Lot# 8025

showing the red handstamp “Huwei Branch Station” and a red forwarding cachet of Wenchou Steamship Company. The Taiwan Postal Stamp consisted of two parts, the Stamp Coupon and the Record Coupon, joined by a red-printed Classification Code for Station Name. After collecting the postage based on weight and distance, the clerk recorded the weight, date, and destination station name, along with serial and fare details. The two portions were then separated: the Stamp Coupon was affixed to the mail, canceled by the dispatching station, and the Record Coupon retained for accounting. The sender received a Receipt of Stamp as proof of payment, with the red station code identifying the originating station. Only about five examples of such Huwei–Taipei covers are recorded to date. They are invaluable postal artifacts documenting the formative stage and operational framework of Taiwan’s emerging modern postal system under Liu Ming-chuan’s reforms, marking a pivotal development in the evolution of late Ching postal administration. Mizuhara "Huayou Jijin II" vol. 7, p.263.