Description
ISJP Monograph No. 3:A Guide to the Cherry Blossom Series,
by Milton T. Montgomery
Determining the difference between Japan’s genuine Cherry Blossom stamps and their numerous forgeries has never been easy, due to the fact that the genuine were hand-etched in plates of 40, giving each stamp its own unique design. In addition, multiple numbers of plates were used for each denomination. The most prolific forgery producer, Wada Kotaro, also created his forgeries using multiple hand-etched plates for each denomination, and thus these also exist with similar but slightly different designs.
This extremely useful monograph by Milton T. Montgomery greatly simplifies the task of distinguishing the genuine from the forged by describing and richly illustrating comparisons between their principal characteristics. It was impractical for the author to list all characteristics that might be useful in expertization due to the plethora of different designs described above, but instead he has brought together in concise form the chief criteria that apply in most instances.
An additional useful reference is a table providing a concordance of equivalent catalog numbers between five major catalogs.
North American Destinations $7
Other Destinations $14 (with shipping)