Which stamps have been recalled for some reason?

The issuance of Hong Kong stamps "Jao Tsung-I's Works" was delayed due to errors

Hong Kong Post originally planned to issue "Jao Tsung-I's Paintings and Calligraphy" stamps and related philatelic products on March 23 this year. This stamp comes in a set of 6 plus a souvenir sheet. Unexpectedly, as soon as the stamp design was released, it was discovered that there were "typos" in the stamp:

Stamp artwork released by Hong Kong Post

Picture 3 "There is wealth in leisure"

In "Shou Wai Chu Kang Ning", the word "Chu" marked below is wrong, it is actually the word "Geng". If it is just an error in the statement in the issuance announcement, it is not a big problem. At most, it will leave an interesting anecdote in the history of stamps. However, errors are no minor issue if they appear in stamps. The same error also occurred on relevant first-day covers and other stamp products.

Errors in the stamps

Postponement of the stamps

As a result, Hongkong Post had to issue an announcement: Due to errors in the design of the stamps, the stamps need to be reprinted and the issuance date will be Extended to September 5th. The Hongkong Post Philatelic Bureau will separately notify customers who have pre-ordered philatelic products with this theme. One of the affected stamp products that is already on sale is a stamp-themed first-day cover, which is now no longer available at all post offices.

Fortunately, although Hong Kong's official first-day covers are sold in advance, there are no stamps on them. Therefore, this wrong ticket of "Jao Zongyi's Official Script" will not be leaked. Otherwise, there is a chance to become a treasure of the world!

Little knowledge

The origin of Chinese character fonts evolved in the order of oracle bone inscriptions → bronze inscriptions → seal script → official script → cursive script → regular script → running script . Among them, seal script and previous fonts belong to the ancient character system; official script and later fonts belong to modern character system. It is normal in the history of Chinese characters for later generations of fonts to be mixed with strokes and glyphs from previous generations. Including what we now call "variant characters", many of them are actually derived from the brushwork and glyphs of their ancient characters. To this day, there are still some calligraphers who like to borrow the brushwork and glyphs of ancient Chinese characters when writing modern Chinese characters. This is also the reason. From the evolution of the font of "Geng" in the picture below, we can clearly see that the official script "Geng" character in Jao Tsung-i's calligraphy actually borrowed the seal script brushwork and glyph of the character, or in other words, he used the official script brushwork. Wrote the variant form of the word.

The cursive style is a cursive and continuous stroke of the Qin official script; the regular script is a comprehensive traditional Chinese character based on the official script and combined with the simplification of strokes in some cursive styles. We must not use the writing style and shape of cursive script to infer the traditional Chinese characters such as official script and regular script. Specifically speaking, the Chinese character "Chu" is "Chu" in traditional Chinese, and its cursive script looks quite similar to the character "Geng". The designer of this set of stamps made the mistake of inferring the orthographic form of the character "chu" based on its cursive shape, thus making an obvious mistake.

A summary of rare stamps "recalled due to errors":

In Chinese and foreign history, some rare stamps were officially recalled and destroyed, canceled or issued due to errors in patterns, text, colors, etc. It is no longer for sale, but there are still a few that exist and have become rare. If an error is discovered and still issued as usual and a large number of them survive, it is often difficult to become a rare stamp. Here are some examples of rare Chinese and foreign postage items that were “recalled due to error”.

1. Spain's "Portrait of the Queen" Stamps in Different Colors

The Spanish Post Office issued a set of 6 "Portrait of the Queen" stamps in 1851 (170 pieces in total), with the same pattern, only Values ??and colors vary. Due to the carelessness of the printing factory workers, a red stamp mold with a face value of 2 riels was mistakenly embedded into a blue printing plate with a face value of 6 riels, resulting in the appearance of 1 of each 6 riels stamp in the 145 editions. The wrong blue ticket of 2 Lille (similar to the wrong ticket of "Cai Lun BC" in my country). Among them, 64 editions have been sold, and 6 editions were later recovered by the post office. That is, 58 of the wrong-color tickets were leaked.

2. French Grain Goddess 15 Centime Stamp with Wrong Type

In 1876, French philatelist Arthur Maury discovered a French 15 Centime stamp that was identical to the 10 Centime Stamp issued in 1875. The centime stamps are printed together, the designs are of the goddess of grains, the color is dark brown, and only the face value is different. This was due to the printer's carelessness and mistakenly embedded a 15 centime sub-mold into the 10 centime stamp printing plate. In order to buy this kind of wrong-body ticket, Maoli went to almost every post office in Paris and finally found a whole 200-piece ticket. After the General Post Office of France learned of this, it stopped selling stamps with a face value of 15 centimes and ordered a new batch of "God of Peace and Commerce" stamps to replace the original 15 centime stamps.

3. The Dominican 1 penny stamps were changed to the wrong value

In 1886, due to a shortage of 0.5 pence and 1 penny stamps in the British Dominican Republic, it was too late to order and print new stamps. The postmaster of Rozo then decided to stamp and change the value of the stamps originally issued with the face of Queen Victoria: the stamps with the original face value of 6 pence were changed to 0.5 pence stamps, the stamps with the original face value of 1 shilling were changed to 1 pence stamps, and the original face value was stamped The bars are invalid. However, due to the carelessness of the printer, a whole sheet (60 pieces) of green stamps with an original face value of 6 pence was mistakenly stamped and changed to 1 pence, resulting in a stamp with the wrong value. After the then Finance Minister found out, he tore off 12 of them and kept 2. The other 10 were posted to a British postal service, and the remaining 48 were probably destroyed.

4. Missing stamps on the "Thatcher Bridge" in the Panama Canal Zone

On October 12, 1962, the Thatcher Ferry Bridge across the Panama Canal was completed and opened to traffic. The U.S. Post Office of the Panama Canal Zone issued a commemorative stamp with a face value of 4 cents for this purpose. The main image shows a map of Central America and a panoramic view of the silver Thatcher Bridge. Due to the carelessness of the printer, the Thatcher Bridge was omitted from one of the printed sheets (200 copies). The post office divided the printed sheet into four post office sheets (50 pieces each), but soon discovered the printing error and decided to withdraw it. However, one of the full post office sheets had been purchased by a postal dealer in Boston and refused to be returned. The Panama Canal Zone Post Office decided to reprint 100,000 stamps with incorrect printing and sell them at face value. In order to protect its own interests, the postal company went to court and finally won the case. The court ordered the Canal Zone Post Office not to reprint the wrong-type stamps; the three recovered editions of the wrong-type stamps were ordered to be kept by a museum in Washington and the Canal Zone government each, and one edition should be destroyed.

5. Germany’s “Audrey Hepburn” unissued stamps

The 14 million “Audrey Hepburn” dual-value stamps printed in Germany were originally intended for 1 of 4 in a set of "Hollywood Movie Stars" released on October 11, 2001. But the picture on the stamp shows Hepburn holding a long cigarette holder in her mouth (the prototype was taken from a close-up shot in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's"), which changed the image of the sunglasses biting in her mouth in the original photo. When Deutsche Post sent a full sheet (10 stamps) as a sample to Hepburn's son for comment, he thought it was inappropriate and refused to issue it, and the full sheet stamps were also refused to be returned. Unable to obtain the right to use the portrait, Deutsche Post had to cancel the issuance of Hepburn stamps and decided to keep three editions for collection and archiving, while the rest were immediately destroyed. However, the version archived by the German Ministry of Finance actually "missed", and later five letter sales appeared at the auction one after another. In October 2010, Hepburn's son auctioned off the unissued stamp he kept, and the proceeds of 430,000 euros were donated to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund and the United Nations Children's Fund.

6. "Temporary Neutrality" Stamps and "Temporary Neutral" Stamps with Due Fees

After the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established on New Year's Day in 1912, Qing Dynasty stamps could no longer be used. On the grounds of postal neutrality, the General Postal Office of the General Post Office in Beijing ordered the Shanghai Customs Registration Office to stamp 15 types of Qing Dynasty Panlong stamps and 8 types of due stamps with the horizontal words "temporary neutrality" on the grounds of postal neutrality. On the 30th, 4 types of regular stamps and 6 types of postage stamps were put on trial sale in Fuzhou. They were immediately opposed by the Nanjing Provisional Government and all walks of life. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communications of the Nanjing Provisional Government ordered the silk to be immediately stopped for sale and turned over in full (the actual sale took 3 days). Among them, only 96 tickets stamped with 1 yuan and 2 yuan Panlong were sold; only 25 tickets stamped with 20 cents and 30 cents were sold.

7. "Republic of China·Temporary Neutrality" stamps

After the above-mentioned "Temporary Neutrality" stamps and "Temporary Neutrality" due stamps were discontinued, Sun Yat-sen called Yuan Shikai and requested that they be printed on the Qing Dynasty stamps. Only the words "Republic of China" are stamped. In the name of saving money, Bo Li ordered the Shanghai Post Supply Company to add stamps with the words "Republic of China" vertically to the regular stamps and postage stamps that had already had the words "Temporary Neutrality" stamped horizontally, a total of 23 types, and 8 of them were removed. It was shipped to Hankou, Changsha and Nanjing and was scheduled to be sold on March 20, 1912. This incredible cross-shaped stamp with the words "Republic of China, Temporary Neutrality" has been strongly opposed by all walks of life. Sun Yat-sen called Yuan Shikai again on the 19th, saying that such stamps were really harmful to the national system and that they should be stopped immediately.

8. Wrong vote of the 20th "Soviet October Revolution"

November 7, 1952 is the 35th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications plans to issue a set of four commemorative stamps "The Thirty-fifth Anniversary of the Great Soviet October Revolution", which will be sold to the public on February 14, 1953. On February 7, after receiving the issuance documents from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Shanghai Post and Telecommunications Bureau put forward opinions on the stamp names. The General Post Office went to the Central Propaganda Department to study. The Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly replied that the October Revolution came first and the birth of the Soviet Union came later, and the name of the stamp must be corrected. But this set of stamps had all been printed and distributed to post offices around the country. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications urgently sent a nationwide message to stop selling this set of stamps. However, February 14th was the Spring Festival. Due to carelessness, the attendant at the Changsha Telecommunications Bureau failed to send an urgent message from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to the Hengyang area, causing the wrong ticket to leak out.

9. "Shine the Light" stamps

On June 15, 1956, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a set of 5 special 15 "Capital Scenic Spots" stamps. Among them, the Tiananmen stamp artwork showed It is the rising sun over Tiananmen Square, shining brightly. However, due to poor printing and visual effects, the auspicious clouds above Tiananmen formed a dazzling direct light, so some people raised objections before the release. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications decided to stop issuing this stamp and withdraw it. However, some post offices in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places were sold in advance, resulting in outflows.

10. Wrong votes for the "Fifth Generations of International Students Federation" in Ji 54

On September 4-15, 1958, the Fifth Congress of the International Students Federation was held in Beijing. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications originally planned to issue a set of 2 commemorative stamps on September 1, but the issue was suspended because the face name "Fifth Congress of the International Federation of Students" was mistakenly designed as "The Fifth World Congress of Students", but very few Places are sold in advance. After correction, stamps with the correct names were issued on the opening day of the meeting.

11. "Black Inscription" stamp

The full name of the stamp is "Chairman Mao's Inscription for Japanese Workers Friends", planned to be issued on September 18, 1968. At the request of representatives of Japanese worker study activists, Chairman Mao Zedong wrote an inscription for them on September 18, 1962. On the occasion of the 6th anniversary of this inscription, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications plans to issue a stamp. Before this ticket was issued, Japan accused China of engaging in "great power chauvinism" and exporting revolution to Japan. The ticket was then banned from issuance and destroyed. But there is still a very small amount flowing out.

12. "Little Red" stamp

The full name of the "All Mountains and Rivers Are Red" stamp is planned to be issued on November 25, 1968. On the day of issuance, an editor from the China Map Publishing House discovered that the Chinese map on the stamp did not draw our country's South China Sea Islands, and the outline of the territory was also inaccurate. After receiving the feedback, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications urgently ordered post offices in various places to stop selling the stamps and return all stamps. However, some post offices have sold them in advance, resulting in a small amount of stamps flowing out.

13. The "Big Red" stamp

It is the previous draft of the "Small Red" stamp mentioned above. Because the Central Committee and the Cultural Revolution Group decided at that time to no longer issue stamps with Chairman Mao's image and quotations, and no longer engage in philately business. In addition, when Premier Zhou reviewed the design draft of the stamp, he believed that the stamp size was too large, so this stamp was It was returned and revised to the later "Little Piece of Red". Very few copies of this ticket exist.

Reference: China Stamp Investment and Trading Network