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A chronological listing of world postage stamps depicting design errors.
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1948 February 23
New Zealand
1-penny stamp for the 100th anniversary of Otago Province settlement depicts a ship at anchor *and* at full sail.
Catalog numbers: Scott 269; Stanley Gibbons 692
Approximate value: US$0.20 (Scott 2010).
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1948 April 5
Belgium
65+65-centime, 1.35+1.35-, 3.15+2.85-, and 10+10-franc semi-postal stamps misplace the double dot over the final "E" in België, placing it over the "I".
Catalog numbers: Scott B451-54
Approximate value: US$13 (Scott 2010).
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1948 May 28
United States of America
3-cent stamp depicts the sinking of the US Army Transport Dorchester, but the ship sunk bow first, not stern first as pictured.
Catalog numbers: Scott 956
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2018).
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1948 July 12
Monaco
4-franc stamp depicts François Joseph Bosio with birth year 1769, but a Monaco 1968 30-centime stamp put his birth year at 1768. Which is correct?
Catalog numbers: Scott 213
Approximate value: US$2.50 (Scott 2010).
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1948 October 16
Hungary
4-filler airmail semi-postal stamp depicts Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, with birth year 1742 instead of the correct 1749.
Catalog numbers: Scott CB5
Approximate value: US$0.55 (Scott 2010).
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1948 October 16
Hungary
40-filler airmail semi-postal stamp depicts Maxim Gorky, with birth/death years as 1869-1935, rather than the correct 1868-1936.
Catalog numbers: Scott CB12
Approximate value: US$0.55 (Scott 2010).
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1949 March 5
Monaco
5-franc stamp depicts ship Princess Alice II at Spitzbergen, with a backward "z".
Catalog numbers: Scott 240
Approximate value: US$1.10 (Scott 2010).
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1949 March 26
France
15+5-franc semi-postal stamp for Stamp Day depicts a left-right reversed image of Étienne François de Choiseul.
Catalog numbers: Scott B237
Approximate value: US$1.20 (Scott 2014).
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1949 April
China (East)
$5 stamp depicts transportation and tower flying a Japanese flag in error.
Catalog numbers: Scott 5L13a
Approximate value: US$65 (Scott 2014).
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1949 May 2
South Africa
100th anniversary of Natal settlers.
Two 1 1/2-pence stamps depict a ship arriving at Natal in 1849, with a radio tower on Durban Bluff which was not there in 1849.
Catalog numbers: Scott 108
Approximate value: US$0.40 (Scott 2010).
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1949 August 1
Switzerland
3-centime stamp depicts high tension electricity lines; each tower should hold 3 pairs of transmission wires and one ground wire (total 7 each), so we should see 14 wires in the gap between the two pairs, but there are only 11.
Catalog numbers: Scott 328; Stanley Gibbons 510
Approximate value: US$1.50 (Scott 2010).
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1949 August 15
India
1-anna stamp depicts the Bodhisattva statue, but the image is reverse left-right. A corrected version of the stamp was issued in 1950.
Catalog numbers: Scott 210
Approximate value: US$0.20 (Scott 2010).
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1949 November 21
Belgian Congo
4-franc stamp for the 75th anniversary of the UPU depicts a ship with the rear flag flowing into the wind, rather than with it.
Catalog numbers: Scott 258
Approximate value: US$0.65 (Scott 2010).
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1950 January
Chile
5- and 10-peso airmail stamps for the 75th anniversary of the UPU show a globe that omits Antarctica.
Catalog numbers: Scott C129-C130
Approximate value: US$0.85 (Scott 2014).
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1950 July 1
Mauritius
12-cent stamp depicts a Dodo bird and map of Mauritius, with incorrect latitude for Port Louis as 21 degrees, rather than 20. The number was corrected when re-issued in 1953.
Catalog numbers: Scott 241; Stanley Gibbons 282
Approximate value: US$1.50 (Scott 2010).
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1950 July 1
North Borneo
50-cent stamp depicts the clock tower at Jesselton, with incorrect caption "JESSLETON". The mistake was corrected on re-issue in 1952.
Catalog numbers: Scott 254; Stanley Gibbons 366
Approximate value: US$0.85 (Scott 2010).
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1950 August 20
Yugoslavia
5-dinar stamp depicts layout of a chess game played in 1924, except the black bishop should be directly behind the king, on the white square. Also, the continents on the globe in the background are really messed up in the north.
Catalog numbers: Scott 302
Approximate value: US$0.45 (Scott 2010).
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1950 August 21
Italy
20-lira stamp depicts flags on a ship being blown into the wind, rather than with it.
Approximate value: US$2.75 (Scott 2010).
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1950 September 11
Italy
20-lira stamp depicts A. Rossi noted as living 1819-1918 rather than 1819-1898.
Catalog numbers: Scott 543
Approximate value: US$2 (Scott 2010).
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1950 October 2
Canada
10-cent stamp depicts an Indian woman drying beaver pelts. Given that the average beaver pelt would rarely exceed 24 inches, if this woman is 5 feet tall, then the upper pelt is an impossible 60 inches long!
Catalog numbers: Scott 301
Approximate value: US$0.25 (Scott 2014).
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1950 October 30
Romania
11-lei stamp depicts seven runners on a presumably oval track, but there is no runner in the inside lane, which is the shortest.
Catalog numbers: Scott 762; Stanley Gibbons 2091
Approximate value: US$1.25 (Scott 2010).
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