Stamps of the Japanese Occupation of China 1937-1945

The Chinese provinces of Hopei, northern Honan, Shantung, Shansi, and Supeh were administered separately as North China by the Japanese Occupiers. On December 14, 1937 a Japanese puppet government was established in Peking, called the "Provisional Government of the Chinese Republic" which had no authority outside North China. When the Wang Ching-wei puppet "national" government was created in Nanking on March 30, 1940, the Peking regime was demoted and renamed the "North China Political Affairs Commission," but its separate administration was allowed to continue. On July 1, 1941, the six districts (Hopei, Honan, Shantung, Shansi, Supeh, & Mengkiang) began issuing overprinted stamps (small and large). These were in use until June 1,1941 (legible cancels are very hard to locate). In April 1942, occupied Central China doubled its domestic postal rates while the rates in North China and Mengkiang remained the same. To equalize the value of their stamps, North China and Menkiang issued Half-Value Surcharges on June 1, 1942 (two character overprints). These superseded the Six District Overprints, which were no longer authorized. These remained in use until November 1, 1943 when North China issued Full Value Overprinted stamps (4 character machine overprints). Mengkiang followed with Full Value Overprints in June 1945. These were valid for use until September 3, 1945 when the Pacific War in China came to an end. Mengkiang overprinted the current machine overprinted Full value Overprints in June 1945 at Kalgan. These were valid for postal use for a few months  but are very scarce. They are listed in Minkus and the China Stamp Society Catalogs. The scarcest stamps are the full value overprints of Mengkiang that were Handstamped with characters denoting full value. These are not listed in any major catalog. There is a German catalog that lists them in detail, "Postwertzeichen Chinas - Freimarken der japanischen Besetzung Chinas 1941 bis 1945 (Untersuchungen der Ausgaben der Marionettenregierung Chinas und Vorschlage zu einer grundlegend neuen Katalogesierung") by Ludwig Beyer which is THE best catalog of these issues published. Address on request. 

Catalog Value for single stamp of this issue is $55.00.