Notes on a Taiwan Domestic Postal Card

(Issue of January 28, 1959)

Ai Li-Shan

Recently, I had the opportunity to examine approximately 3,000 of the Taiwan domestic postal card, issue of January 28, 1959. Both the vertical and horizontal formats were examined. These two cards are PC49 and 50 in the Postal Stationery of Taiwan, Republic of China by Donald R. Alexander and published by the China Stamp Society in 1993. This book was an update of the Han Ho-Yun catalog. The Han numbers of the two cards is 190 and 191 respectively.

The cards can readily be broken down into the two paper types, smooth white paper and the rough grey paper. An examination of the thickness revealed that the white paper was .0077 to .0081 inches (0,196 mm to 0,206 mm) thick, with one exception found on thinner paper at .0071 (0,18 mm). The thin type was found on both the horizontal and vertical formats. The grey paper appeared to be much thicker (probably due to the roughness), however it was also in the .0078-.0081 inch range.

When comparing the dates of usage, it is apparent that the first printings were only on the white paper. Hence, first day cancels is only known on the white paper. This also applies to the card that overprinted for military use, issued on May 30, 1959 (vertical format only). Only the white paper is known for this card.

In the Alexander catalogue, different date imprints were noted, ranting from 16.5 to 18.5 mm in length. A careful examination on both cards (white and grey papers), reveals considerable variation in the length of the date imprint at the top. It appears that on the plate itself there was the different variations rather than on separate plates. It may be interesting to separate the various dimensions, but they are not appropriate as a means of separating the various cards.

The next possible variable I noticed was the distance between the bottom slogans. These are very consistent at approximately 10 mm, with a minor variation of .05 mm or 9.50 between the right and left portions of the slogan. This is a very minor difference.

In comparing the dates found on the grey paper types, the earliest date found was March 25, 1960 on the vertical format and November 3, 1959 on the horizontal format.

In summary, the two postal cards can be separated into the two paper types as the major separation. The white paper being the first with first day cancels known. The grey paper was used for the later printing and was not released until sometime in late 1959, with no first day markings applied. As to the length of the imprint date at the top, with such variation, I suppose you could collect all those between the extreme of 16.5 and 18.5 mm.

Reference:

Alexander, Donald R. Postal Stationery of Taiwan, Republic of China, issued in 1993 by the China Stamp Society, Inc. (this is an update of the Han Ho-Yun Catalogue)