Karl Lewis

Study Group

Studies all picture postcards and covers (with and without cachets) produced by Karl Lewis

Karl Lewis “C-numbers”

Karl Lewis applied a “C” (for “Combination”) marking to the upper left corner of the back of most of his cacheted covers that he sold to clients. With a few unusual exceptions, these markings represent the combination of values of Japanese stamps affixed to the cover. For instance, a 10 sen postal rate could comprise a 5 sen, 3 sen and 2 sen stamps, or three 1 sen and one 7 sen stamps, etc. In his price lists, Lewis clearly notes that he used established combinations of stamps and that each specific combination had a corresponding number. This was to prevent sending duplicate covers to his clients. The listing provides the present the currently known “C-numbers” that Karl Lewis used. Background information to the listing can be found within the following articles published in Japanese Philately:

JP Vol. 65 No. 1: “Karl Lewis Cover Markings”, pages 30-34

JP Vol. 71 No. 2: Karl Lewis C-Numbers Revisited, pages 88-93

Contact:  Todd Lewis

Karl Lewis C Numbers Feb 2016

Examples

“Hikawa Maru” marking – with insert showing C-1 marking on Reverse