Help Center For Japanese Stamps

Started to go through my rather small collection. Here's what I've found so far: Four Cherry Blossoms that appear genuine (at least to my still as yet untrained eye). Please tell me if they're not.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the matter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan...World_War_II

Looking at the Scott Catalogue, left-to-right inscriptions on Japanese stamps begin with #380, issued 3 May 1947.

Horizontal Chinese writing used to run in both directions, too. The PRC has had left-to-right inscriptions on its stamps from the very beginning, but Chinese inscriptions on stamps from the ROC (Taiwan) ran from right to left until the late 1990s! (Compare the use of simplified characters in the PRC vs. traditional characters in Taiwan.)

Here are 3 more early Japanese forgeries:






The left stamp is a forgery of Scott # 47 from 1875. The kanji is just above the plant leaves on the left side and to the right of the bird's wing on the right side. It reads: "Sanko" meaning "reference".

The right stamp is a forgery of Scott # 46, from 1875. I had thought I found a kanji on this one, but now I don't see it. But, the stylized chrysanthemum flower at the top only has 15 petals. Genuine Japanese stamps always have 16 petals.




This is a forgery of Scott # 17 from 1872. Here again, there are only 15 petals in the chrysanthemum.

~Glenn

Here are the only two obvious Koban forgeries that I found in my (small) collection. They have the imitation cancellation to which Wedge 632 first opened my eyes.



Here are two others--Scott #58 and #68--that seem to me suspicious. Sixteen petals on the chrysanthemum, no discernible kanji. But the cancellation on the 4 Sen is doubtful and on the 1 Sen color seems off. Admittedly, it's a pretty rough copy, but it should be maroon. I've paired it here with a better copy to the left. Any opinions?

The 4sen looks genuine as does its cancel. These often come on rough pale grayish to brownish paper which may be the case for the 4sen. It looks to me that both have been bleached at minimum (paper looks too white) causing color loss and ink flaking on the right 1sen.

Thanks. I was concerned that the cancel seemed to stop a bit short of the stamp's edge. Suppose that could just mean too little ink on the handstamp.




Would that be bleaching at time of paper manufacture? Or by someone subsequently?

EMaxim: I have been studying the 4 cherry blossom stamps that you posted yesterday. Here are my conclusions:

2 sen yellow: This is Scott #34, and appears to have syllabic 5 in the box where the kiri branches cross at the bottom. The chrysanthemum has 16 petals. The Serrane guide says that characters in the two side panels are different from each other on the forgeries. On your stamp they are the same. At the four inner corners there is a decoration with lines radiating out from the corner. The most common forgeries have 10 lines in the upper left corner, six lines in the lower left corner, and seven lines on each of the right corners. Your stamp appears to have 7 or 8 radiating lines in each corner. The engraving on the corner decorations is sharp, and the shading in the ends of the scrolls at top, bottom and sides is very fine. So I would say that this one is genuine.

20 sen rose: This is Scott # 48, probably with syllabic # 8, but the heavy cancellation makes it hard to see. The chrysanthemum has 16 petals, as it should. On forgeries the double center circle is too wide on the right and touches the right side tablet. Yours is fine and does not touch. The alternating thin and thick lines above and below the side tablets are clearly and crisply rendered. I would say that this one is genuine as well.

1 sen brown: This would be Scott # 53, with no syllabic character.
Check the perforations. If this is perforated 14 it is a forgery. This is a very pricey stamp ($700) in my 2016 Scott catalog. Unfortunately, the heavy cancellation completely covers some of the key points of identification. Try to determine if this stamp is engraved, using a 10x lens or better. The lines of the design will be very slightly raised above the surface of the paper, and should show a slight shadow (away from the light) when held at an oblique angle so the light rakes across the surface of the stamp. Forgeries are lithographed and look dead flat, even under a raking light. On this particular stamp, some of the forgeries have 16 petals in the chrysanthemum, so even if we could count these petals, it wouldn't help us. Based on the asymmetrical shape of the bottom tablet, and the lack of finesse in the finer details, my best guess is that this one is a forgery. But check the perforations and see if it is engraved, just to be sure.

2 sen yellow: Scott #13. It could be on either laid paper or wove paper, the wove paper being worth slightly more. This stamp was issued before Japan was using syllabic characters to identify the plates. Like the other 2 sen stamp, there should be 7 or 8 lines radiating out in the corner decorations. This checks out fine. The chrysanthemum also looks correct. I can tell from the way the cancellation ink lays on the stamp: it hits the raised engraved lines, highlighting them: (look at the bottom numeral "2", and the "N" of "sen", also the decorations in the lower part of the right side panel.) This one is definitely engraved, definitely genuine.

Three outta four ain't bad!

~Glenn

Glenn,

Can't thank you enough. First, for taking the time and trouble to provide so detailed an analysis of the cherry blossoms I'd posted. Also for making me aware of the Serrane guide. I searched online and found that a physical copy is beyond my means. But there appears to be a site that offers online access. Clearly I need access somehow. What do you use?

Then, more specifically, you called my 2 Sen yellow Scott #13, image A2. I'd made it #54, image A13, because of the ribbon tying the kiri branches. Since neither image really matches my stamp, I went to the ISJP site (the existence of which I'd only just learned of through this thread) and there on the page for the 2 Sen cherry blossoms found an exact match, complete with ribbon. But is it Scott #13 or #54? My copy of Scott offers no help.

As for the 2 Sen yellow, Scott #34: I believe it's syllabic character #21, which would make no real difference. Your guess makes me realize that my scans need to be sharper. They could be too large.

As for the 1 Sen brown, Scott #53: I'm familiar with the differences between engraved and lithographed. This one is engraved. I gauge the perf at 11x12 ½, certainly not 14. On the other hand, I see what you mean about the asymmetry of the bottom tablet, so for now I'll count this one doubtful.

Thanks again. Your help here is a good example of why this forum is such an asset.

Eric

Wedge: I have been studying the stamps that you posted here on the 13th, comparing them to Serrane's notes, and other stamps. Here are my conclusions:

20sen lilac: This is Scott # 17 from 1872. The first thing I noticed is the cancellation which is not the usual Japanese type. It looks more like a British Colonial cancel, or imitation of one. This is a similar design to the 20 sen rose stamp that EMaxim posted 2 days ago, and some of the same details apply. The double inner circle is wider on the right side. It almost touches the right tablet, but there is a distinct space between the double circle and the left tablet. The chrysanthemum does have 16 petals, but so do some of the forgeries. The chrysanthemum is too close to the top panel. The Japanese characters in the two side panels do not match each other well. The top and bottom panels are not symmetrical ~the curves in corners vary greatly in size. The alternating fine and thick lines in the tops and bottoms of the side panels are poorly drawn. So, yes, this is a forgery.

4 sen rose: This is either Scott #14 or #24. #24 is on Foreign wove paper. # 14 is on either laid or native wove paper. The laid paper is slightly more common. According to Serrane, on the most common forgeries: "(a) the two extremities of the branches are unbroken; (b)the center of the left corner designs is shifted to the right; (c)the chrysanthemum is not round and two opposite petals are half as wide as the others." Your stamp does not match the description of the most common forgeries very well, but that does not necessarily mean that it is genuine. Some of the designs are not symmetrical from left to right side, like the scrolls at the tops and bottoms of the side panels. I suspect it is a forgery, but I suggest checking whether this stamp is engraved or lithographed. See my explanation of this to EMaxim. If it is lithographed: definite forgery. If it is engraved: genuine.

1/2 sen brown: Scott # 9. The Serrane guide does not seem to describe forgeries of this stamp specifically, but of the overall set it says: examine the paper and the type of printing (engraved /lithographed), and also: "examine the design which was executed for the originals by excellent designers and engravers; thus, it should have clear-cut symmetrical features without smudges or undesigned lines." Your copy seems quite crudely drawn, with many inconsistencies. There are 16 petals in the chrysanthemum, but they are not of uniform size. My opinion is that this one is a forgery.

30 sen gray: Scott # 18. Serrane says of the forgeries: "the lower inner frame under the value is touching the Greek ornament, especially on the right, and the two "3" figures are touching the tablet's lower edge. In this forgery and in another that is better executed, the Greek ornaments (of the border) are very uneven." Your stamp seems to match the description of one of the forgeries very well. I would say that this last one is a forgery as well.

I know you expected all of these to be forgeries, but now you know some of the details to look at to determine their status.

I hope this is a help to you. The Serrane Guide is a wonderful resource but I wish there were more pictures showing details instead of just descriptive text.

~Glenn

[Edited} After looking at your 4 sen stamp a little more, I believe that it is genuine. The way that the black ink of the cancellation sits on the lower left corner flower and the right side frame line, accentuating the lines of the design, makes me believe that this stamp is engraved (slightly raised lines of ink). Engraving was, and still is, a very time-consuming and highly skilled process. Therefore it was expensive. I do not believe that any of the Japanese forgeries were printed by engraving, and very very few forgeries from anywhere in the world are made from forged engraved plates.

The stamps with fake postmarks which don't even go to the edge of the stamps, or where there is not even any actual stamp ink beneath them (!), must not have been intended as forgeries. They're very obvious. Maybe we should put them in the category of "play money". I'd imagine they weren't intended to look exactly like real stamps (to cheat someone), but intended to look somewhat like Japanese stamps for some other innocent purpose.

Maybe they were intended for sale to tourists perhaps on the well-known "tourist sheets" as has been mentioned. Or for inclusion in other types of souvenirs. Or maybe even for inclusion in some sort of game or toy where stamps might have been a feature. These can't have been intended to be stamp forgeries for postal use since they're too obvious and you'd get in serious trouble for doing that (!). If you're going to forge or copy a stamp for those purposes, you'd at least make the cancellations look as real as possible

It would be useful to find out exactly what they were created for. Were they part of some game like play money? Or were they sold simply as "stamp-like" souvenirs? Who made them? I have no idea but would like to know. We've all seen various kinds of fake money not sold to be forgeries. Maybe these were similar.

The Japanese stamps that really confuse collectors are those which were created to be actual forgeries, not the ones marked "San-ko" so much or the clearly "play money" stamps. These more careful forgeries require careful study to note incorrect elements, inaccurate marks, and other oddities not seen on real stamps. At times it almost seems as if a majority of early Japanese stamps in collections and still being sold might be forgeries or copies. I see so many forged or copied early Japanese stamps I've almost given up expecting any of them to be real!

I've looked at the very interesting koban blog linked by bicolor1875. It's impressive and quite interesting to look at. But I was often confused by what was written about the stamps shown that I couldn't always follow it - despite all the obvious work that's gone into it. There are references to terms I have never heard before. Maybe it's my own ignorance, and I should know these terms (although I've collected Japanese stamps for 50 years and belong to ISJP). I don't mean to criticize what is otherwise an impressive blog, though. I can see it's taken a lot of work, and thanks for doing it. The images are excellent. The ISJP journal has always been a masterpiece of good, clear writing even when explaining difficult points so I use that as an ideal.

I wonder is that journal, "Japanese Philately," has any online discussions of Japanese forgeries we could make use of? Although I'm interested in early Swiss forgeries at the moment, so I also need help in that area.

These comments about which stamps are real and which aren't are very helpful. Glenn's detailed comments are really impressive. I've copied them along with the images just for my own reference.

I thought I clearly said those Kobans were WADA forgeries .Let me try that again and get my collection .

A few of my 24 pages on Koban forgeries ....

Thanks Floortrader!

It is really cool to see the Kobans in full sheets! Are the English cancellations always "NAGASAKI" or "JOKOHAMA"?

EMaxim:

Hi Erik, You were right about the Scott number for the 2 sen yellow. It is #54 not #13. Sometimes those little color pictures in the catalog are not as clear as I would like. The black and white images in the older Scott's catalogs were more effective for identifying details. I guess I'm showing my age here.

I bought my copy of The Serrane Guide about 20 years ago from APS not too long after they translated and reprinted the original 1927 volume. I am glad I got it then, used copies are ridiculously expensive now.

If your copy of #53 is indeed engraved, congratulations! It is a rare stamp. I do not believe there were any engraved forgeries made of this design. I would consider getting this one expertised.

~Glenn

[Edited] Apparently, according to Serrane, there was a set of "Official counterfeits" made of Japan's first issue, the dragon design, that were engraved. Those have two microscopic Japanese marks to identify them.

Very nice, Floortrader. Hats off!