Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
A KSS member asks about North Korean revenue stamps: what do we know about these? “A small number of stamps, many duplicates. I do not specifically collect such stamps, but sometimes buy them. Are these stamps all North Korean? I read that there is a catalog of Korean (or North Korean) revenue stamps, but I […]
Continue Reading
Most stamp dealers have a specialization, some field of (philatelic) interest which make them stand apart from other dealers. But there are few stamp dealers like Willem van der Bijl, whose small shop in the historic city center of Utrecht in the Netherlands belies the importance of his collection of North Korean materials, both philatelic […]
Continue Reading
Most stamp dealers have a specialization, some field of (philatelic) interest which make them stand apart from other dealers. But there are few stamp dealers like Willem van der Bijl, whose small shop in the historic city center of Utrecht in the Netherlands belies the importance of his collection of North Korean materials, both philatelic […]
Continue Reading
(Editor) Willem van der Bijl is one of the world’s foremost dealers of North Korean philatelic materials. In his collection are many unique items, which, until he managed to acquire them, were unknown to the philatelic world. However, given the unique economic situation in North Korea he also managed to accidentally create a completely new […]
Continue Reading
(Editor: a recent question by Chen Yi-Fu led to quite a few answers being given in the comments section. The original article/question can be found here.) This small article is trying to answer some comments about the authenticity of KSC #5 (Sc #11) Secondary anniversary of the labour law.
Continue Reading
Is this card and the cancellations on it real or fake? I’m not sure if I’m qualified enough to certify this card, but as a serious DPRK collector I think this card has a 95-99% possibility to be fake. In fact, in my personal opinion, this card is totally fake: the card itself is fake, […]
Continue Reading
The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPV) had entered North Korea in October 1950, in response to the perceived threat to the year-old People’s Republic of China from the rapidly-advancing UN forces during the fifth month of the Korean War. The swift advances made by the (North) Korean People’s Army after they crossed the 38th Parallel […]
Continue Reading
The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPV) had entered North Korea in October 1950, in response to the perceived threat to the year-old People’s Republic of China from the rapidly-advancing UN forces during the fifth month of the Korean War. The swift advances made by the (North) Korean People’s Army after they crossed the 38th Parallel […]
Continue Reading
For anyone studying Korean postage stamps and postal stationery, understanding the structure of the Korean language and the Korean alphabet will enrich the understanding of any material which you have. The Korean language is highly structured and regular. Some sixty percent of its vocabulary derives from written Chinese (called in Korean Hanja 漢字).
Continue Reading
The official (state) postal organization of North Korea, the Korea Stamp Corporation, has published the themes and dates for the 2020 stamp releases of the DPRK. The January and February releases on the list are already known of course, but many other themes were shown for the first time with the release of the list.
Continue Reading
It is interesting to study geography through postal history. Recently I acquired this postcard. I noticed it because the sender’s address was written as “KyongSong”, the old name of Seoul during the Japanese colonial era. So at the first glance it seems this was a card sent from the South to the North.
Continue Reading
For the International Youth Stamps Collectors’ Exhibition Europhila 2010 on October 2-3, 2010 in Stockholm, the KSC agreed to issue a special overprinted exhibition sheetlet as well as one overprinted postcard and one overprinted entire. Organizer of the Europhila Expo was the Swedish Stamp Youth, the Stockholm district, SFU. 25 children and youth from Belgium, […]
Continue Reading
(Note: this article is a follow-up to the article from Lloyd Heath republished in December 2019.) I am happy to be able to provide an illustration (Fig. 1), and some observations, of this extremely special item of post-war Korean postal history. The sender’s address on this cover (using the Northern Korean transliteration of place names) […]
Continue Reading
In 1946 while I was in Seoul I picked up a cover that I prize highly because of its unusualness. This cover was brought to me by one of the Korean examiners in the Censorship Office. His reason for showing it to me was that the cover was franked with stamps of both the North […]
Continue Reading
(Originally published in Korean Philately Vol LIII No. 3 (August 2008)) I went back to the Seoul Stamp Co. booth to see what I could find out about the North Korean stamps that they had on display. I found out that the 80% that I understood yesterday to be the price was actually the discount. […]
Continue Reading
(Originally published in KP Vol. XLV No. 4 November 1999) I have just finished a casual comparison (I say casual because I did not use a perforation gauge or measuring ruler) of the North Korean train issue of 1976, Michel numbers 1555-1561 and Block 32. The DPRK, Catalogue numbers are 1529-1534 (set), 1535 (s/s), and […]
Continue Reading
This set of four stamps, listed in the “Korean Stamp Catalogue” (the North Korean catalogue), sometimes shows up on English (Ebay, Delcampe) and Korean (Kobay, Narauction) language auction websites. What is noticeable about this small set is how the set is listed for relatively high prices.
Continue Reading
Whether its intentional or simply a mistake, there are is no shortage of varieties of North Korean stamps. Stamp varieties make collecting fun and they are a big part of our hobby. The varieties you look for depend on your preferences as a collector. Errors during printing are among the most highly desired stamp varieties.
Continue Reading
As a member of the US Army Liaison Team accredited to the Soviet Army in North Korea, I made a number of trips between Seoul and Pyengyang by train. Usually I would buy North Korean stamps at the main Post Office in Pyengyang, manned by a few unenthusiastic Korean clerks. Sometimes I would put some […]
Continue Reading
In August 2016, I contacted my then contact person in Korea Stamp Corporation, the North Korean state stamp agency, KSC, Moscow branch. I knew him since the Nordia 2005 Stamp Expo in Gothenburg. We had already co-operated 4 times before, in 2008, 2010 and 2015, in issuing special North Korean stamps.
Continue Reading