Dragon Additions

References are provided to the relevant pages on the CD-ROM where X: is the drive letter of your CD-ROM. Users should substitute the letter of their CD-ROM drive for the X is every case. All pages quoted can be accessed directly on the CD-ROM or found by a logical search through the indexes. Graphics are clickable and bring up an enlargement in a “lightbox”.

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, Wada’s 100 mon and 1 sen dragon A Plate, and Wada’s 500 mon and 5 sen dragon A Plate.  He also determined 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).  These correct plate postitions are found in the corrections table.

Information prepared and posted  by Ron Casey. Any errors or omissions should be reported to him at editor@isjp.org

Unknown Forger

48 mon dragon lithographed in black

X:\UNKNOWN\UNKN_DR.HTM is the CD-Rom page address where X is the drive letter of your CD-Rom.

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.

Posted 2004.11.2

Wada 1 Sen Dragon

Plate A, State I, Position 5
(absolute position 1)

X:\DRA100\A1S1.HTM and X\:DRA100\A1S1_5.HTM are the CD-Rom page addresses where X is the drive letter of your CD-Rom.

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, old number (5)].

Posted 2004.11.2.

Wada 2 Sen Dragon

Plate A, New State, position 5

X:\DRA200\200MPLA.HTM is the CD-Rom page address where X is the drive letter of your CD-Rom.

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.

Posted 2004.11.2.

 Red Sankō Additions

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. X:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and X:\HIROSE\ADIE.HTM are the CD-Rom page addresses where X is the drive letter of your CD-Rom.

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 Kamgataya, 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:\HIROSE\REDINK.HTM and X:\KAMIGATA\KAMI100T3.HTM are the CD-Rom page addresses where X is the drive letter of your CD-Rom.

Information prepared and posted  by Ron Casey. Any errors or omissions should be reported to him at editor@isjp.org

Kamigataya 100 mon type 3
with red sankō