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1st Series, high value reduced size (25 Sen, 50 Sen and 1 Yen)
Shortly after the issuance of the documentary revenues, size of high denominations (e.g. 25 Sen, 50 Sen and 1 Yen) has been reduced to match the low denomination issues on August 31, Meiji 6 (1873). 50 Sen green was not officially issued and thus exists only as specimen printed on a mini sheet, making this revenue as the most rare item in classic Japanese revenue.
unechan
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2nd Issue - color change and addition of higher denominations (native paper, rouletted)
In 1874, the printing colors of 5 Sen, 10 Sen add 50 Sen has been changed. Also higher denominations - 5 Yen and 20 Yen - were issued using foreign paper. All issues were perforated using roulette.
unechan
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3rd Issue - transitional (native paper, perforated)
Shortly after the color change in 1874, normal perforation device has been adopted for 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 Sen revenue stamps. Native paper was still used. Official announcement on this change does not exist, but based on the usage, it is considered that this change occurred at around 1876 (Meiji 8) and the usage of this transitional issue is considered to be rather short - a few years at maximum - and have been replaced by the next (4th) issue.
unechan
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4th Issue (foreign paper, perforated)
Shortly after the introduction of (normal) perforation, the paper has been changed from native paper to foreign (e.g. western, normal) paper. This transition was announced in proclamation of Meiji 7 (1874), where the normal perforations was adopted for higher denominations (5 Yen and 20 Yen) . The 4th series 20 Yen revenue stamp is the most scarce item amongst the issued revenue, and it is thought that not more than 30 copies exist.
unechan
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5th Issue (foreign paper, perforated, multiplicative printing)
The last series of the documentary revenues is the 5th Issue, printed on foreign paper and perforated. This series is different from the previous 4th Issue that the original plates have been multiplicated (probably by electroplating) to accomodate for mass production without preparing multiple original plates. The 1 Sen balck revenue is the most common classic Japanese revenue found on market. On the contrary, very limited number of 25 Sen were printed, making this revenue stamp the second toughest item to collect.
unechan
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Plate I - Position 1
Plate I, Position 1.
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Plate I - position 10
Plate I - position 10 Perf 10, porous paper
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Plate I - position 11
Plate I - position 11
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Plate I - position 12
Plate I - position 12
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Plate I - position 13
Plate I - position 13
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Plate I - position 14
Plate I - position 14
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Plate I - position 15
Plate I - position 15
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Plate I - position 16
Plate I - position 16
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Plate I - position 17
Plate I - position 17. Perf 13
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Plate I - position 18
Plate I - position 18
unechan