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Auction: 11002 - China & Hong Kong Stamps & Covers
Lot: 2075

China 1897 New Currency Surcharges Large Figures, Narrow Setting, First Print THE ´EMERALD LADY´ 2c. on 2ca. green, pane 4 [1], the surcharge showing tso shifted to the right of pane II [1], unused and regummed. The stamp has been repaired and shows some thickening of the paper on the left side, which includes some surface restoration. The unused stamp is one of the major rarities of Chinese philately, this being only the third recorded example. All China Philatelic Federation Certificate (2005). S.G. 71; Chan 67. Photo Estimate HK$ 1,000,000-1,500,000 This stamp is from the sheet where the centring of both stamp and surcharge is low and right and is very similar to the used example sold in the Eric Beckerman collection in 1998. Our study of centring of these stamps suggest that four sheets were surcharged, indicating a macimum of 160 stamps only. Most of the used stamps are cancelled by Shanghai Dollar chops, readable dates being between 28th and 31st July 1897 - a very short period of use. The first unused example was discovered in 1925 by the collector, Yuan Li-Po. This stamp was shown to many famous Chinese and western collectors at the time. M.D. Chow confirmed the stamp to be genuine and offered Mr. Yuan an exchange with two of the four great rarities of the Republic period. This, and subsequent offers, was refused. The collection was sold in 1931 and this famous stamp was purchased by his friend, Tan Rong-Pu, who kept the stamp for 5 or 6 years, until his death. His stamp collection was taken by his adopted son and all trace of this stamp lost. After his initial appraisal, M.D. Chow wrote a long article claiming that, from his memory of the stamp, it was of a dark colour and he was no longer so sure of his first appraisal. Unfortunately he did not have the opportuity to re-examine the stamp. The two examples previously offered for sale by auction have appeared in the following collections: 1. Lt. Cmd. G.T. Baines, Warren Kauder, Meiso Mizuhara 2. Sir Percival David, James Huangco, Quintin Tan Both of these stamps are in a paler shade. There has long been talk of a third unused ´Emerald Lady´ (or ´Jade Princess´) Conjecture has been that Mr. Yuan´s original stamp was one of the above two, but this does not take into account the deeper shade that M.D. Chow described

Sold for
HK$850,000