Japan 1871 Dragon (First Issue)
- Maker
- Empire of Japan
- Year
- 1871
- Rank
- 58 of 100
Japan 1871 Dragon (First Issue)
Japan 1871 Dragon (First Issue) by Empire of Japan (1871) is ranked 58 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It sold for $2,539 on 3 June 2023. Japan's first postage stamps — the foundation of all Japanese philately.
What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?
Japan's first postage stamps — the foundation of all Japanese philately.
48/100/500 mon hand-engraved 'Dragon' stamps, Japan's first national issue; representative used
What is the best-sourced number for it?
- Figure
- $2,539
- Kind
- Realized at auction
- Date
- 3 June 2023
David Feldman SA, Geneva, 2023 June 1st-3rd Latin America, Egypt and Japan sale, lot 30057, sold 3 June 2023: an 1871 Dragons 500 mon greyish yellow green, plate 1, earliest printing, imperforate single, used, canceled by a large Fushimi Kensazumi handstamp; estimate EUR 1,500-2,000, price realized EUR 2,200. Converted at 1 EUR = 1.1542 USD (2026-08-06). Substitution disclosed: the catalogue entry covers the 48/100/500 mon values collectively, so a single used example had to be chosen — this is the 500 mon top value as a plain used single, not a variety, multiple or cover. Used singles in the same sale spanned a wide band: lot 30005 (48 mon deep reddish brown, used) made EUR 700 and lot 30058 (500 mon dark blue green, used) made EUR 440. May be hammer before buyer's premium.
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