Quick Japan Question...

Just received these in a lot of Japanese (and one Ryukyu that I didn't have!).

Question is this: can anyone tell me what the B stands for in B18, B19, B20 and what is the story with the denomination (5+5) ?

thanks!

Sounds like a semi-postal. The +5 is a voluntary contribution to the event.

But you do have to actually pay the +5y in order to get the stamp.

The B is simply the prefix that Scott uses for that type of stamp (i.e., semipostals). It is not actually an exact abbreviation for anything.

It's a pretty set, that comes in groups of 3's.

Dave (aka philatarium) has the S/S's that were issued along with each grouping.

k

Yes these are semi-postals the issue was to raise money for the 1964 Olympics.

beat me by 1 minute Kim

Maybe, Harry, but you have the cooler avatar!

Thanks all.

I enjoy Olympic stamps.

I'm trying to collect Ryukyus and there was one mixed in with all the Japanese (bonus!).

The rest of the stamps in the lot are really interesting too (for a novice like me!):
especially the birds -- 788 to 792a (anyone know why there is a 792 Bush Warbler and a 792a Siberian Meadow Bunting?)

Will get more images posted soon.

All in all, I am having a great day off work...

The set was issued over a period of time. When the first stamps came out and catalog numbers were assigned, the editors were aware that there would be future issues and reserved a total of 5 Scott catalog numbers for the set. Turns out the Japanese issued 6 stamps in that set, hence #792A. Note the "A" not "a", indicating it is a major Scott catalog number and not a minor variety.

k