It *is* Japan, and is an official postal seal for registered mail.
In the Shimomura 2003 revenue catalog, it's #204 in the postal seals section. I can't quite tell the year of issue from the catalog, but it looks like it's somewhere between 1925 and 1937.
Someone else has taken over the publication of this catalog, and changed its name (which I cannot recall at the moment), but I haven't been able to get my hands on one, so I don't have more current information.
In that 2003 catalog, a used example cataloged at ¥300. I never know quite what to make of their catalog values. With other Japanese catalogs, I usually just calculate ¥100/$1, then divide that in half, to get a better sense of what a more realistic cv might be. So that would put your item at about $1.50. But I could be way off on this.
Nevertheless, given that there are items that catalog for as little as ¥30 in Shimomura, it's not a minimum value stamp.
Phil, thanks for your very detailed and informative reply. It didn't look like some of the Japan revenues that I have seen because it had no face value.
Comments
It *is* Japan, and is an official postal seal for registered mail.
In the Shimomura 2003 revenue catalog, it's #204 in the postal seals section. I can't quite tell the year of issue from the catalog, but it looks like it's somewhere between 1925 and 1937.
Someone else has taken over the publication of this catalog, and changed its name (which I cannot recall at the moment), but I haven't been able to get my hands on one, so I don't have more current information.
In that 2003 catalog, a used example cataloged at ¥300. I never know quite what to make of their catalog values. With other Japanese catalogs, I usually just calculate ¥100/$1, then divide that in half, to get a better sense of what a more realistic cv might be. So that would put your item at about $1.50. But I could be way off on this.
Nevertheless, given that there are items that catalog for as little as ¥30 in Shimomura, it's not a minimum value stamp.