Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
Do you know about these stamps? Please leave your answers below the questions. If you have a question you would like to ask then please use our Q&A form.
We received a question from a reader through our Facebook page. The question was: “Dear Korea Stamp Society, I have in my collection this military stationery letter that to my knowledge was sent from Korea to Japan by probably Japanese soldier. Could it be possibly for you to help me identify information written on this […]
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The Korea Stamp Society (KSS) regularly answers questions from both members and non-members about Korean philately, and one recent inquiry turned out to be a particularly enjoyable puzzle. A collector wrote to us about an airmail cover sent from the Republic of Korea to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which somehow ended up first […]
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Recently I purchased a cover that I am guessing is from the late 1950s based on the affixed stamp and a possible date of 4292.6.8, so 1959. Unfortunately, my copy of the Korean Postage Stamp Catalogue 2020/2021 does not illustrate commemorative postmarks past 1957. I don’t know if this has changed in later editions of […]
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An intriguing South Korean stationery postcard has recently emerged, raising questions about its authenticity and origin. The question at hand is whether the postcard is an official release by KoreaPost or if it has been privately modified.
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It’s intriguing to see Aldrich’s Auction 114 featuring a block of South Korea 94b, especially with Scott now listing new die varieties for this issue. The addition of 94b, 94c, and 94d raises questions about the source of this information and its accuracy in cataloging such distinctions.
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One of our members, Darrin Lettinga, received a message from Kenneth James Bryson from the ISJP, which read: “I have had an inquiry from a JP (Japanese Philately) reader about a marking on a cover that was sent within the US expeditionary force in Siberia in 1919. It has some Hangul on it, and I […]
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One of our readers sent us a question about a South Korean revenue stamp: “I have acquired an older Korean Revenue stamp. It has value of 20 Hwan on a banner in the lower right corner. The text on the banner in the left lower corner I have not been able to translate. The banner […]
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From one of our readers we received the following question: “Good day, When I travel to Seoul, I will bring with me some mint South Korean stamps on specially printed envelopes. Which post office in Seoul do you recommend so that I can get a courtesy cancellation on these stamps? (That means I will take […]
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Recently the author found on eBay what look like some type of color proofs which are unknown to him. They were put up for sale by a general seller/dealer of stamps and artwork. They are imperforate small blocks of paper printed with various color images similar in type to South Korea’s 1965 issues to commemorate […]
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One of our readers recently sent us this question: While cleaning out my attic, I came across a meticulously wrapped stamp box. I cannot identify the stamps since I don’t read Chinese characters. However, I could understand the part on the cover that says “November 18, 1884.” The red stamp has “5Mn” written at the […]
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Meter franking is not a very popular subject. Many collectors actively dislike these ink “stamps” because they have been replacing stamps for decades, making it more difficult to collect recent postal history with “real” stamps. But meter franks are official postage and they are valid philatelic items for exhibitions and such.
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From one of our readers we received the following question: I recently received a postcard from the Korea Postage Stamp Museum, which features an interesting design. On the front, it is a typical postcard, but what caught my attention is the back side, which prominently displays a penguin stamp from the year 2008. Could someone […]
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A Swiss collector has come across a piece from 1957, a registered airmail letter from Korea to the USA. This has sparked curiosity about the breakdown of the postal tariffs, including airmail and registration fees, during that era. What resources or references could possibly shed light on the Korean postal tariffs used at the time?
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An item shown here has a color oddity. How can it be explained? Here is the background:
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James E. Rogers is listed in several KSS member lists, starting in the 1956 listing with membership number #91. At that time he was listed as part of “GCA Unit, # 23 N A F Navy # 510” with his address listed as “FPO New York NY”. The listing shows James Rogers as a contemporary […]
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I have a Christmas postcard from a Korean Presbyterian pastor to one of his former teachers sent on December 1, 1947 from South Korea to the USA. I would like to know what the hand-stamp was used for, of a shield, with what looks like the letters C and P inside a circle inside the […]
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Recently the Korea Stamp Society (KSS) received a question from the President of the Stamp on Stamp Collectors Club (SSCC), Lou Guadagno, about a presentation sheet that one of their members had obtained. The SSCC, like the KSS, is an affiliate of the American Philatelic Society, and was founded in 1954, only two years after […]
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During a 2022 stamp auction a cover showed up with a strange seal on the back of it. The cover was posted in North Korea in 1955, sent to what was at the time Czechoslovakia. The sender was probably a member of the NNSC or “Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission”, the committee which was supposed to […]
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The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) issued its first set of stamps on September 19, 1948 commemorating the establishment of the DPRK on September 9, 1948, Scott 14-15. The Scott numbers for North Korea 1 -13 are for used for the Soviet occupation era. Since those stamps were issued, North Korea has issued stamps […]
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Some of the types of souvenir sheets of North Korea issued in 1976 are confusing to me when trying to identify them. There may have already been articles on this topic that I have not seen, but I hope that some of our Korea Stamp Society members can answer some of my questions. One example […]
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