The same portrait of a airplane is modified to show the new emblem and the stamp value plummets. Not really unique but shows stamp collectors have their favorites, So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The Stamp today shows an American Curtis Jn-4 Jenny warplane flying over the Great Wall of China. The plane is in Chinese service, in then western recognized government out of Beijing. The early version of the stamp has that flag on the tail. That government fell to the forces of Chiang Kai-shek in 1928. In 1929, the rapidly aging warplane is redrawn to show the Nationalist sun emblem. This unfortunately is the version I have. The stamp was modernized in 1932 with a slightly newer German Junkers F-13 over a different view of the wall. This earns even a lower value today, so the problem wasn’t the stamp still showing an embarrassingly old airplane.
Todays stamp is issue AP2, a 15 cent airmail stamp issued by China on July 5th, 1929. It was a 5 stamp reissue of the 1921 stamp in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $3 used. The 1921 version, with the Beijing government emblem on the tail is worth $50 used. The early version was in use longer so I don’t think the relative valuation has to do number of stamps printed. It is also not do the popularity of the 1920s Beijing government, as it was not popular. I think the real issue is just the personal unpopularity of Chiang. I while back, we did a Taiwan stamp featuring Madame Chiang, see here, https://the-philatelist.com/2018/03/06/madame-chaing-efforts-to-help-warphans/. There was a China stamp the same year featuring Madam Chiang’s sister, Sun Yat-sen’s widow. Despite much poorer printing, it is worth 10 times as much. Is Chiang philatelic poison?
The Curtis Jenny was the most common American fighter plane of World War One. It was used sometimes for mail delivery postwar and is the same model used in the famous American upside down airplane stamp. The model was used by both the Beijing government and Chiang’s Nationalist forces although I believe only examples captured from the Beijing government. There are many examples of the plane in the USA, some even flyable, but none seen to survive in China.
The Beijing Chinese government lasted as the recognized government from 1912 and the end of Imperial China until 1928. It had many of the affectations of the old regime and contained many of it’s aging figures. It was successful in building a modern army that did much to keep it in charge against the forces of Sun Yat sen. One thing that was important to the outside world but devastating to the regime’s credibility in China was that the regime honored the old treaties granting western nations and Japan concessions in China. The leaders of the Beijing government were in talks with the Nationalist forces but the talks collapsed with the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. Chiang sent a military expedition north in 1926 and had defeated the Beijing government by 1928.
Stamp collectors from the country are usually the deciding factor as to the value of old stamps. German collectors often shun issues from the Third Reich that many others find interesting period pieces. The shunning keeps the value down so many non German collections have many. The same must be true in China today. Unfortunately for holders of todays stamp, just his emblem on the plane is enough to kill the value. No love for the Chinese Generalissimo?
Well my drink is empty and I will have another while I recall my visit to Beijing in 2002 that included the Great Wall. There was a short section to climb after which they would sell you a card declaring you a Hero of China. I bought the card. Perhaps if they put Chiang’s emblem on it, I could have gotten it for less. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting