Genuine

Issued 1871 & 1872 Scott #1 & 5 and Sakura #1 & 5.

Size is 19.5 x 19.5 mm.

1/2 Sen, Plate 2

Completely new plates (Both vignette and value),

Secret Mark

Found on all except 7 of the 120 positions of the 48 Mon and 1/2 sen Dragons

Genuine Stamps without the secret mark:

• 48 mon, plate 1, positions 3, 18
• 48 mon, plate 2, positions 2, 12, 13 & 26
• 1/2 sen, plate 1, postions 2, 12, 13, & 26 (same vignette as 48 mon)
• 1/2 sen, plate 2, postion  27  (whole new plate)

Characteristics and Photos of the Genuine Seven Positions Without Secret Mark

48 Mon, Plate 2, Position 2

Same vignette used for 1/2 sen, plate 1, position 2

1/2 Sen, Plate 2, Position 27

  New Plates

The Wada forgeries of the 48 mon and 1/2 sen brown

 Engraved

There are three plates of six of Wada forgeries on the 48 mon dragons: A, B, & C. and two plates of the 1/2 sen.: A & B.  Wada would use the same plate and erase a sankō or mozō and put is in a different position or remove it altogether.  He did whatever suited him at the moment. New information about his forgeries can still being discovered.  His Pate A 48 mon is found with sankō in four different positions, mozō in one position, and with no sankō or mozō.  As far as we can determine, his plate B & C were always without and “signed” markings.  The 1/2 sen, Plate A had a sankō in 4 positions, while Plate B did not have any “signed” markings.  All plates are engraved.

Wada “signed”  forgeries

Wada:  48 Mon, Plate A: Black sankō – low,  on either side of bottom value character.

Wada:  1/2 sen, Plate A: Black sankō, wide apart and below central value characters

Wada Plates with no Sankō or Mozō

Wada:  1/2 Sen, Plate B

Maeda “signed”  forgeries

Lithographed

Maeda:  1/2 Sen, Sankō in color of stamp

Maeda Types with no Sankō

Maeda: 1/2 Sen, with 4 dots in shippō

Unknown Forger: “signed ” with Sankō.  Identified by Incorrect Corner Ornaments

While it seems that all these forgeries with the incorrect corner ornament are signed with “sankō”.  The sankō, in black, is very small and almost always carefully hidden under a fake postmark making it impossible to see.  However the incorrect corner ornaments can be used to identify these stamps as forgeries. There is still more to learn about these forgeries and research continues.  The 100 mon, 1 sen, 200 mon, 2 sen values are unknown with these incorrect corner ornaments.  The 48 mon, 1/2 sen, 500 mon,and 5 sen have these characteristics.

More information about the different types of this forgery is found in the ISJP CD Monograph 1–2nd Edition (see bibliography).

1/2 Sen, Type 4

Incorrect corner at NE, NW & SE

Hirose forgeries –  “Unsigned”

Engraved

Hirose Dragon forgeries are known with a red sankō overprint–see under “Red Sanko”

Hirose:  1/2 sen, Die B

Spiro Types “unsigned”

Lithographed

Spiro: 1/2 sen, type 3.  The top flame on the W dragon looks like an “elephant’s trunk”

Unkown forger – “signed” with mihon

The specific types for this unknown forger were determined by the # of raimon in the N and W borders, not by the size and position of the “mihon” characters. There are 5 raimon on all sides of the genuine stamp.  All the 48 mon values have a similar position for the “mihon” characters.  While the 1/2 sen position of “mihon” characters is very different from the 48 mon, all the 1/2 sen positions are similar. 

 1/2 sen, Type G

Kasahara? “unsigned”

Engraved – Most deceptive forgeries

Kasahara?:  1/2 sen – does not seem as deceptive as the 48 mon

“Unsigned”  – some very deceptive

Unknown Forger:  48 Mon – recently discover forgery in black

No sankō, mozō  or mihon

“Unsigned”  – ABC Kurabu (ABC Club) – 1950’s-1960’s

More information about the ABC Kurabu Forgeries and Vignettes click here.

Note: Numbers in parenthesis and bold are the catalog numbers found on reverse of the forgeries.  State 4 forgeries did not have any numbers on the reverse.

ABC Kurabu (ABC Club) 1/2 sen – Vignette F

State 3 of the 1/2 sen (No. 5).

Characteristics of Vignette F:

1. 1. 1. Two dots of the secret mark.
      2. Unfinished lines in leg of dragon.

“Unsigned”  –  Unknown Forger, 48 mon, Plate 1, Position 1

This imperforate block of 10[5×2] 130 x 60 mm of the 1871 48 mon Dragon is a small souvenir sheet with huge margins.  It has 10 copies of a reproduction of the original 48 mon,  plate 1, position 1.  Genuine 48 mon stamps are in sheets of 40[8×5] with very narrow margins. Each stamp in the genuine sheet was hand-drawn and therefore each stamp is slightly different.  In the fake sheet, the back of each fake has the two characters for mokoku [reproduction] imprinted in green.

The paper used to print the fakes is modern white paper without watermarks or laid lines. Genuine stamps are printed on thin “native” paper often with laid lines..

Unknown Forger – 48 mon, Plate 1, Position 1

This unknown forger faithfully reproduced many of the features of the genuine stamp like:

1. The spurs on the east dragon’s back
2. The large slip through the bottom fire flame on the west dragon
3. The “Secret Mark.

But he missed reproducing the:

1. The large point below the to claw of the west dragon
2. The small point  to the east of the slip line in no. 2 above.

Note:  All the cut outs In the graphic above are as they appear in genuine copies of plate 1, position 1.