Anyone know what country issued this stamp? I can usually do a Google search and figure it out, but there isn't any searchable text on this one. I'm thinking China at this point. I've seen the central design before, but can't remember where.
That stamp is Japanese. I remember having some of those stamps from that series. The SN stands for Sen. Check out the Ebay link which includes some of the stamps from the series. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japan-old-stamps-/271882401766?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4d7437e6
No,Gunny,it is not a rising sun,but the Chrysanthemum.It is the seal of the tenno and with modifications that of other members of the imperial family.Although there is no such law,it is also used as the seal of Japan. Nearly all stamps of Japan till 1947 show the Chrysanthemum. Your stamp is from the 1899 regular series, incidently named Kiku (Chrysanthemum)-series. (Michel no.84,Sakura defs.no.115,Scott no.105). It is a cheap stamp.Damaged as the one above, it is worthless.
Hello Gunny, The central emblem is the Japanese chrysanthemum, this set first issued 1899-04-01 with values of 5 RN (Rin) 1,2,3,4,5,8,10,15,20,25,50 SN (Sen) and 1 YN (Yen). There were re-issues in 1900 and 1907, many I think with overprints with the exception of 1½ Sen in pale blue. James
I first thought too that it was a Chinese stamp with the characters on it. Have not seen a Japanese stamp like that before.
Thanks for the information. Yeah, now that you say it is a Chrysanthemum, I've heard of that in relation to Japan before.
I would not know how to check unless you get to see the denomination on the stamp but it also doesn't give much away so congrats to those who have figured it out!
