The Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposia - Smithsonian ...

n u m b e r 5 5 • 7 5September, 1946, edition of the ‘A.S.M.’ that ‘overprintedstamps would serve to remind Japan that it was an occupiedcountry.’“We confess, however that we had not expected suchsuggestions to bear fruit. Consequently we were profoundlysurprised to learn at the beginning of Novemberthat Australian stamps had actually been overprinted.“Information gathered from various sources—weacknowledge particularly our indebtedness to Mr. A.M.Leitch and Mr. H.D. McNess—indicate that a majorreason prompting the issue was that large quantities ofAustralian stamps were being bought in Japan with blackmarket money and sent to Australia.“Australian postal regulations provide that unusedstamps may be repurchased at a discount and this was apparentlybeing done on a fairly large scale.” 11Australian Stamp Monthly reported in early 1947,“We have been attempting to obtain reliable informationconcerning the issue of Australian stamps overprinted“B.C.O.F./JAPAN.1946” and to which we first made referencein our December, 1946, edition.“Early in the previous month, just after we first gainedknowledge of the stamps so overprinted, we wrote to thePostmaster- General’s Department asking for full informationof the issue. We also stressed the obvious danger ofpermitting but a few of the stamps (which had been prereleased)to be in philatelic circulation, and pointed outthat it was most desirable that, in these circumstances,they should be placed on sale again.“Actually, we think the Postmaster- General’s Departmentto be blameless in the matter of issuing the stamps,but as Australian postal paper is involved the P.M.G.’s Departmentshould, logically, make the proper explanations.“Blackmarketing is still rife in occupied Japan. Indeed,the matter is so serious to warrant discussion by theAustralian Cabinet, to whom a report on black marketoperations in the B.C.O.F. area was recently presented.“The overprinting of Australian stamps was one ofthe means by which it was hoped to hamper black marketoperations, and, possibly, some Government explanationmight now be forthcoming.” 12Money in StampsAustralian Stamp Monthly later reported, “Under thestate of uncertainty that has existed, it is not surprisingthat many collectors have taken a chance and bought thestamps while the few available are on the market. We notethat £7/10/- was paid for a mint block of the 3- pence atauction in Melbourne on February 27 (1948), while otherreports indicate that high prices are being paid for thescarcer ½- penny and 1- penny stamps.”In the meantime, the entire set of seven stamps wasbeing prepared for issue in May. The stamp collectingcommunity in Australia and throughout the world wantedthese stamps for their collections. The demand from collectorsbecame acute. Collectors were offering occupationpersonnel more money for the overprinted stamps thanthey were making in the black market from exchangingunoverprinted stamps for cash.Australian Stamp Monthly: “There is general localagreement that the stamps are very hard to secure inJapan, and if they are available persons are not allowed topurchase more than 10- shillings worth each day. Further,if a person does purchase this quantity each day a militaryorder requires him to explain the reason therefore.”Australian government officials initiated an investigationabout the stamps. (British) Royal Army ColonelE. Percy Dickson, acting Brigadier General Staff, and himselfa philatelist, was requested to give evidence. In a letterdated April 29, 1948, Dickson writes, “I was on myway home [to Britain] when the original issue was madein October 1946 but I told some truths about prices thesedamned things were fetching. I advised unrestricted salethrough the GPO in Australia and Australia House inLondon. I said the London Market would require about50,000 sets, a figure that I think you gave me at one time.It remains to be seen if anyone takes any notice of therecommendation.” 13No one did.The 5- shilling stamp, the highest face value in the set,had the lowest printing quantity—32,508 14 (Figure 7).BCOF overprinted stamps were withdrawn on February12, 1949, ending a 20- month period of validity. Thestamps intended purpose of eliminating the black marketfailed. The black market adjusted quickly and remained athreat to the occupation until the living conditions of theJapanese people improved significantly, and BCOF troopswere withdrawn.Stamp VarietiesThere are three basic types of overprints—two typesof serif overprints and the sans- serif overprints.The halfpenny, sixpence and one shilling values in theset were serif printing overprints. The one penny and threepencestamps were sans- serif overprints. The two high values,two and five shillings, respectively, were slightly larger