China : $2500 Sino Soviet Treaty 1950

Can someone assist please?
Due to the extra script RHS, I would have expected
Chinese Nationalist republic (Taiwan)
But I cannot see this value tablet listed anywhere.
Cheers

That's Stalin and Mao in there, so it's gotta' be PRC.

The extra four characters in the vertical column at upper right indicate it is for use in the Northeast.

In the Scott catalog, China (PRC) subsection Northeast China #1L176(1Dec1950).

Sorry, it is very difficult to distinguish reprints of this stamp from a picture. Hit it with filtered UV. Paper of reprints will appear dull, paper of reprints will be slightly bright.

[EDIT for incorrect word: Paper of the reprints will appear dull, paper of the originals will be slightly bright.]

Yang says 'Reprint: Paper whiter & slightly thinner. The lining under the map is clearer.' which is all very well if you have an original to compare it with.

However, I'm not sure why Taiwan/the KMT would issue a stamp showing Mao shaking hands with Stalin, Rod ...

Illustrating my complete ignorance of Taiwan politics,
and I was there in the 1970's!
Thanks gentlemen for the ID.
(SGNE312)

Tony, what are you doing with a Yang catalogue?
light reading when not studying Travancore?

I have my Dark Secrets too, Young Rodney ...

'Paper of reprints will appear dull, paper of reprints will be slightly bright.'

Sorry?

Oh, sorry, I was in too much of a hurry to get out of the house...

Under filtered UV: Paper of the reprints will appear dull, paper of the originals will be slightly bright.

Thanks for catching that, jimjamtwo!

I'm not a Ph.D. for nothing, khj!


Speaking of this isue, does anyone know if there are listed colour varieties for the $5000? I've seen a lot of examples of this stamp, all the same shade of green (the stamp at the top) with the exception of this pale olive-green copy (the lower stamp).

No varieties are listed in my Gibbons but perhaps the specialist China catalogues (Ma, Yang) mention them. Does anyone know?

I'd compare the paper used on the lower specimen with the others. The paper looks whiter, which is said to be a test for the reprints.

Thanks for the suggestion, tonymacg, but the paper's the same kind. The stamp at the top is just slightly toned.

I've seen lots of both originals and reprints and there is no discernible colour difference between them.

This series is one of several in which it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between originals and reprints.

BTW for those interested in the PRC originals/reprints question, such matters were (and still are) regarded as state secrets in China. There are no official government pronouncements on the subject and in some cases no reliable criteria exist.

As Yang says the reprints are on slightly whiter paper, I'd take that as an indication. You could also compare the lines under the map, which Yang says are clearer in the reprint.

Failing both those tests, I'd suspect a slight variation in shade due to the less than ideal conditions prevailing at the Beijing printers in mid-1950. Yang doesn't list any shades.

Well, to reiterate, there are no differences in colour between originals and reprints in this series.

I also wouldn't call it a 'slight' difference in shade - to those who are familiar with this issue, the olive green colour would stick out like a sore thumb.

I suppose - if Yang doesn't list any colour varieties - a possible explanation is that it's been damaged, as you suggest.

An alternative, perhaps, is that Yang doesn't list colour varieties for any issue. I have quite a few Heavenly Gate issues and the shades vary tremendously. Yet I can't say I've seen anyone, even the most specialised Chinese dealers, advertising them for sale in terms of shade. Perhaps shade is just not an issue to Chinese collectors (or isn't an issue because the specialised catalogues don't list such varieties).

The importance assigned to shades is probably one reason why these days I'm increasingly interested in classic German stamps.

I'd guess the reason for the lack of detail on shades in Yang and elsewhere is that there's a range of them, which arose across a single printing due to inconsistencies in the ink mixture.

Shades are really only of specialist interest when they can be tied to specific printings within a longer run. When they occur within a single print run, as occurred with this 1922 2 Anna of Barwani



which can be found from purple to violet, and everything in between, even the specialist can begin to yawn.

I love the way you manage to winkle in a barwani (yawn)
into a Chinese thread.
You're irrepressible.

tonymacg, the lack of interest in colour varieties in Chinese stamps may be due to a lack of knowledge about different printings.

In the German case, it seems to be known exactly when each colour variety was produced.

I have a feeling it's the same with the Australian KGV issues.