Lot 90037 – 1872, 1/2 sen brown, plate 1, pair with 2 sen “ribbon”, used with “Kiban” postmark on cover

1872, 1/2 sen brown, plate 1, vertical pair from positions 13-21, in combination with 1875 “Cherry Blossom” 2 sen yellow “ribbon”, all tied by two strikes of Kiban i-he 7 of Takasago (Harima province) to reverse of inland cover, alongside showing type KG “Takasago -.1.4” (4 January, ca. 1876/77) double circle. Envelope with upper left corner clipped, not affecting the very fine franking.

A very late and most rare usage of the Perforated Dragon issue cancelled by a “kiban” postmark.

Note: Franked at 2 sen basic letter rate and extra 1 sen, paying the supplementary fee for delivery to places outside the normal circuit of the post office, the so called “inconvenience rate” of the tariffs of Meiji 6.4.1 (1 January 1873).