Time Capsule EXPO '70 > III > Glossary of ITEMS RELATED TO THE JAPAN WORLD EXPOSITION, OSAKA, 1970(EXPO '70)

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Glossary of ITEMS RELATED TO THE JAPAN WORLD EXPOSITION, OSAKA, 1970(EXPO '70)

M-4-5-1/5 : Commemoratives

The Expo '70 commemorative medals were first issued on September 15th, 1969, in order to raise funds for the 1970 Japan World Exposition in Osaka. The gold medal, designed by Sugiura Kohei, is 27mm in diameter and 7mm thick, in 18 carat gold. The silver and copper medals, both 34mm in diameter, were designed by Sato Tadayoshi and Fukuda Shigeo respectively. The selling price of the set was ¥14,500, of which part went to the Japan Association for the 1970 World Exposition.
After the Expo '70 symbol was adopted in November, 1969, a further medal, in platinum, was issued at a price of ¥100,000. The complete issue was sold out on the first day of sale, March 25th, 1970. The pure platinum medal is 30mm in diameter and bears the Expo '70 symbol.
The ¥100 commemorative coin was sold at Japanese banks and post offices on March 10th and June 9th, 1970. Thirty million coins were minted initially but ten million more coins were issued during the exposition. Of the total, 5 million were reserved for sale to foreign visitors.
The coin is made of white copper (copper 75%, nickel 25%); it is 28mm in diameter and weighs 9 grams. The obverse side bears a design taken from a famous woodblock print, "Aka Fuji", the red Mount Fuji in the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-l849). The reverse side bears the Expo '70 symbol with the globe in the background.

M-4-6-1/4 : Postage stamps

Stamps commemorating Expo '70 were made up of two issues : The first came out prior to the Exhibition in order to raise funds for the construction of the Central gate; the second was sold during the Exhibition.
The fund-raising issue consisted of two stamps: A ¥15 + ¥5 stamp (27 mm X22.5 mm) bearing the globe and Expo '70 symbol and a ¥50 + ¥5 stamp (33mmX48mm) bearing a design taken from the "Plum Trees with White Blossom" screen painting by Ogata Korin.
The fund-raising stamps were issued for sale at Japanese Post Offices between March 15th and April 14th, 1969. They continued to be on sale at Tokyo Central Post Office until June 14th.
The total issue for the ¥15 stamp was 15 million sheets, for the ¥50 stamp, 7.5 million sheets. The proceeds, ¥138 million, were presented to the Japan Association for the 1970 Exposition in December, 1969.
Ordinary commemorative stamps were issued by the Japan Post Office on March 14th, 1970. In addition, 51 countries around the world issued a total of 212 stamps to commemorate Expo '70.

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