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1897 Empress Dowager Second Printing coloured imperf proof complete set of 9 values in pair，extremely scarce，VF-F.
On the 7th day of the 2nd month of the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Kuang Hsu（March 20th，1896），the Ching government officially approved a proposal to set up a National Postal Service，which was subsequently inaugurated on February 20th，1897. From then onwards Customs issues were invalid for postage and all postal rates were calculated in Silver Dollar Currency. To supply immediate needs，a quantity of Small Dragon and Empress Dowager stamps as well as the unissued Red Revenue 3c were surcharged with new values in Silver Dollar Currency for use. Most Empress Dowager Second Printing issues were used to be surcharged in Silver Dollar Currency after being printed out，so their original stamps are very rare. This lot present the pair set of the imperf proofs of the Second Printing，making it even rarer and a very precious group of items in collecting Empress Dowagers.