Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
On Kobay, the Korean version of Ebay, mission history-related philatelic items are often available. Here is one of many of these items – a postcard sent within Great Britain from Grimsby to Skidbrooke on 19 February 1913. Both of these places are coastal towns in north east Lincolnshire. Grimsby is a major fishing port, whereas […]
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I had the unique opportunity to review prior to its publication the article by Dr. Joel Lee. It is not only a beautiful cover. This Empire Korea cover is a striking example of the postal history of Korea and it is a cover of extreme importance. To the casual observer, not familiar with Empire Korea […]
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Some of the rarest examples of postal history of Empire Korea, combining the images of early 20th century Korea on hand-tinted postal cards and a cover demonstrating all the stamps available at the Chemulpo, Korea post office on a single day are that of a correspondence addressed to Mrs. Charlotte K. Ober, University of Washington, […]
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Recently, in going over my Korean inflationary issues and presentation sheets, I was struck by a cancellation that is almost too perfect for a routine postal strike: neat, clean, sharp and almost printed-looking. Reviewing KOREAN PHILATELY, I found I am not alone in my suspicion – but its status is still indeterminate.
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The Gab-sin coup d’etat (甲申政變; 갑신정변) of 4 December 1884 (Lunar calendar 10. 17.), attempted by the reformers at the opening ceremony of the post office, failed. All main figures were killed including Mr. Young-Sik Hong whose constant efforts had led to the issuing of a Royal decree to establish the Department of Post Office […]
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Because of the extreme emphasis of Koreans on education there are, even today in times of digital communications, a lot of stationery shops in Korea. These shops sell hundreds and sometimes even thousands of different products, one of them being whole series of sticker stamps. These stickers look like stamps because of their “perforation” and […]
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Yes, Mr. Zip has come to Korea. After starting out in 1959 in Great Britain, according to an announcement of the Korean Philatelic Center, he began working in Korea on July 1, 1970. Postal reform has been recognized as a need by many countries, a reform which is concerned primarily with reducing costs and improving […]
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In a recent series of reprinted articles several covers with Korean (Busan) paquebot cancellations from the 1950s were shown. One cover was referenced in an article by Talbert Fowler from 1954. This cover apparently came with a strange paquebot marking. The cover showed up recently in an inheritance sale of Korean paquebot covers from a […]
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As I write these words (in 1956), Lt. Lee Chang Sung is leaving our shores for his native Korea after four months or so in our country, first at Great Lakes Ills., and the most of 8 weeks at San Diego. He has been a great help to us these past three months. Translating, explaining […]
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One of the interesting subtopics for a collection of Korean War covers is that of “Hubba-Hubba” covers. These have hand-struck cachets from rubber stamps and usually, but not always, have “HUBBA-HUBBA” somewhere in the design. Covers with these markings represent a form of “patriotic envelope” which has derived from the elaborate, printed envelopes of the […]
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Does anybody know more about the history of Travelling Post Offices (우편열차) in Korea? What I have found so far comes from two pictures showing two boards from the Stamp Museum in Cheonan (not Seoul) from an exhibit on TPO’s in Korea. This board lists for instance that the first mail transported by train […]
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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.
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In the summer of 1964 I received the following letter from a French gentleman: “Enclosed is $3000.00 plus in Korea No. l’s and 2’s in singles, pairs and combinations. All stamps are tied on piece and with the exception of one or two stamps the condition is very fine or superb. As I do not […]
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Fishing has long been important in the Korean and Japanese economies. While coastal fishing was the major source for marine foods in the past, beginning with the first “Five Year Plan” in 1962 Korea has increased its harvest of deep-sea fish by more than twenty-fold.
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The special registration envelope and stamp illustrated here are used to mail currency and valuables within Korea only. The white envelope, 5″ x 9″ has an inner envelope made of paper of the same type used to cover doors and windows. Money, bonds, jewelry, and other valuables can be mailed in this. Money is not […]
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On August 8, 1983, Forrest W. Calkins wrote the following letter to Frank Allard (only an excerpt is included), along with the enclosure referenced in the paragraph: “Over the weekend I did some digging to find some of the ROK covers that I did design, and was lucky to locate one of the UN stamps. […]
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A series of covers, recently offered for sale on Ebay, show another interesting piece of Korean missionary history. The Christian Literature Society of Korea (대한 기독교 서회) was and is a major publisher and bookseller in Korea, and dates back to the earliest years of Protestant Christian missions. It is an ecumenical organisation as is […]
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Normally mint stamps are worth more than used stamps. One notable exception to this philatelic rule is the often faked cancellations of Korea’s first two stamps issued in 1884, the 5 and 10 mun values. As these two stamps were used for just a few days because of a riot/revolution that burned down the Korean […]
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This is the final installment of a series of articles which started with a text from Talbert B. Fowler from August 1954 as Part I and some background information to an activity started by Milbury named the Sea-Jug Post as Part II. In this part we look at Busan during the Korean War and learn […]
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June 1970 saw the establishment of “zip” numbers in Korea. The provinces are divided up into postal areas as can be seen by the map. Seoul and Kyong-Gi Province have postal numbers from 100 to 180. Kang-Won Province uses numbers from 200 to 250, The two Chung-Chong Provinces use 300 to 390. The Chollas and […]
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