Japanese Stamps With Overprint

Hi,
I recently acquired a collection of Japanese stamps.
I have many issues from 1973 thru 1982 that are overprinted with what I perceive as a 3 character word.
I have the same stamps from the same years all duplicate, except one set has the overprint, yet, I have don't see a separate listing in the Scott catalog.
Obviously curious about what these are, what the overprint translates to, if there's a separate Scott catalog number for these issues, and wondering if the overprints have a higher value than the duplicate, non-overprinted ones.
The two stamps in the image are Scott #'s 1170, and 1161.
Thanks for all your help in advance.

Those overprints are known as Mihon overprints -- they indicate the stamp is a specimen stamp. Sorry, I don't have a catalog that prices them.

What does it mean that it's a specimen stamp, and why are there no Scott listings?

An explanation of specimen stamps is given in the glossary. See the column in the top left hand of this page where it says "navigation". Also, specimen stamps are never listed in Scott

Peter

Specimen Stamps

https://goscf.com/t/8391 br /

So, the glossary says that specimens of common stamps are more valuable than the regular issues.
Is there any type of catalog, or way to value all of these Japanese specimens?

It's my understanding that the JSCA (Nissen) Japanese Stamp Specialized Catalogue lists mihon overprints. You should confirm this before buying a copy, though.

http://www.japanphilatelic.com/prod...2-1946-1989/

I don't have the most recent volumes of the Nissen (JSCA, Japan Specialized), but mine are about 3-4 years old for volume 1 and maybe 5-6 years old for volume 2 (which is the volume that would cover the time period for modern mihons), and I don't believe the modern-era mihons are priced, unless they've been added quite recently to the JSCA.

Some of the early mihons (like the very early commemoratives, perhaps up to about 1919 or so?) are priced in volume 1, but I don't think that's the timeframe you're looking for.

I honestly don't know of a catalog that does the modern ones.

The one thing I can think of is this dealer, who does, to a small degree, list and price them:

http://www.baxleystamps.com/jpframes.htm

He does also have a separate page for mihons priced under $10:

http://www.baxleystamps.com/japan_m..._under10.htm

But as you can see, he offers the less expensive ones in year sets that sell for maybe $0.75/stamp.

- - - - -

I could be all wet about this, but I think the popularity of collecting mihons has fallen over the years. Japanese stamps used to be affordable (when the exchange rate were very favorable to the dollar: like 360 yen/$1),

[see here: not a great graph, but gives you an idea:
https://www.macrotrends.net/2550/do...orical-chart ]

and collectors were looking for affordable varieties to spice up their collections. In addition, the Ryukyus were administered by the US, and the Ryukyus also issued mihons.

These days, Japan issues a crazy amount of face-different stamps (I think the last numbers I saw were more than 700 for a recent year), and they're not cheap anymore because of the exchange rate, so I think even conscientious collectors struggle to keep up trying to complete a modern mint collection. (I know I gave up in 2002, and started selling them off several years later.)

That may have affected the popularity of mihons, at least here in the US. (And, to be honest, I'm not sure they're even issued anymore.)

But that's all just my opinion, and is worth about as much as you've paid for it. :)

Thanks for your help, I'm assuming the Mihons I have should be worth more than the same issues without the overprints?