In an earlier article on finding certain issues of Korea, it was mentioned that this author has been searching for a Korea 1956 Scott 212E on horizontal laid paper for many years. See Figure 1 for an example of 212E on vertical paper. The Scott catalogue makes a note under 212D-F, that all three exist on horizontal paper.
Mostly likely the majority of Korean collectors do not distinguish between the vertically laid paper and horizontally laid paper varieties. When looking at the backs of the laid paper one can see faint black lines that go either in a vertical or horizontal direction. See Figures 2 and 3 for examples of Scott 235 and 236 on both horizontal and vertical laid paper. Some of the commemorative issues such as The Rhee Monument, Scott 226 were also printed on both horizontal and vertical laid paper. See Figure 4.
Robert Jones wrote an excellent article for the Korean Philatelic in May, 1973 Vol XXIII, No. 2 about the laid paper printing process and which individual issues had the vertical and horizontal printing. It is well worth reading the article (see figure 5 at the end of this text).
According to a KoreaPost/K-stamp blog posting some of the stamps from this series are the most expensive (South) Korean stamps. Here they are:
But why are they so expensive, what makes this block of four so special?
Hi Ivo, this series is on the most confusing off all the Korean stamps for collectors. They come in different types of paper and watermarks, plus different printings. They get mixed up on eBay all the time. This block is Scott 211. It was issued on Feb 10, on wmk. 257 paper. It is very hard to find and catalogues for $1500 mint never hinged. Only a few were issued. It would be another good subject for an article.
p.s. I think they have the date wrong on the cover. It say October 19, 1955. Actually, if it that one, I don’t understand how it could be worth much. The one issued on that date is on Un-watermarked, laid paper (both horizontally and vertically) and the catalog number (Scott) is 212B and is valued at only $2.75. So, maybe there is something special about it, I don’t know. The horizontal laid are harder to find, but I have one, so we have to see what the blog actually says. Can you send the link to me from the blog.
It seems to me they confused the (KPSC) R84 (Scott 212B) with the R81 (Scott 211). The R81, which is the expensive stamp, was issued on 10 February 1955, while the very cheap R84 was issued on 19 October 1955.
Had to look for it again, the link was not easy to find. But the image came from this post from the K-stamp Facebook page:
The post was about an exhibition in the (Korean) Stamp Museum in 2018.
Here is another image from the same post:
Direct link to the post on the K-stamp page.