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Manchukuo

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1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

Airmail

State of Manchukuo (Second Regular Issue)

This set was issued between January & August 1934 and consisted of nine values, this time recess printed on watermarked paper. In March of 1934 there was a general reduction in postal charges, also throughout this year stocks of the First Regular Issue began to run low.

Values that were in short supply were reprinted and stocks of unnecessary values were allowed to run out. In February the 3f was reprinted as this would be the new domestic letter rate. In March the 4f and 15f were also produced in limited numbers. The 15f stamp was typically used for overseas mail and parcel post, the small number (100,000) printed means that these are now scarce (and valuable).

In April the 1½f stamp was reprinted and in high demand as it could now be used for postcards (both inside Manchukuo and to Japan), the 10f and 1 Yuan were also reprinted at this time. In August the ½f was re-printed.

 The stamps were recess printed on watermarked (see below) "granite" paper in sheets of 100 by the Japanese Government Printing Office in Tokyo. Due to the change in printing process most colours appear slightly darker than in the previous issue.

Designs by Mr Yutaka Yoshida. The stamps are 18.8mm x 22.5mm Perf 13 x 13½.

The ½fen to 10fen depict the White Pagoda at Liaoyang with a 15f and 1Yuan showing Pu Yi, later to become Emperor Kang-teh. Note that this issue has five characters in the top banner reading "Manchu State Postal Administration"

3,000,000         

21,600,000

Postal Rates - From 1st March 1934

Printed matter (印刷物) cover sent from the Catholic Mission at Yenki with postage of 2f. The postmark is dated 12th September 1934, in this instance the year is represented by the character 元 which could be used to signify "first year". There is no arrival postmark but the journey from Yenki to Germany would probably have taken eight or nine days via the Siberian route.

Enthronement of the Emperor Kang-Teh

This set was issued on 1st March 1934 to commemorate the enthronement of His Imperial Highness Henry Pu Yi who became Emperor Kang-Teh exactly two years after the formation of Manchukuo. This new era was named "Kotoku" (peaceful benevolence) and again the Manchukuo year date on postmarks started with a one.

The stamps were recess printed on watermarked (see below) "granite" paper, originally sheets of 100 then reprinted in miniature sheets of 20 for presentation purposes only. Engraved by the Japanese Government Printing Office in Tokyo.

Designs by Mr Tameji Oona. The stamps are 23.5mm x 26.5mm. Perf 12½.

The 1½fen and 6f depict Hsinking Palace with a 3f and 10f showing two Pheonix.

1,000,000

Zirkle 4 - Issued 1st to 3rd March 1934
This example was issued in 新京 Hsinking.

登極紀念  (Ascending the Throne Commemoration)

This cancellation marks the enthronement of Pu Yi as the Emperor Kang-Teh. The central characters means long life and this is flanked by Feng Haung the mythical lords of all birds and auspicious clouds.

First Surcharge

These surcharges were applied in Harbin to stamps of First Regular Issue of 1932 due to shortages in supply of the 1f denomination. The shortage is believed to have been caused by reduction in pricing (see above) that caused the cost of sending a letter to drop from 4f to 3f, and cards from 2f to 1½. These surcharges began in 1934 and were repeated in 1935 (see 1935). The overprint consists of 4 characters, the top two being the denomination, the two lower characters meaning "temporary use"

Typographic overprinting by the Chikazawa Yoko Company in Harbin.

1f on 4f 1932 Issue (No Watermark) June 1934 surcharged in black but also brown ink.

Black Surcharge

Chocolate Brown Surcharge

Imprinted postcards were also surcharged as a result of the new pricing - see the Postcards page for more information.

State of Manchukuo (Third Regular Issue)

This set was issued November 1934. Previous issues had five characters in the banner at the top reading " Manchu State Postal Administration"  after Henry Pu-Yi became Emperor Kang-teh this was changed to read "Manchu State Imperial Postal Administration" with the addition of a sixth character, making this set instantly recognisable. The 5f stamp in blue was replaced with a 5f stamp in grey in July 1935, to avoid confusion with a 10f blue which was released (along with a 13f pale brown) at that time.

The third regular issue underwent many reprints, with slight differences is both ink and paper, many shades are found, the most noticeable being the 1Yuan light violet. The changes in colour have led some collectors to conclude that litho printing was used for some of the later examples - but this is not thought to be the case.

The stamps were recess printed on watermarked (see below) "granite" paper in sheets of 100 by the Japanese Government Printing Office in Tokyo. Designs by Mr Yutaka Yoshida. The stamps are 18.5mm x 22.5mm, Perf 13 x 13½.  In addition to sheets of stamps the 1½f and 3f were also issued in booklets during December 1935, the number of these booklets to be issued was low so both booklets and booklet panes are scarce.

In this issue the ½f to 9f depict the White Pagoda at Liaoyang 15f to 1Yuan showing The Emperor Kang-teh.

Variety - 1Y Light Lilac

2 Booklet Panes were produced as part of the Third Regular Issue containing either 1½f and 3f stamps. An "unexploded" 1½f booklet contains 10 panes and the 3f booklet contains 5, meaning that the cost of each booklet was 90f.

An 8f stamp was prepared for use in this series but was never issued, Some stamps did however find their way onto the market via stamp dealers. On occasion these stamps were used on letters, although illegally, and used covers can be found including this stamp.