This is a Tainan Official Silver Note (台南官銀票) issued by the Republic of Formosa (臺灣民主國) government.  At the time, Japanese army had taken over the Taipei city. Most of the wealthy people in Taiwan, including the first president of Formosan Republic Tang Jingsong (唐景崧, 1841-1903), had fled back to China with money. Tainan, then, became the capital. This note was issued as a war bond for the Republic of Formosa to raise money in the hope of fighting against the empire of Japan.




Tainan Official Silver Note (臺南官銀票). It is interesting to see that the character “南” (literally means south) used on the note is in an altered form. Although there was no official explanation but the scholars agreed that the Formosan Republic government deliberatedly used this...

This Taiwan Governor General 14th Anniversary Commemorative Postcard has a one and half sen (一銭五厘) chrysanthemum stamp postmarked on June 17th, 1909 with a Taiwan Governor General Commemorative Cancel (General Branch Post Office). The postcard was mailed by Uehara Risaku (上原理作), a communication secretary at Taipei Postal Office, to Uekusa Kyouji (植草恭治) of the Communications Officials Training School (逓信官吏練習所) near Shiba Park in Tokyo.

At the time, the “Aborigines Management Plans (理蕃計畫)” had just begun, and this postcard was the propaganda for demonstrating the success of the plans. The picture on the postcard is Prince Kanin Kotohito (閑院宮載仁親王) meeting representatives of Taiwan aborigines at the residence of Taiwan Governor General (Japanese title: 臺湾総督官邸...

After the cession of Taiwan in 1895, a year after the first Sino-Japanese war, Japanese started to develop this newly acquired land. Export was one of the most important aspects for the local economic development, and the Japanese government landed their eyes on the high quality oolong tea produced in Taiwan. They decided to package Taiwanese oolong tea as a brand and introduce it to the western world. The Japanese government chose ukiyo-e paintings of the famous Edo period artists, including Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重), Utagawa Kunisada (歌川豊国), Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) and Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎), as the main theme, and started a series of marketing campaigns. The postcard was one of the products from the marketing campaign. The Japanese government was hopi...

This Chinese style red band cover was postmarked on February 28th, 1913 in Peking (Beijing). It was sent from Beijing Telephone Company to Xiang-ju weaving plant (祥聚織布廠) outside of Chongwenmen (崇文門). Chongwenmen is the name of a gate that was once part of Beijing's city wall, which was torn down during the city expansion in the 1960s.

The stamp on the envelope is a one cent dragon stamp (蟠龍郵票) which was commissioned by the Chinese Imperial Post and produced in London during the Qing dynasty between 1989 and 1910. When the Qing dynasty was overthrown by the Republic of China (ROC) in 1911, new stamps could not be prepared in time, so those imperial dragon stamps were overprinted with vertical text of the Republic of China (中華民國) by various printing pl...

The Formosan Republic Black Flag 3rd Issue stamps are the 3rd series of stamps issued by the ill-fated Formosan Republic (台灣民主國, literally Taiwan Democratic State) in 1895. The Republic only lasted for 184 days, from May 23rd to October 21st, 1895 when the capital city, Tainan, fell into Japanese hands. The 3rd issue also has 3 stamps: a blue 30 mace (錢), a red 50 mace and a blackish purple 100 mace.

The 3rd issue of the stamps was a great improvement over the 1st and 2nd issues. Since the printing die was imported from Canton, the engraving is a lot clear than the previous issues. The face value was printed on top of the finished stamps. There are two types of papers found in the 3rd issues. While both have watermarks of “1101”, the thicker one also has ...

The Formosan Republic Black Flag 2nd Issue stamps are the 2nd series of stamps issued by the ill-fated Formosan Republic (台灣民主國, literally Taiwan Democratic State) in 1895. The Republic only lasted for 184 days, from May 23rd to October 21st, 1895 when the capital city, Tainan, fell into Japanese hands. The 2nd issue also has 3 stamps: a blue 30 mace (錢), a red 50 mace and a blackish purple 100 mace.

The printing die of the 2nd issue is believed to be manufactured domestically in Taiwan, but the engraving quality is still poor. The paper is a vast improvement over the 1st issue. Starting from the 2nd issue, they started using imported paper from the British with watermarks of “1101”. The perforation, however, was poorly executed and varied from 11.3 to 11...

Formosan Republic (台灣民主國, literally Democratic State of Taiwan) was a short-lived state that existed between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan and the subjugation by the Japanese troops in 1895. The Republic was proclaimed on May 23rd, 1895 and extinguished on October 21st, when the capital, Tainan, was taken over by the Japanese.

During the 184 day period, with help from C.A. McCallum, a British working at Chinese Imperial Maritime Custom Service (IMCS) in Tainan, Formosan Republic released 3 issues of stamps (the authenticity of 4th issue is still in debate). All issues have 3 stamps: a green 30 Mace (錢), a red 50 Mace and a purple 100 mace. There are minor variations in color, but the stamp design of all i...

This Tazawa stamp with face value of 2 Sen (銭) was cancelled in Hankow, China in the 1910s (possibly 1918). The date on the cancel is in Common Era year instead of the usual Japanese era year. This type of cancel is called European text cancel (欧文印). Interestingly, it also carries a perfin by the Mitsui Bussan (三井物産).

Tawaza is the nickname of the common stamps issued during the Taisho and early Showa period (1913-1937). After the death of Emperor Meiji, a new series of stamps was needed to accompany the succession of Prince Yoshihito, the later Taisho Emperor. It was the first time a public stamp design audition ever held in Japan. Tazawa Masakoto (田沢昌言), a technician at the Ministry of Communications (逓信省), won the prize by his Art Nouveau style of desi...

Taiwan local stamps (Japanese: 台湾地方切手), also known as Taiwan numeric stamps (中文: 台灣數字郵票) by the philatelist community in Taiwan, are a series of stamps printed in Taiwan locally due to shortage of supplies in 1945. There are total of 9 stamps in the set: a red 3 sen (銭), a green 5 sen, a light blue 10 sen, a navy blue 30 sen, a purple 40 sen, a brown 50 sen, a light green 1 yen (円), a dark green 5 yen and a pinkish purple 10 yen.

Toward the end of World War II, Japan lost her air and sea control, and the mainland of Japan was frequently bombarded by the US Air Force. In April 1945, with destruction of Takinogawa Printing Plant (滝野川印刷工場) in Tokyo, Taiwan was no longer able to obtain postal supplies from Japan, including stamps. Ministry of Communications (...

Custom Small Dragon Stamps, officially called Chinese Custom Second Cloud Dragon Stamps or simply known as the Small Dragons, were issued on November 25th 1885. They were the second set of stamps issued in Chinese history, and the first featured with watermarks. The Small Dragon set consists of three stamps and the face value is also denominated in Candarins: 1 Candarin in green for printed matters, 3 Candarins in purplish red for regular mails and 5 Candarins in yellow for registered mails. The graphic design of the Small Dragons is similar to the Large Dragons featuring a dragon playing marbles in the clouds.

The Small Dragons were copper plate, relief printed by the Printing Plant of Shanghai Imperial Maritime Custom Service (IMCS) Book Making Departme...