Hong Kong China Prints

Plate Numbers, Requisition, Letters and Sheet Numbers

From Perrin:

"Requisition Letters - In studying requisition letters on the CHINA overprint series, it must be borne in mind that the first consignment (dispatched in November, 1916, and brought into use on 1st January, 1917) had no requisition letter/numbers. This resulted in a protest from P.M.G. Hong Kong, who argued that the CHINA series, like the normal Hong Kong issues, should be numbered. He requested that 'sheets of each denomination should be numbered serially as follows: A1 onwards for the first supply, B1 onwards for the second supply, C1 onwards for the third supply and so on'.

Since the sheets had to be re-issued by Hong Kong in varying quantities to individual Agencies, and separately accounted for, one can sympathise with the P.M.G.'s desire for a system which would avoid the necessity of counting each individual sheet. The first reaction within G.P.O. was nonetheless surprisingly cool. The proposal was considered unnecessary and uneconomic, and was referred upward for a policy decision. However, at the higher level 'it is thought to be impolitic to refuse to facilitate work undertaken exceptionally by the Colonial P.M.G., especially as all other issues of Hong Kong postage stamps bear a serial number. It has been ascertained from the Crown Agents that the cost And the final decision: 'There are special reasons. A lot of work is done in Hong Kong without adequate remuneration. Go ahead.' Accordingly, the second consignment in the autumn of 1917 was printed with requisition letter A.

The number of surviving requisition blocks recorded is remarkably low, some printings have not been recorded, and dates can only be reconstructed approximately from incomplete evidence. The above G.P.O. correspondence confirms what was already clear: that sheets produced for the CHINA overprint were numbered quite separately from the normal Hong Kong issue. Thus, the China 25c. M.C.A. exists with requisition A, whereas the normal 25c started at letter B, and by the time of the first CHINA issue must have reached about letter E.

Moreover, the CHINA serials were printed throughout in much bigger and thicker type (e.g. letter F is 6 mm. deep, letter I 7mm. deep, with numbers 4 ½ -5 mm. deep); and , whereas in the normal issues the numbers always followed immediately after the letter, in the CHINA series a large gap was left (e.g. 14mm. from right of letter to first figure). Also unlike the normal issue, the CHINA series included letter I, and in this case 'No.' was inserted in the gap (e.g. I. No. 1528). In the final printing, 'No.' was positioned over column 3, the serial number over column 4, and the requisition letter J appeared after the number at the top of column 6. We have already seen (under Printing Arrangements) that these differences from the normal Hong Kong issue result from the fact that the CHINA serials were printed separately by Somerset House, instead of by De La Rue.

Requisition letters and numbers were normally printed in black. However, there was a curious deviation in the case of letter D. Whereas D 5112 (10c.) was printed as normal in black throughout, there are cases (D 201 (6c) and D 633 (2c)) where the letter is in black but the number in blue.''

Sheet/Serial Numbers:

The Nil requisition were not numbered as well as the H Requisition 50c.

This cover, dated April 2, 1922 from Shanghai to Berne, Switzerland is believed to be the only known example of a sheet number used on cover. In this particular instance, the 1 cent stamp probably paid the certificate of mailing fee.

First Issue Requisition Letters

Value	Color	Requisition
1 cent	Black-Brown	Nil
1 cent	Brown	A
1 cent	Reddish-Brown	D
2 cents	Deep Blue-Green	Nil
2 cents	Deep Green	A
2 cents	Green	D
4 cents	Scarlet	Nil
4 cents	Carmine-Red	A
4 cents	Carmine-Rose	D
6 cents	Brown-Orange	Nil
6 cents	Brown-Orange	A
6 cents	Orange	D
8 cents	Slate	Nil
8 cents	Grey?	A
8 cents	Grey?	B
8 cents	Grey	D
10 cents	Deep Bright Ultramarine	Nil
10 cents	Dull Ultramarine	A
10 cents	Ultramarine?	B
10 cents	Ultramarine	D
12 cents	Purple on Yellow/Yellow Back	Nil
12 cents	Purple on Pale Yellow/Yellow Back	A
20 cents	Purple and Sage Green	Nil
20 cents	Purple and Deep Sage Green	A
20 cents	Purple and Deep Sage Green	C
25 cents	Purple and Magenta	Nil
25 cents	Dull Purple and Bright Magenta	A
30 cents	Purple and Orange-Yellow	Nil
30 cents	Dull Purple and Orange-Yellow	A
50 cents	Grey-Black on Blue Green, Pale Olive Back	Nil
50 cents	Grey-Black on Emerald, Pale Olive Back	A
50 cents	Grey-Black on Emerald, Emerald Back	B
50 cents	Grey-Black on Blue Green, White Back	D
50 cents	Olive Bistre on Emerald, Blue Back	E
50 cents	Grey on Blue Green, Blue Back	F
1 Dollar	Reddish Purple and Bright Blue on Blue	Nil
1 Dollar	Reddish Purple and Bright Blue on Blue	A
1 Dollar	Reddish Purple and Bright Blue on Blue	B
1 Dollar	Grey-Purple and Blue on Blue	E
2 Dollar	Carmine-Red and Grey-Black	Nil
2 Dollar	Carmine-Red and Bistre	A
3 Dollar	Green and Purple	Nil
5 Dollar	Green and Red on Blue-Green, Olive Back	Nil
10 Dollar	Purple and Black on Red	Nil

Second Issue Requisition Letters

Value	Color	Requisition	Image
1 cent	Brown	F	Block of 3 F 374 Strip of 4 F 90 Block of 4 F 428
1 cent	Dark Brown	G
1 cent	Dark Brown	J
2 cents	Green	F
2 cents	Blue-Green	I
4 cents	Carmine-Rose	F	Block of 48 F 250
4 cents	Carmine-Red	I
6 cents	Orange-Yellow	F
8 cents	Grey	F	Pair F 143
10 cents	Pale Ultramarine	F
10 cents	Bright Ultramarine	J
20 cents	Dull Purple and Sage-Green	F
20 cents	Reddish Purple and Sage-Green	H
20 cents	Purple and Deep Sage-Green	J
25 cents	Dull Purple and Magenta	F
25 cents	Brownish Purple and Magenta	J
50 cents	Dark Grey on Emerald, Emerald Back	H
50 cents	Bistre on Emerald, White Back	J
1 dollar	Grey-Purple and Blue on Blue	F
1 dollar		H
1 dollar	Purple and Blue on Blue	J
2 dollars	Carmine-Red and Olive-Bistre	F
2 dollars	Scarlet and Beige Brown	H
2 dollars	Carmine-Red and Grey-Black	J

Plate Numbers

The stamps were printed in sheets of 240, divided into 4 panes each of 10 rows of 6 stamps and using two printing plates, one for the head of King George V, known as the head plate or vignette and a second for the frame, which was known as the duty plate. One duty plate was used for each value with the exception of the 25 cent value which was used until 1919 when it was discovered that it contained a wrong Chinese character and a new plate was made. One common head plate was used for all values and sheets exhibit just that number. Consequently the only plate number that appears on all of the China overprints is that of Head Plate Number 1 which appears on the panes above 1-2 NW and 1-5 NE and below 10-2 SW and 10-5 SE.

Denomination	Image
First Issue
1c
2c
4c
6c
8c
10c
12c
20c
25c
30c
50c
$1
$2
$3
$5
$10

Second Issue
1c
2c
4c
6c
8c
10c
20c
25c
50c
$1
$2

Plate number examples used on cover recorded to date are:

10c Shanghai 21 Sep 1921

Quantities Destroyed and Sold

After the closure of the Treaty Ports in 1922, surviving stocks of the stamps were returned to Hong Kong and shipped back to London on the S.S. Morea on 18 October 1924. After the closure of Wei Hai Wei in 1930, the surviving stocks remaining there were also returned to Hong Kong and then returned to London on 16 September 1932. All returned stocks were destroyed. Consequently an educated guess of the number of stamps used by denomination are listed below and highlights the relative scarcity of some of the values.