Lot 30266 – 1875, 15 sen violet syll. ro (2) pos. 5, featuring « handwritten 10 (+) » (« kaki-zyu ») variety

THE HANDWRITTEN « KAKIJU » RETOUCH

1875, 15 sen violet, syllabic 2 (ro), position 5 featuring « handwritten 10 (+) » (« kaki-zyu ») variety, good impression and deep shade clearly exhibiting this extraordinary variety, hinged with original gum being cracked as usually encountered. Very fine. Cert. Philatelic Museum Expert Committee (2015).

Only about five unused examples recorded of this fascinating hand-retouched error. (JSCA 37 2 (ro) v-1-5-r, ¥2,500,000).

Note: In position 5 the « kanji » character for « 10 » was omitted at right and later retouched. In most of the already printed sheets the missing character was precariously inserted by hand. The error occurred in the earliest printing and was discovered shortly after ; as a matter of fact, the omission and the corrections inserted by hand only appear on examples in grayish shade, which is distinctive of the very early printing.