ISJP CD-ROM Monograph 1 - 2^nd Edition, 2002
Forgeries of the Dragon,
Cherry Blossom and Koban Stamps

X:\CB2123\PL22.HTM and
X:\CB2123\P22S2_5.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

The CD-ROM reflected research over the last few years that a separate plate was used to apply the sankō or mozō in some of the early, and more scarce, states of Wada's plates. Since then it has been discovered that one such plate was used to apply the sankō in State II of the 6 sen Cherry Blossom Plate 22. This is evident from the comparison in the attached scan of the placement of the kō in two examples of position 5 (4), and also supported by the deeper and different color of the sankō compared with the rest of the design.

X:\CB2123\PLT22S2.HTM and
X:\CB2123\P22S2_1.HTM

Posted 2005.7.20

An image of Wada Cherry Blossom 6 sen orange Plate 22, State II, position 1 (6) is now available (note also for this position that the left part of the chrysanthemum crest was removed from the plate at the same time that the sanko in State I was removed. The crest design was later retouched in State III).

X:\CB3335\PL33.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

A 'mystery' state of Wada 15 sen Cherry Blossom Plate 33 has been discovered by George A. Fisher Jr (ISJP 193). This is similar to Wada's Plate 29 'mystery' state (refer X:\CB2630\P29S3_4A.HTM). In this Plate 33 case there is evidence that a mozō was etched in all six positions and then scratched from the printing plate at some time between States III and IV. However, as no copy with this mozō has been found, it is not possible to tell whether any sheets were ever printed of this state. The remains of the mozō are most evident on position 4 and can be seen to the left of the leaves on the attached scan of a copy from State IV.

X:\CB3335\PL33.HTM

Posted 2005.3.9

A spectacular and unique complete sheet of Wada 15 sen Cherry Blossom Plate 33, State I has recently been discovered, enabling the absolute positions in Plate 33 to be determined. This discovery was described in the June Posted 2005 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.60. pp 59,90). The absolute positions of the plate (with the old numbers in brackets) are:
Position 1(4) 2(2) 3(6) 4(1) 5(3) 6(5)

X:\CB4146\PL45.HTM and
X:\CB4146\PLATE45.HTM and
X:\CB4146\PLT45S2.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

The CD-ROM reversed the first two states of Wada 5 sen Cherry Blossom Plate 45 as they had been defined in ISJP Monograph 6. This decision was made on my (to vindicate my two co-authors) analysis of plate wear. Larry Lewendon (ISJP 4792) has now determined incontrovertibly that the original order was correct based on evidence of plate redesign. He has discovered that when the sankō in State I (CD-ROM State II) was removed from the central inscription at the top of the band to produce State II (CD-ROM State I), that the remaining characters were re-etched. This re-etching then lasted for the remaining life of the plate. The change can be seen in the comparison of position 4 from States I, II and III in the attached scan, in particular by comparing the placement of the characters in relation to the radials in the crest below.

X:\CB4146\PL45.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

A new state of Wada 5 sen Cherry Blossom Plate 45 has been discovered. This state is without sankō or mozō, but has the re-etched characters described in the previous entry above. It can be placed in sequential order between State I (CD-ROM State II) and State III, but most probably preceded State II (CD-ROM State I).

X:\DRA48\48MPLA.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

Since the release of the 2^nd edition of the CD-ROM, Endō Hideo (ISJP 5417) has determined the absolute positions of the six different design types in Wada's 48 mon and 1/2 sen dragon A Plate, through identifying that the same third plate was used to print the sankō in the "low sankō" state for all 8 dragon denominations. This discovery was described in the February 2003 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.58, pp 4-5). The absolute positions of the plate (with the old numbers in brackets) are:
Position 1(1) 2(5) 3(2) 4(6) 5(4) 6(3)

X:\DRA48\A12S1.HTM and
X:\DRA48\A12S1_3.HTM

Posted 2005.10.15

An image of Wada Dragon 1/2 sen, Plate A, state I, position 3 is now available. [N.B. The absolute position of this stamp in the plate has now been determined to be position 6, as described above.]

X:\DRA100\100MPLA.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

Since the release of the 2^nd edition of the CD-ROM, Endō Hideo (ISJP 5417) has determined the absolute positions of the six different design types in Wada's 100 mon and 1 sen dragon A Plate, through identifying that the same third plate was used to print the sankō in the "low sankō" state for all 8 dragon denominations. This discovery was described in the February 2003 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.58, pp 4-5). The absolute positions of the plate (with the old numbers in brackets) are:
Position 1(5) 2(3) 3(2) 4(4) 5(1) 6(6)

X:\DRA100\A1S1.HTM and
D\:DRA100\A1S1_5.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An image of Wada 1 sen Dragon, Plate A, state I is now available. This copy (position 5) from this very rare state was described in the August 2002 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.57. pp 97,99). [N.B., The absolute position of this stamp has now been determined to be position 1, as described above].

X:\DRA100\A1S1.HTM and
D\:DRA100\A1S1_1.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

Since the discovery of a copy of position 5 from Wada 1 sen Dragon, Plate A, state I (described above), a copy of position 1 from this state has also been discovered. Although the sankō characters on this example can be clearly seen under the fake cancellation on either side of the bottom character in the central inscription, the remnants of either the sankō (State II) or mozō (state III) can also be clearly seen above the central inscription.

This discovery obviously casts doubts on the existing theory of the sequence of the the three states for the 1 sen, Plate A. It is difficult to draw positive conclusions from just this one example, but it seems highly probable that state II preceded state I, similar to the manner in which the 'high sankō' state preceded the 'low sankō' state in each of Wada's 1/2 sen and 5 sen Plate A dragons. [N.B. The absolute position of this stamp in the plate has now been determined to be position 5, as described above].

X:\DRA200\200MPLA.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

A new state of Wada 2 sen Dragon, Plate A has been discovered with large mozō above the central characters. I have not been able to examine this only known example (position 5) any closer than from the attached blurred scan, so it has not been possible to determine or even speculate where to place this new state in the plate's chronological state order.

X:\DRA500\500MPLA.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

Since the release of the 2^nd edition of the CD-ROM, Endō Hideo (ISJP 5417) has determined the absolute positions of the six different design types in Wada's 500 mon and 5 sen dragon A Plate, through identifying that the same third plate was used to print the sankō in the "low sankō" state for all 8 dragon denominations. This discovery was described in the February 2003 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.58, pp 4-5). The absolute positions of the plate (with the old numbers in brackets) are:
Position 1(1) 2(4) 3(3) 4(2) 5(6) 6(5)

X:\DRA500\A5S4.HTM

2006.1.28

An image of Wada Dragon 5 sen, Plate A, state IV, position 1 is now available. [N.B. The absolute position of this stamp in the plate has now been determined to be position 1, as described above.]

X:\HIROSE\HIROS_DR.HTM and
X:\HIROSE\A48.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

The introduction page (X:\HIROSE\HIROS_DR.HTM) to the Hirose Dragon forgeries mentions that they were printed in sheets of 48 (6 x 8). However to date, multiples of Hirose forgeries have been as elusive to find as those of Wada. Recently a joined vertical pair of the 48 mon Die A forgery was discovered.

X:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and
X:\HIROSE\04PB_2.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An additional Hirose Cherry Blossom has been found with a 'red ink sankō' overprint. It is the 4 sen value, Plate B, position 2.

X:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and
X:\HIROSE\ADIE.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

At the time of the publication of the CD-ROM, red sankō overprints had only been found on Cherry Blossom forgeries produced by Hirose. Recently, examples of these overprints were also discovered on three Hirose Dragon forgeries, comprised of this copy of a 48 mon Die A, as well as copies of the 200 mon Die A and 500 mon Die A (see below).

X:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and
X:\HIROSE\ADIE.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

As described above, a red sankō overprint has recently been found on this Hirose 200 mon Die A forgery.

X:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and
X:\HIROSE\ADIE.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

As described above, a red sankō overprint has recently been found on this Hirose 500 mon Die A forgery.

X:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and
X:\KAMIGATA\KAMI100T3.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

As well as the three Hirose Dragon forgeries described above, a more sensational find has been the discovery of a red sankō overprint on a Kamigataya 100 mon Type 3 forgery. There is no question that this forgery was produced by Maeda and published by Kamigataya, as copies have been seen on Kamigataya tourist sheets and its design characteristics are similar to other Maeda forgeries. However, the existence of a red sankō overprint on a forgery other than those produced by Hirose certainly raises some questions as to who applied these overprints, as well as when and for what purpose. Certainly the research by Endō Hideo on common cancellations applied to the early forgeries suggests that the relationship between the various forgers was closer than previously assumed.

X:\KAMIGATA\KAMI_CB.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An additional Kamigataya 1/2 sen Cherry Blossom has been discovered. The forgery has crossed branches only, no sankō or mozō, and also incorporates the Kihansen error. Whether this type also exists without the Kihansen error is yet to be discovered.

X:\KAMIGATA\KAMI_CB.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An additional Kamigataya 4 sen Cherry Blossom has been discovered. The forgery has syllabic (i) 1 and will be classified as Type 3. It appears with sankō characters on either side of the top two characters in the central inscription.

X:\KOL1522\FKL_PL17.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An image of Wada Koban 2 sen dark violet, Plate 17, cancel 5a is now available.

X:\KOL2329\KL23_1.HTM and
X:\KOL2329\WLKOB_23.HTM

Posted 2005.1.6

An image of Wada Koban 10 sen blue, Plate 23, cancel 1 is now available (note the short right vertical stroke of "N" in "TEN").

X:\MIHON\04_ALL.HTM and
X:\MIHON\04_3.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

A copy of the 4 sen Cherry Blossom, Type 3 forgery inscribed 'Mihon'has been discovered without dots in the four outer corners.

X:\POSTCARD\CARD?.HTM
(N.B., no relevant reference page)

Posted 2004.11.2

The CD-ROM pictures three post/trade cards under the category 'Picture Cards with Stamps'. It is important to include them in a reference on forgeries as in the past 'stamps' portrayed on them have been cut out and passed off as genuine. This card (which I have numbered No.4 in this category) was produced in 1921 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Postal Service. Although this card was detailed in the October 1958 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.13, p 201), and illustrated in the April 1989 edition (Vol. 44, p 51), reference to it was inadvertently omitted from the CD-ROM.

X:\POSTCARD\CARD2.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

This example of a 'Picture Card with Stamps' is obviously from the same producer of Card 2 on the CD-ROM, and I have numbered it 2a.

X:\POSTCARD\CARD?.HTM
(N.B., no relevant reference page)

Posted 2004.11.2

This example of a 'Picture Card with Stamps' has been numbered No.5. It is similar to the trade card listed as Card 3 on the CD-ROM, but Card 5 has no identifying inscriptions.

X:\POSTCARD\CARD?.HTM
(N.B., no relevant reference page)

Posted 2004.11.2

This example of a 'Picture Card with Stamps' (numbered Card 6) is a Peace Cigarettes commemorative wrapper produced by the Japan Tobacco (Cigarettes) and Salt Public Corp.(Monopoly Company) for the Century of the Postal Service in 1971. Although this wrapper was described and illustrated in the August 1983 edition of Japanese Philately (Vol.38, pp 172, 174), reference to it was inadvertently omitted from the CD-ROM.

X:\RAMSDEN\04.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

The Ramsden (X:\RAMSDEN\INTRORAM.HTM) introduction page mentions that these forgeries were printed in sheets of 108 (12 x 9), but without visual proof. The recent discovery of this 4 sen partial sheet, together with similar partial sheets of the 6 sen and 20 sen values (see below), clearly show the original dimensions of the complete sheets.

Posted 2004.11.2

As described above, a partial sheet of the the Ramsden 6 sen forgery has been discovered which clearly shows its original full sheet size of 108 (12 x 9).

X:\RAMSDEN\20.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

As described above, a partial sheet of the the Ramsden 20 sen forgery has been discovered which clearly shows its original full sheet size of 108 (12 x 9).

X:\UN4SW10\47_2.HTM and
X:\UN4SW10\UNKNOW04.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An image of a red copy of position 2 of the unknown 4 sen forgery with 'Incorrect SW Corner Ornament' is now available (only a green copy is pictured on the CD-ROM).

X:\UN4SW10\47_6.HTM and
X:\UN4SW10\UNKNOW04.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An image of a red copy of position 6 of the unknown 4 sen forgery with 'Incorrect SW Corner Ornament' is now available (only a green copy is pictured on the CD-ROM).

X:\UN4SW10\47_9.HTM and
X:\UN4SW10\UNKNOW04.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An image of a green copy of position 9 of the unknown 4 sen forgery with 'Incorrect SW Corner Ornament' is now available (only a black and white photocopy of unknown color is pictured on the CD-ROM).

X:\UN4SW10\47_10.HTM and
X:\UN4SW10\UNKNOW04.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An image of a green copy of position 10 of the unknown 4 sen forgery with 'Incorrect SW Corner Ornament'is now available (only a red copy is pictured on the CD-ROM).

X:\UNKNOWN\INVITE.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

The 'Invitation Card' forgeries have been found to have been originally incorporated in a trade card produced by 'Denison, the Jeweler, Westerly, Rhode Island, USA' probably in the late 19^th or early 20^th centuries. Until this discovery the only known copies of these forgeries were examples which had been cut from these trade cards. It is obvious from the known examples of the fake cancellations that a number of alternate designs must have been used, although from available evidence it would seem that these different cancellations were only applied to the same four stamp designs, the Japan 500 mon dragon and 20 sen Cherry Blossom, and the two early Chinese stamps.

Posted 2005.2.19

A very crude forgery of a 2 sen Cherry Blossom forgery has been discovered printed in blue, which is a bogus color for this denomination. This forgery is lithographed and is of unknown origin, although its common characteristics (color, shape of the chyrsanthemum crest, and traces of a printed perforation) to the 4 sen Cherry Blossom forgery listed below suggests that they may come from the same producer.

X:\UNKNOWN\UNKNOWN.HTM

Posted 2006.11.17

A new forgery of the yellow 2 sen Cherry Blossom with ribbon has been discovered. The forgery is quite skilful, and of unknown origin.

X:\UNKNOWN\UNKNOWN.HTM

Posted 2005.2.19

A very crude forgery of a 4 sen Cherry Blossom forgery has been discovered printed in blue, which is a bogus color for this denomination. This forgery is lithographed and is of unknown origin, although its common characteristics (color, shape of the chyrsanthemum crest, and traces of a printed perforation) to the 2 sen Cherry Blossom forgery listed above suggests that they may come from the same producer.

X:\UNKNOWN\UNKNOWN.HTM

Posted 2006.11.17

A forgery of the 6 sen Cherry Blossom with syllabic (ro) has been discovered. The first known example of a forgery with this syllabic. It is of unknown origin, and printed on pinkish-brown paper.

X:\UNKNOWN\UNKN_DR.HTM

Posted 2004.11.2

An additional 48 mon dragon forgery has been discovered. Although classified as a 'primitive', its design is less crude than most forgeries in that category. Printed by lithography in black rather than the brown color of the genuine.