Pokemon, rare stamps to draw visitors to world stamp exhibition in Taipei

A rare misprinted US postage stamp known as the “Inverted Jenny” would be among the highlights of the PHILATAIPEI 2026 World Stamp Championship Exhibition in Taipei, while Pokemon-themed stamps and merchandise have mostly sold out in online presales, organizers said on Monday.

The “Inverted Jenny” is a famous 24-cent US postage stamp issued in 1918. It features a Curtiss JN-4 biplane, nicknamed the “Jenny,” printed upside down within a red frame because of a printing error.

Only about 100 examples of the misprinted stamp are reportedly still in existence worldwide, state-run Chunghwa Post Co said.

Chunghwa Post chairman Wang Kwo-tsai, fourth left, and other officials announce details of the upcoming PHILATAIPEI 2026 World Stamp Championship Exhibition at an event in Taipei on Monday.

Photo: CNA

One example sold for US$2 million at a Robert A. Siegel auction in November 2023, setting a record for a single US stamp sold at auction.

The exhibition is to run from Nov. 20 to 25 at the Taipei World Trade Center. Admission is free.

At a news conference on Monday, Chunghwa Post said the exhibition, themed “Innovation Sustainability,” would feature several sections, including one dedicated to rare stamps and the National Palace Museum, a Taiwan and global thematic section, a stamp art DIY section and a section marking Chunghwa Post’s 130th anniversary.

The event would bring together postal services, stamp dealers and philatelists from 69 countries and territories, with 2,054 frames displaying rare stamp collections from Taiwan and abroad, the company said.

Taiwan last hosted a world stamp exhibition in 2016, Chunghwa Post chairman Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said, adding that he hoped this year’s event would help raise Taiwan’s international profile.

Other historical stamps that would be on display include the Shanghai-printed Flying Geese Basic Stamps from 1949, Argentina’s Farmer and Rising Sun Stamp from 1911 and the Dragon-Horse Postage Stamps from 1888, Chunghwa Post said.

The six-day exhibition would feature daily activities, including performances, autograph sessions, lectures and Pokemon meet-and-greet events, it said.

For the exhibition, Chunghwa Post has teamed up with the Pokemon franchise to release stamps and cobranded merchandise.

The Pokemon-themed stamps and merchandise allocated to online presales, accounting for 60 percent of the total and including 180,000 stamps, were mostly sold out within two hours, the company said.

The Pokemon merchandise would not be restocked because of contractual restrictions, Wang said.

Another 20 percent of the Pokemon-themed stamps and merchandise are to go on sale at 11am on the exhibition’s opening day at Entrance 8 of the Taipei World Trade Center, Chunghwa Post said.

A further 20 percent of the themed stamps are to be sold at designated Chunghwa Post branches.