Dr. Hall’s 1934 Korean Methodist Seal

Seals

There is an unusual Korean seal that occasionally shows up in Korean collections and on eBay, which sometimes confuses collectors. This seal was actually designed by Dr. Sherwood Hall and is sought out by some collectors of Dr. Hall’s Korean Christmas seals. It was issued for the “50th Anniversary of Korean Methodism” in 1934, shortly after Dr. Hall started his Korean Christmas and New Year seal program to help fight tuberculosis. See Figure 1 for an example of a partial sheet of these seals.

In the Korean Philately (KP), August, 1999 Vol. 45, No. 3, William M. Collyer wrote an article about this seal. Mr. Collyer wrote the article in response to a question in the KP in November 1998, Vol. 44, No. 4 on page 22. Mr. Collyer notes that seal shows a map of Korea with a man holding a hammer, and depicting churches, schools, and hospitals being built in Korea. A Latin cross and an open book (probably the Bible) are also on the seal. What looks like mountains on the map of Korea, are the location of churches, hospitals and Christian schools. There is also the wording “Korea for Christ 1884 -1944” on the seal. There is script on the right side that translates as “KANRI (Methodist) KYOKAI (Church) GOJYU (50) SHUNEN (Anniversary) KINEN (Commemorative).”

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1 thought on “Dr. Hall’s 1934 Korean Methodist Seal

  1. Thanks for an amazing in-depth treatment of this seal. Which I have never seen before. So this map-of-Korea label should be scarce. Other Hall-Korea-TBC seals, loose or on cover, occasionally are seen in stocks of korean/japanese stamps or covers.

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