Help With Japanese Stamp ID?

So I'm FINALLY going through a huge kilo mix from years ago and I find what looks like a Japan #479 - Moon and Geese by Hiroshige. I notice that the image doesn't look like the original background: it looks lined as to seem like a woodblock.

I'm pretty sure it's a reprint but I can't find it in my catalogue (Scott 2009 CDRom Edition).

Anyone that knows of a reprint of #479? I highly doubt a $30 mix would have a $40 stamp hidden inside.

(Sorry, can't upload an image as our internet still isn't hooked up at home)

There was a reprint done as part of the Philatelic Week issues of 1996. I don't have a Scott handy, but the issue date was June 3, 1996. There are 2 different reprints of that design, along with 2 different reprints of another classic Japanese stamp.

What is the denomination? Is it 80, rather than 8.00?

I'll try to post an image of the reprints a little later on.

-- Dave

Scott helpfully does not illustrate some of the stamps in this series, which began in 1994, so that's where this strip of 4 is located. The 2 possible stamps are 2420 (purple) or 2421 (multicolored). It should also say "Nippon". The original does not. (But the denomination is the big clue.)

-- Dave

I've borrowed this image from someone's listing in the APS StampStore:



That's the strip of 4, Scott 2418-2421.

Hope that's helpful!

-- Dave

Btw, the 2014 Scott used cat val is $0.40/ea. (Full strip used is $6.00.)

-- Dave

Thanks so much, Phil! And everyone else!

I still have problems finding some of these issues after all the years of using catalogs. Seems I always miss the reprints int he sea of text and numbers.

These particular items are really elusive in Scott. It's one of those cases where you already have to pretty much know what you're looking for, and then know there was a series started 2 years prior to this date of issue.

Anyway, glad your stamp has now been identified!

-- Dave