FLOAT

China 1953 Unissued 'Military Stamp' (Navy/Purple)

Maker
People's Republic of China (PLA Military Postal Service)
Year
1953
Rank
56 of 100

China 1953 Unissued 'Military Stamp' (Navy/Purple)

China 1953 Unissued 'Military Stamp' (Navy/Purple) by People's Republic of China (PLA Military Postal Service) (1953) is ranked 56 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It sold for $192,535 on 31 July 2010. Issued to active-duty PLA soldiers then withdrawn and stocks destroyed as a security risk — one of the great modern Chinese rarities.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

Issued to active-duty PLA soldiers then withdrawn and stocks destroyed as a security risk — one of the great modern Chinese rarities.

1953 Military Post set; the Navy ('Purple') value is the recorded rarity; ~15-20 survive

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$192,535
Kind
Realized at auction
Date
31 July 2010

InterAsia Auctions, Hong Kong, 31 July 2010: HK$1,495,000 (~$192,535, the page's own conversion).

This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08