Lot# 8028

each affixed with the full set of three denominations from the first issue (Die I) — 30c, 50c, and 100c — all cancelled with purple double-circle “TAIWAN REPUBLIC / TAINAN” datestamps dated September 12, 1895. The date falls about one month before the fall of Formosan Republic, demonstrating that Tainan postal administration was still in operation and maintaining external communications during the final days of the regime, an extremely rare and historically significant occurrence. The first issue “Tiger” stamps were printed between August and September 1895 at Tainan Printing Bureau, produced by hand-engraved silver plates on very thin native paper. They represent the Republic’s first officially issued postage stamps after establishing its independent postal system. Each denomination corresponded to a specific postal rate, with minor variations in inking tones reflecting the manual nature of production. These two pieces, each bearing a complete set tied by identical Tainan cancellations of the same date, form a highly representative and important assembly for the study of the Formosan Republic’s postal operations, rate structure, and primitive printing methods. Mizuhara "Huayou Jijin II" vol. 7, p.270.