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The Completion of 10,000km of Railways 21st October 1939. This is an commemorative issue celebrating the completion of 10,000 km of railway track by the South Manchurian Railway. This was the first set of stamps issued in Manchukuo to feature slogans written in characters at the top of each sheet (see below) reminding customers to fix the stamps to the top, left hand corner of the envelope and also to write the names of senders and recipients clearly. These slogans were the same for both values. The stamps were lithograph printed on watermarked (see below) "granite" paper in sheets of 100 by the Manchukuo Government Supplies Division, Hsinking. Designs by Mr Takeo Yamashita. A presentation booklet exists for this issue. Any "specimen" stamps or sheets you may see for this issue are fakes. The stamps are 18½mm x 22½mm. Perf 13.
Two Values 2f and 4f, The 2f shows a Map of the Manchukuo Rail Network and the 4f shows "The Asia" one of two prestigious, streamlined Express Locomotives, the other was the "Mikado", both had air conditioning for the comfort of passengers and ran between Dairen and Harbin. There are reports of stamps where the 4f has been tampered with to make the engine black, instead of indigo. This is not an error, but an attempt to fool collectors by changing the colour chemically - these are not common.
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1,500,000 |
1,500,000 |
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Top Margin with Slogans |
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Normal Variety |
Normal Variety |
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Variety - The "broken "T'u" character" variety (shown above) can be found on the 54th stamp in every sheet of 100 stamps. Mentioned by both Akagi and Schumann. This occurs on the top right hand stamp of the block of 4 above and is the last character shown in the right hand illustration alongside the normal character which appears on the left. |
Variety - The "broken "Ti" character" variety (shown above) can be found on the 57th stamp in every sheet of 100 stamps. Mentioned by both Akagi and Schumann. This occurs on the bottom right hand stamp of the block of 4 above and is the last character shown in the right hand illustration alongside the normal character which appears on the left. |
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Two postcards issued in 1940 showing the Manchukuo railway system shortly after the completion of 10,000km of track. In the first card the existing pre 1932 railway track is shown in black and the additional post 1932 track in red. The logo shown on the reverse of the postcards is that of the South Manchuria Railway Company Ltd, the initials S.M.R. appear at the bottom of the card. To see the reverse side click here.
Zirkle
46
- Issued 21st
October 1939. This cancel shows an emblem designed to celebrate the completion of over 10,000 Km of railway track. If you look closely at the cancel you will see that it features the "Asia" running through a tunnel of zeros as part of the Arabic number 10,000. |
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