In Spink’s auction of 12 January 2020 a rather strange item showed up. No, the type of item is not strange, stamp essays are quite commonly available. Actually, one might even say some essays are too common, just have a look at Willem van der Bijl’s article on the subject of North Korean “artworks” in KP Vol. 57 No. 1 (Q1 2021). But in this particular case it shows a stamp essay of the very first stamp of Korea, the 1884 5 mun stamp. This stamp (and the other stamp issued at the same time, the 10 mun stamp) had a rather “difficult” history and there are still quite a lot of questions about this very first issue.
Therefore when a very special item like this shows up, questions are being asked. Member Florian Eichhorn already stated he had seen a similar item: “In a 1980s auction was a similar one, but not showing the Yin-Yang, the “5” and the “Mn”.” Unfortunately I can not find my reference now.” So now we have TWO essays…? Of course, technically this is possible, stamp designs go through stages. The Holcombes item could have been an earlier stage, and the item from the Spink auction could have been the final stage of the same design process. Hal Klein in a later article stated that this item first appeared on Delcampe in 2015. Who knows?
To give the option to compare the essay with the stamp as issued, here is a scan of the 5 mun stamp from 1884:
Here is the information Spink included in the 2020 catalogue:
A rare and highly important item of this ill-fated first issue. No otther essays of ths issue have been recorded. Photo
Essays which were accepted for the issued stamps were usually retained by the printers. However, it was not unusual for unaccepted designs to be returned to the designer; in this case, Saito Chuzo. The seal below the design is not his and is probably a collector’s mark. This essay was found in the collection of a Spanish missionary who spent some time in Korea and in China, where he remained until the 1930’s. He died in the 1950’s and this has remained with the family since then.
So, who knows more about this particular design? And does anybody have a good photo/scan of the Holcombe item? Please leave your comments below if you have any information for us on these fascinating items.
