Scott No: 409-412
Serial number: C60
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: April 25, 1959
Denomination: 32 fen
Designer: Sun Chuanzhe
Engraver: Kong Shaohui, Sun Yongjing, Song Hongnian, Tang Linshen
Size of stamps: 29.5*20mm
Perforation: 14
Sheet composition: 120(10*12)
Printing process: Engraving
Printing House: Beijing People's Printing Works

C60 "Great Agricultural Harvest of 1958" commemorative stamps were issued on April 25, 1959. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by engraving, designed by Sun Chuanzhe, engraved by Sun Hongnian, Kong Shaohui, Gao Pinzhang, and Tang Linkun, and printed by the Beijing People's Printing Factory. Stamp size 22.5 mm × 27 mm, perforation gauge 14, 120 stamps per sheet (10 × 12), with a total face value of 0.32 yuan for the set; Wheat 8 fen, circulation 7 million copies; Rice 8 fen, circulation 7 million copies; Cotton 8 fen, circulation 7 million copies; Soybean, Peanut, and Rapeseed 8 fen, circulation 7 million copies.

Theme of the Set

In 1958 agricultural production and construction were carried out across the country, and various places vied to achieve bumper harvests. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this set, selecting China's main crops as the subjects, reflecting the bustling scene of agricultural production that year, praising the peasants' hard work, and carrying the beautiful vision of increased agricultural production and an abundant harvest of all grains.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Wheat

The design takes wheat ears as the main subject: full ears of wheat cluster in layers, surrounded by silhouettes of peasants celebrating the harvest, with red flags in the background, implying a bumper wheat harvest and being a portrayal of the harvest of the main grain crop of the north.

Rice

The main subject of the design is heavy ears of rice, with full grains, paired with silhouettes of celebrating crowds, representing a bumper rice harvest in the south and embodying the achievements of China's paddy-field grain production.

Cotton

The design depicts fluffy, huge cotton bolls with spreading cotton fiber, supplemented by silhouettes of peasants. Cotton is an important cash crop related to the people's livelihood of textiles, and the picture expresses the scene of a bumper cotton harvest.

Soybean, Peanut, and Rapeseed

The design gathers various oil crops—soybean, peanut, and rapeseed—with luxuriant fruits, paired with celebrating silhouettes, displaying a comprehensive bumper harvest of oil crops and enriching the categories of agricultural production.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a horizontal format and engraving; the lines are concise and hard, with a strong decorative quality. The four stamps share the same compositional paradigm: the main crop is placed at the center of the picture, with silhouettes of crowds and red flags around it setting off a festive atmosphere. The colors are differentiated, and the forms draw on the style of folk New Year pictures, full and passionate, with a strong rustic flavor. The four stamps have the same circulation, making complete sets relatively stable in difficulty to collect.