China Provincial Overprint Rare?

I have seen such varying values put on this stamp! The research I've done tells me it's a 1943 China Provincial Surcharge stamp 20c over 13c.
I may have to break down and take myself and a pile of stamps to the library to look them up in Scott.
You've all been so helpful, that I thought I'd run it by you, but I understand that you're not here as my reference librarians! :)
What do we think, 20 cents or 20 dollars?
Thanks!

Hi Rox, no problem! But if possible make a bit larger scan of your stamp; it is almost impossible to see anything! Peter.

How's this?

Here's the back

This is one of a series of maddening surcharges of February-December, 1943, listed in Gibbons under (Chinese Empire) #690, 692, and 696. There are 30+ very similar overprints of the 20c on the 13c blue-green "Martyr" issue, one for each province, sometimes varying by fraction of a stroke on one Chinese character. They are generally worth more used than mint, but on the other hand, that makes them harder to identify.

The same holds true, in lesser amounts, for surcharges on the 16c olive brown, 21c sepia, and 28c olive "Martyr" stamps.

I stay away from them. My heirs can figure it out, or pass the buck to the next generation, in the 22nd Century.

I have a feeling an awful lot of these bucks are going to get passed on to future generations. At least until a software solution takes all of the 'fun' out of the i.d.

HA! Well, when the "experts" are as frustrated as I; suddenly I don't feel quite so bad!
You made me laugh. Thanks!
I've been digging through a box full of stamps and covers and old currency and I'm just trying to make sure I don't give away the "find of the century" before I package them up and sell them on ebay. I've sure learned a lot, but have a long way to go. Now my biggest worry is that I'll catch the bug and want to start collecting these darn things!

From my reading of Chan's Stamp Catalogue of China, it's the Kwangsi (Guangxi) overprint. In 2010, Chan rated it at $HK4, say $US0.50.

I'd say package them in a good looking China collection. China is hot right now and the prices Chinese stamps are going for are astronomical.

Post some of your old currency and we'll tackle them too. For best results, use a scan area only slightly larger than the bill, don't use the entire scanner glass and crop away large areas.

You are all so helpful. (I know, I keep saying that.) I like "Katchem's" idea of packaging a China collection and putting it out there. Thanks!
I'd love to post some of my currency too! Is there a thread already here for currency? I saw Coins...
Here's a puzzle. I have two of these, same serial number. I'm inclined to think that the one that feels more frail is a copy, but it could be just washed. I wonder if in Japan, they ever printed bills with the same serial number? Probably not...

In the Pick Catalog, that is Japan #85, catalog value 30c in that condition. The illlustration for that type shows a 6-digit serial number. See if there is an overprint "Mi-Hon" or "Specimen" on the back. Issue of 1946, by the way.

Notice that in your two bills, the final digit "2" in one case appears over the man's right eye, in the other, over the left eye. I suspect that both are counterfeits.

This is what the Japanese 'Mihon' should look like:



It might be in either the top or the bottom form - but not both.

Thanks all! I received an email in response to my quandry about these notes from Alan, at notesoftheworld.com, here's what he says.
"Dear Roxanne,
Yes, apparently at that time in Japan's history batches of notes were issued with the same serial numbers. So they are not forgeries.
Unfortunately the are not really valuable unless they are in very high grades.
Thanks for writing to us, Roxanne. No need to apologise!
Warm regards,
Alan
www.notesoftheworld.com"