rare stamp, and miraculously all four margins are intact. What is the chances of that? Then the postmark. Almost too clear, and applied carefully, retaining enough to let you know without any doubt it was Yokohama. I wonder if anyone recognises the typefaces used on both the stamp and the frank. Again they 'look right' but are they? ------------- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look! |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 13 November 2013 at 20:57
|
I think we can get to the bottom of this mystery if a Japanese reader can decipher the Kanjis in the center of the stamp. In respect of the condition, I have a number of unique stamps that are in outstanding condition, so not every unique stamp has to look like the British Guiana Magenta. In my posting on Hamburg on this site (which I need to update), that stamp is in excellent condition too. I have figured out what is. It too is very rare. It used to have a space for itself in the very first Lallier stamp album. In respect of the cancel, in the 1870's there were a great deal of experimental postmarkers. This was the era in which many people were trying to patent gadgets of all kinds. As a result, some of the postmarks of the period have the feature of extraordinary clarity owing to the novelty of their application. I have a collection of the actual patent devices from the U.S. Some of them have considerable torque and can make very clear impressions indeed. One favorite is one on the end of a long thin handle (like a hammer). It is so powerful that it can cut right through an envelope. I have not seen this particular style of cancel, but I will look more closely at my collection of patents and see whether I might find something that has a similar type font that might indicate the manufacturer. Finally, it had occurred to me that this stamp might be a Japanese business college stamp. Such things were again common in this period. I have a friend at the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum who is a specialist in this field, I will ask him. I looked through Harry Rooke's articles in the Philatelist and was not able to find any discussion on this stamp. I have looked through Melville and Hurt and Williams too. ------------- AMB |