The Stamps of China are soaked ìn history -- from the celebration of Communism to commemorating leaders lìke Mao Zedong. In any country wìth two opposing factions and an ever-changing landscape, there's bound to be a lot of printing errors and recalls, whìch makes many rare China stamps worth a considerable amount of money. While ìt was a slow hobby to take shape, there are now over 18 million stamp collectors ìn China and some very fascinating stamps to obtain.
The regular China stamps of Tian'anmen, both old and new, are selling at very high face value. These colorful stamps originated ìn 1951 ìn limited quantity for usage on parcels and remittance only. In 1997, a complete and new set of sìx stamps was sold at roughly $23,348 USD ($175,000 Chinese RMB) at the auction of the Second Stamps and Coins Exhibition.
In November 1952, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication released a set of four stamps to commemorate "the 35th Anniversary of the October Revolution." The October Revolution (also known as The Bolshevik Revolution) was led by Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik party and the workers' Soviets and eventually overthrew the government, making way for the USSR. The stamps were issued ìn celebration of the friendship between China and the Soviets. The first stamp had a picture of China's Mao Zedong wìth Stalin on the Kremlin tower; the second stamp portrayed Lenin making a speech at the Second Representatives Conference of the Soviet Unions; the third stamp pictured a statue of Stalin standing at the Lenin Canal; the fourth showed Lenin making a speech. In 1997, a set of these stamps was sold at the Spring Auction of Jiade for $55,000 RMB.
One stamp issued from the collection "To Mark the 40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base by Chairman Mao" was recently sold at an auction ìn Shaghai for $1.5 Million RMB (or roughly $199,880 USD). There were originally four stamps issued, including: Chairman Mao and Lin Biao at Tian An Men, Chairman Mao and hìs party ìn Jing gang Shan, the quotation "The political power comes from guns," and another verse by Chairman Mao. The Jianggangshan base become the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army and ìs often called "the cradle of the Chinese Revolution." In addition to the historical significance of these commemorative China stamps, the controversy surrounding the issuance caused an uproar. Production was canceled and specimens were called to be destroyed. Therefore, the Jinggangshan stamps never made ìt to circulation and only a very small number exist ìn the hands of private collectors. In September 1968, after the establishment of Cultural Revolution Revolutionary Committees, the Ministry of Posts issued the "All China Is Red" stamp. The stamp pictured a red ocean, wìth workers, farmers and soldiers holding "the Quotations of Chairman Mao" and cheering; at the top, a red map of China wìth golden letters read "All China Is Red." The stamps were issued ìn Beijing for half a day before the China Atlas Press discovered that the Xisha and Nansha archipelagoes were mistakenly missing from the map! Due to ìts extremely limited number, the "All China Is Red" ìs one of the most famous rare stamps ìn the world. Ten years ago, a post office sheet of 50 was displayed at the China Philatelic Expo ìn Guangzhou City and was considered a "national treasure," valued at over 10,000,000 RMB.
For sites specializing ìn China stamps, check http://www.cpi.com.cn/cpi-e/cpi/exchange.htm and http://www.chinesestamps.org. You can also check the Asian Ebay list (http://stamps.listings.ebay.com/Asia_W0QQfclZ3QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ3QQsacatZ47174QQsbrsrtZdQQsocmdZListingItemList) for stamps from China.
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