As an example of a postal rate that is difficult to explain, this April 1950 cover should come as no surprise to collectors of North Korean postal history. What makes it special, is the rate, 20 won. This is the highest pre-Korean War franking that I have recorded in nearly 20 years of specialising in this area.
Dated 29 April 1950, this item was in a batch of banking covers addressed from Pyongyang Central to a branch in Nampo. It has been prepaid with three 1949 6 won ‘National Flag’ issue (introduced as a single value to prepay the single rate for domestic registered letters – 1 won postage plus 5 won registration fee), together with a pair of the exceedingly rare typographed 1 won brown orange ‘Order of the National Flag’ definitives, which were first issued at the beginning of the month in which this cover was posted.
This is a unique cover. The typographed brown orange order is one of the rarest and most sought-after Korean stamps among most philatelists. The Cover featuring such a stamp is an even greater rarity. We all know that many North Korean stamps are undervalued today. The reason? There are many reasons…
Twenty years ago I bought a cover with one such typographed stamp for $1,000. I was very happy because covers like this are simply not available for sale. And here we see two stamps on the cover! A masterpiece. Does anyone know Korean? Perhaps we can guess what was inside this envelope (!?).
Hi Tony,
Have you received my messages two days ago to your email address?
May be these emails in SPAM… Thanks, Alex
Hi Alexander
Thanks for your comment and follow up emails, which arrived safely.
I’m thinking the possibility of AR. On the back of the cover there is a No. 208, which might be another registration number.