Re: Is this abacus back to front?

Thank you very much for your explanation Celko,
it is appreciated.
I now dwell in Elysium.
Rodney
Australia


"--CELKO--" <jcelko212@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:792d5608-9f69-4409-8174-c75f1d395156@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> It was just a curiosity, someone suggested the abacus is "back to
front" 
>>> on this postage stamp.  <<
>
> This is not an abacus.  It is a soroban, the Japanese version.  Before
> WWII they had five beads in the lower section ("Earth") and one in the
> top ("Heaven").  Post-war soroban removed a lower bead.    It is
> oriented correctly.
>
> You can get details at the Tomoe Soroban company website:
> http://www.soroban.com/toiawase_eng.html