1875, 1 sen girdle light brown, three examples with corner sheet margins from upper right, therefore all from position 8 and showing the marginal line imprints on edge, perforations 9x11 (1) and 11 (2), one cancelled cancelled by scarce early non-standard double circle in red. One stamp thinned, otherwise an extremely fine trio including the example with the red fancy cancel. (Image)

1875, 1 sen brown "ribbon", sheet reconstruction of 40 made up of only used examples, featuring varieties in positions 18, 32 and 34, including nine with sheet margins, one pair in positions 34-35, mainly showing clear postmarks, with double circles of Nobeoka (Hyuga), Taira (Iwaki), kiban i-ku No. 3, positive cross foreign marking, part strike of circular early non-standard. (Image)

1875, 1 sen light brown "ribbon", vertical pair tied by type KG "Senju-Minamiguri.Musashi -.5.16" cds to reverse of cover to "Yashu" (Shimotsuke province), showing an additional strike on obverse. No year date, but it can be confined to the 1876-1878 period. Envelope with some insect faults (backed) not impinging on the franking. (Image)

1875, 1 sen brown "ribbon", roulette perforation 14 1/2, a remarkable example with sheet margin at top, vertically separated by scissors, in combination with "Old Koban" 2 sen olive, sheet margin at base, tied with two strikes of duplex intaglio with "Osaka -.7.13" type KB1 cds applied on reverse of inland cover, with the 1 sen paying the delivery charge for places outside the regular circuit of a next post office. Dated Meiji 9 (1876). An extremely rare usage on cover of this roulette perforation. (JSCA ¥120,000 for used copy off cover). Note: The so called "roulette" 14 1/2 perforation is only found in the 1 Sen "ribbon" of 1876 in Japanese philately (classified in JSCA as LT 14 1/2 perforation, although it is widely known and described by exhibitors as "roulette perforation"). Mr. Woodward suggested this variety to have occurred as a temporary usage of perforation gauges formerly applied for fiscals (issues of April 1873-September 1874), but this is not confirmed. (Image)

1875, 2 sen yellow "ribbon", six examples including four with perforation varieties, of which one used, two unused and one with ink-dot specimen ("Sumiten"), the other two from plate 2 & 3 (one thinned), with position 21 featuring "stroke in inscription missing". Michel 38. (Image)

1875, 2 sen yellow "ribbon", possessing "N.C.H" perfin, refulgent colour, cancelled by five-star type of Shanghai (Nishino type SH77B), which was used in the second half of 1877. Fine and rare. Note: The "N.C.H" initials refer to the North China Herald newspaper. This is the earliest perfin (company security mark) recorded on Japanese stamps. (JHES ¥120,000). (Image)

1875, 2 sen yellow "ribbon", dark shade, used with small early non-standard "Ni No. 50" circle of Hirakata (Hitachi Province). A remarkable example showing a complete strike of this scarce cancellation. (JHES ¥35,000). Note: This curious postmark was produced trying to imitate the style of the "Kiban" handstamp. "Ni" was the code for "kibans" in the Hitachi Province. The usage is recorded in Meiji 10 ( 1877). (Image)

1875, 2 sen yellow "ribbon", perforation 9:11, cancelled by rare early non-standard "keshi in" circle, all in katakana syllabics, meaning cancellation mark which appears to be locally produced postmark in the same style of the "Kiban" postmark. Very fine, interesting and scarce. (JHES ¥35,000). (Image)

1875, 2 sen yellow "ribbon", tied by kiban i-105 (Musashi-Ome) to reverse of inland cover, showing type KG "Ome.Musashi -.12.28" double circle alongside. Cover somewhat reduced on opening at top. This "kiban" type is catalogued with five stars (extremely rare) in the 2019 edition of the Kiban catalogue by the late Furuya. (Image)

1876, 5 sen dull green, porous paper, four examples including perforation 11 with two from position 40, a bottom right sheet-corner marginal example with official pinhole at top left, and position 1 without gum; perforation 12 1/2 with another two, one being a lower left corner-sheet marginal example from position 33, with small-size negative cross mark, and the other overprinted "mihon" (specimen) with original gum. Some small imperfections, but a very attractive quartet. (JSCA ¥140,000; Michel 39z). (Image)