Unissued Stamps From A Sunken Japanese Sub

I'm bored and thought I'd ask a trivia question that I dont know the answer too


Does anyone know anything about unissued stamps from a sunken Japanese Sub probably WWII? my father has some somewhere, I remember him telling a story about a wrecked Japanese sub that was salvaged and inside they found a sealed container with mint unissued stamps.

I don't currently have picture or a stamp, just the story...

Do you recall if they were purported to be regular, Japanese issues, or some sort of propaganda issue?

I'll try to find out, I don't recall...

Are you thinking of the Azad Hind issues, intended for the liberated India? They were printed in Germany, and carried charity surcharges equivalent to face value. They were printed in around half-a dozen denominations, the top values being quite scarce, although the lower values are common.

Rodney must have scans in his database. Come on Rodney, post 'em, just in case.

I have more somewhere but here is a sample of what Tony is talking about.
They also come perforated.







Hope this helps!

Londonbus1

LB, where IS Rod? He's been very quiet... Have you stolen him and his stamps and have him locked up in your basement?

Here's a printed bit of the story (as identified by Tony Mac):

http://community.webshots.com/photo...381883zvJHrR

great info I forwarded it to my family to see if they can find them so I can get a scan to post. so far no luck...

you guys are really good at this stuff, with a bit of tale, no pictures and guess work on my part you upload the exact pictures and news clipping I was trying to describe from story only.

they found the stamp, and scanned it this is the best pic we will get sorry.

I am looking for this one if anyone has it to trade.

Hope you have your best trading boots on - the Rupee values are considerable rarities!

Does that mean you have one to trade?

No fear! But they are notoriously hard to find - as scarce as the low values are common. I think I recall something about one of the Rupee values existing in two sets of colours, one set being even rarer than the other.

As far as I know they only exist imperf in the one set of colors.

The 1 Rupee has been reported in no less than five forms - including a version with dark purple instead of black. It was said that only one sheet of this was ever printed. (For the record, the other three are: orange omitted, orange and green omitted, and 'orange surface printing under the standard'.)

These stamps were intended for use in the Japanese-occupied Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, but it seems clear that the submarine carrying them was sunk, and the stamps never made it. (Of course, if the stamps went down with the sub, you might expect the survivors to show water damage ... All the copies on the market would have been looted from the printers in Vienna after the War.)

(Source: various issues of the India Study Circle journal India Post)

I had never heard of or obviously seen the Purple ones. I was aware of the missing colors. However, I had read somewhere these were scavenged from the printers waste. There are also Forgeries of these as well. Why anyone would want to forge the lower values is beyond me.