Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
In the article I wrote on the Korean 1952 TB/Christmas seal, I briefly discussed Dr. Moon’s autobiography, “A Fly Stuck to the Tail of Chollima”. As noted in the article, the Chollima is a mythical winged horse originally from Chinese classic literature and is seen across East-Asian literature.
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On Ebay I noticed a seller was asking $2250 for a 1953 South Korean postal card (see Figures 1-2). I did not understand why it was so rare and want to put the question to the readers of the Korea Stamp Society website if anyone knows why it is so rare?
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In addition to the early editions souvenir books, different types of souvenir books were issued up until 1938 by the Japanese government and later by the South Korean government. Kerr has the only list of these souvenir books that is known in English and it goes through 1961. On Page 71-2 of his book, he […]
Continue Reading The Scott catalogue states that most of the high value Scott numbers 52-54 reprints, the 50 ch, 1 won, and 2 won, with thin, semi-transparent paper, perforation 12 ½, that are in collectors’ collections and on the market today, come from the early souvenir books. Scott values 52-4 at $400, $600, and $875, respectively; but […]
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This is the story of the rarest issued Korean tuberculosis (TB)/Christmas and New Year seal: the 1952 issue. One might believe that the rarest and most valuable Korean TB/Christmas and New Year seal is probably one of the series of seals that Dr. Sherwood Hall began to issue in 1932. However, discounting the unissued seal […]
Continue Reading By writing this article, this author is hoping that it will create interest and more information will be forthcoming from other readers of the Korea Stamp Society (KSS) website. The subject is known by different names. Very little literature has been published, at least in English, about, what Jim Kerr called, in his “Korean Kingdom […]
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Another Korean issue that confuses collectors and dealer alike is the 1948 issue that pictures the Cheomseongdae Observatory, (Hangul: 첨성대) in Gyeongju, South Korea. The tower is said to be the oldest astronomical observatory in Asia, and maybe in the world, according to Wikipedia. It was built during the reign of Queen Seondeock of Silla, […]
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There was recently an exciting find by a reader of the Korea Stamp Society’s (KSS) webpage. Mr. Edwin Burgoyne, who has been researching information on old covers that were part of his wife’s (Alison) missionary family’s collection, read the articles about Dr. Sherwood Hall’s TB/Christmas and New Year’s seals. He especially noticed the article about […]
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I was looking for Plum Blossom stamps on cover on eBay for an article that is being written for the American Philatelic Society’s magazine, when I noticed one of the blue 6 ch in a short set that did not look quite right. This 6 ch was light blue, and casually looking at the image, […]
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(Including the mystery of which 1 won Bee design is the rarest one?) It is important to note that Mr. La’s design for the Children’s Savings stamp issue was used again from 1962-4. This is another series of the stamps that can be confusing to collectors because of the type of different paper used in […]
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(Reader’s question) I have a question for readers of the KSS website. Many, if not most, of the 1960’s souvenir sheets from South Korea have gum creases or folds that are especially prominent on the gum side of the sheets. With scans, you can see some of the folds on the face of the souvenir […]
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In the article of December 28, 2018, on the KSS website discussing the 1936 Korean Christmas and New Year seal, there was also information given about “The Fifth Year Souvenir Sheet”. These souvenir sheets were used by Dr. Hall’s Christmas seal committee to promote the sale of the seals. It was noted that there were […]
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One of the most confusing Korean issues for collectors to identify is the 1955-58 series that show the industrial reconstruction of South Korea after the Korean War. The reason that there is confusion about these issues is that there were four different types of paper and two slightly different images used in producing the series, […]
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One area of the collecting of Korean stamps that fascinates me is the various errors of Korean stamps. I am wondering if there are many collectors of these Korean errors, and whether it would be useful to establish a discussion group for these errors on the KSS website, or should we just publish articles on […]
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For many years I have been using Palo Album pages for my Korean stamp collection. They are based in the USA and have very high quality pages, albums and album slip covers. The pages are five holes punched for their album binders. The pages are about 11 x 12 inches long. They have excellent standard […]
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I had just written about the very strong market for the rare Korean Christmas and TB seal on August 4, 2019 with two 1953 sheets selling for around $2000 each on eBay. Now a pair of the very rare unissued Dr. Hall 1940 seal has just sold for US$2600. One of the pair was damaged […]
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As some readers of the KSS website know, I have not been interested in most North Korean (DPR) stamp issues. However, the peace talks between South Korea and North Korea, and the even more recent nuclear talks between North Korea and the USA, have caused some worldwide interest in philatelic material commemorating these talks. I […]
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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 […]
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What surprises many stamps collectors who do not collect Korean stamps is the strong demand and high prices for the early Korean Dr. Hall (1932-1940) and post WWII late 1940’s to early 1950’s Tuberculosis (TB)/Christmas and New Year seals. Because of the Korean problem with TB and Dr. Sherwood Hall’s program to issue these seals […]
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Dr. Sherwood Hall, the creator of the Korean tuberculosis Christmas and New Year seals, was an avid stamp collector. His hobby of collecting of stamps, besides his knowledge of how the seals successfully raised money in other countries to fight tuberculosis, probably contributed to his original idea to promote the seals in Korea to fight […]
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