Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I have heard of lottery stamps. Is this a lottery postal card? Why would they be numbered. Also the franking of 2 +1 makes it seem like a semipostal franking.
Any help in figuring out what this is would be appreciated.
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Antonio
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Thanks, that makes sense given the picture of the rabbit. I did not realize that New Year's postcards was a practice in Japan. Thanks for the info.
Still wondering why they are franked like a semi-postal and why they are numbered.
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For once, a question I can answer!
The answer to the question in your title is: yes -- it's both a semi-postal and a (New Year's) lottery postcard.
New Year's is the big card-sending holiday in Japan (and they celebrate it on Jan 1, rather than on the Lunar New Year), very much like our (now dying) custom of sending Christmas cards.
One major difference compared to our custom is that, in Japan, postcards or postal cards were very common back in the day, rather than cards inside envelopes, and post/postal cards are still quite common.
The other major difference is that the Japanese government (or the Japanese post office?) runs a big New Year's lottery. I think there are a few big grand prizes, and then a lot of smaller prizes. One of the smaller prizes are the souvenir sheets that you can see footnoted in Scott under the listings for the New Year stamps. Millions of them are awarded.
For many years, the lottery entry was a postcard like you've shown. So, in the same way that some people stick lottery tickets in a birthday or Christmas present, you mailed your New Year's card to someone. with a lottery number on it, and they might win a prize.
If you look at that Sakura catalog page that Dell4c posted above, you'll see that the New Year's cards were issued both without and with lottery numbers. On this page, the ones without a lottery number are the odd-numbered listings, while the ones with the lottery number are the even-numbered listings. That one-yen surtax pays the lottery entry.
I'm virtually 100% certain that the card you've shown was privately printed, both the design on the back and, of course, the address on the front. (I think that's the sender's -- looks like a business -- return address. The area to the right of it was for the recipient's address.)
I hope that's a little bit helpful. Let me know if I can round out my answer for you in any way.
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I forgot to add that, in recent years (I know I should look it up) New Year's stamps come the same way. You can buy the stamps just to pay the postage, or you can buy a similarly-designed but slightly larger stamp that also has a lottery number printed on it.
I think this came about because it's not uncommon for people to print their own New Year's cards off on their computer, with, say, a family photo or something else uniquely personal, and so the pre-printed postal cards from the post office just wouldn't work as well.
So, in 1989 (I just looked it up), the post office began issuing New Year's stamps both ways, with and without a lottery number.
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Here's an example of the New Year's stamps issued in November 1992 for New Year 1993.
There was a 3-yen premium added for the lottery number, versus the postage-only stamps. (¥41 yen paid the postcard rate, with ¥62 paying the letter rate.)
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Thanks Dave! That is very helpful. It's nice to have my suspicions confirmed. So the extra 1 cent paid for entering into the lottery. Cool pictures of lottery stamps too!
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Great, Antonio!
Sorry for the lengthy answer. If I had had more time, I could've written a shorter response - lol!
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06:16:19pm
" ... If I had had more time, I could've written a shorter response ..."
There is nothing wrong with a long answer that expands our knowledge about things that we come across while stamping.
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I have never seen anything quite like this before.
I have heard of lottery stamps. Is this a lottery postal card? Why would they be numbered. Also the franking of 2 +1 makes it seem like a semipostal franking.
Any help in figuring out what this is would be appreciated.
Front
Back
Thanks,
Antonio
1 Member
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Login to Like.
re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
Thanks, that makes sense given the picture of the rabbit. I did not realize that New Year's postcards was a practice in Japan. Thanks for the info.
Still wondering why they are franked like a semi-postal and why they are numbered.
Login to Like
this post
re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
For once, a question I can answer!
The answer to the question in your title is: yes -- it's both a semi-postal and a (New Year's) lottery postcard.
New Year's is the big card-sending holiday in Japan (and they celebrate it on Jan 1, rather than on the Lunar New Year), very much like our (now dying) custom of sending Christmas cards.
One major difference compared to our custom is that, in Japan, postcards or postal cards were very common back in the day, rather than cards inside envelopes, and post/postal cards are still quite common.
The other major difference is that the Japanese government (or the Japanese post office?) runs a big New Year's lottery. I think there are a few big grand prizes, and then a lot of smaller prizes. One of the smaller prizes are the souvenir sheets that you can see footnoted in Scott under the listings for the New Year stamps. Millions of them are awarded.
For many years, the lottery entry was a postcard like you've shown. So, in the same way that some people stick lottery tickets in a birthday or Christmas present, you mailed your New Year's card to someone. with a lottery number on it, and they might win a prize.
If you look at that Sakura catalog page that Dell4c posted above, you'll see that the New Year's cards were issued both without and with lottery numbers. On this page, the ones without a lottery number are the odd-numbered listings, while the ones with the lottery number are the even-numbered listings. That one-yen surtax pays the lottery entry.
I'm virtually 100% certain that the card you've shown was privately printed, both the design on the back and, of course, the address on the front. (I think that's the sender's -- looks like a business -- return address. The area to the right of it was for the recipient's address.)
I hope that's a little bit helpful. Let me know if I can round out my answer for you in any way.
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re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
I forgot to add that, in recent years (I know I should look it up) New Year's stamps come the same way. You can buy the stamps just to pay the postage, or you can buy a similarly-designed but slightly larger stamp that also has a lottery number printed on it.
I think this came about because it's not uncommon for people to print their own New Year's cards off on their computer, with, say, a family photo or something else uniquely personal, and so the pre-printed postal cards from the post office just wouldn't work as well.
So, in 1989 (I just looked it up), the post office began issuing New Year's stamps both ways, with and without a lottery number.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
Here's an example of the New Year's stamps issued in November 1992 for New Year 1993.
There was a 3-yen premium added for the lottery number, versus the postage-only stamps. (¥41 yen paid the postcard rate, with ¥62 paying the letter rate.)
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
Thanks Dave! That is very helpful. It's nice to have my suspicions confirmed. So the extra 1 cent paid for entering into the lottery. Cool pictures of lottery stamps too!
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re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
Great, Antonio!
Sorry for the lengthy answer. If I had had more time, I could've written a shorter response - lol!
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
22 Aug 2017
06:16:19pm
re: Is this a Japanese Semi-Postal or Lottery Postal Card?
" ... If I had had more time, I could've written a shorter response ..."
There is nothing wrong with a long answer that expands our knowledge about things that we come across while stamping.
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