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• May-22-26 01:25

Auction Highlight

From Japan Dragon Stamps – The Yasushi Tejima Collection – Part I - H.R. Harmer Global Philatelic Network Inc. - June 1, 2026

Lot 1 - The Earliest Recorded Cover of the Japanese Postal Service (First Mail Transport)

1871, 100 mon dark steel blue, earliest printing, plate I, position 1, tied by a large "Kensazumi" handstamp in small seal style (reisho) on the reverse of a cover from Minakuchi to Otsu.

Manuscript dateline (Meiji 4) 3.3, corresponding to 22 April 1871 (Gregorian).

A cover of extraordinary historical importance, carried during the first postal dispatch of Japan, originating from Tokyo on Meiji 4.3.1 (opening day of the national postal service). The letter was taken into the mail en route at Minakuchi on Meiji 4.3.4 (early morning) and subsequently delivered to Otsu. As the earliest recorded example associated with Japan’s inaugural postal operations, this cover represents a cornerstone artefact of Japanese postal history and an item of the utmost rarity and significance.

Rate: 100 mon basic rate, separate area rate of the first rate period.

Provenance: Dr. Ichida

Reference: Illustrated in Ichida (1959); Ichida (1971), colour plate A and p. 85; plating reference p. 92; Dragon Covers p. 2; 19th century fig. 3.

....CV. Currently US$ 110,000

H.R. Harmer Global Philatelic Network Inc.The Bi-Centennial Sales Series: Offered by H.R. Harmer in co-operation with the Global Philatelic Network