Whether we own them or not we all love LOOKING at philatelic Gems and goodies. Add your favourites today. Add your comments WHY this stamp or cover or item is superb or unusual. Or lift them from an auction site to share with other members, if that does not breach their copyright notice.
A fairly modern PO Die Proof I added to stock today, but amazingly they let out a DOUBLE PRINT!
Australia 1958 8d Kingsford Smith - Die Proof *DOUBLE PRINT* ex Arthur Gray: A famous stamp, depicting the famed “The Southern Cross” legendary aircraft, that first crossed the Tasman Sea piloted by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. The Australia Post produced Die Proofs in green, intaglio printed from the original steel engraved recess plates. The only DOUBLE print I have ever seen or heard of on these proofs.
Ex Arthur Gray, and comes with the normal die proof as per photos. Quite Spectacular pair for any collector, or an Exhibit item for an Australia collector, or airmail collector - of either Australia or New Zealand or just “Smithy” material. Both proofs are superb and clean, and huge margined - (Stock 392LG)
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ClickHERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!
BigSaint wrote:The 1984 Australia Day stamp was issued on 26th January 1984 & below is a correctly postmarked Australia Post fdc from Glenelg SA. But there is a second stamp added postmarked on the following day at GPO Darwin, fdi 27th January 1984.
FDC is signed by postmasters at Darwin & Glenelg, so maybe there is a story about this one
Brad
I found another of these covers postmarked fdi in Darwin on 27th January 1984:
Thinking this a bit strange I asked Frank P about them & he referred me to Stamp Bulletin no 170 Jan - Feb 1984 which I have reproduced below:
So it seems each Australian State & Territory celebrated the 1984 Australia Day public holiday on Monday 30th January except Northern Territory which celebrated it with a public holiday on Thursday 26th January. So we have two fdis. If someone at Aust Post had checked the calendar they could have seen the public holiday in Darwin & then altered the issue date to the 27th.
Brad
A recent acquisition of a gutter pair postmarked "Darwin" to complete the trio.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
A recent acquisition from Glen. The QEII blue 5d was issued on 1st October, 1959, but some how this one managed to be postmarked 2 months earlier on 1st August, 1959 at North Maitland NSW:
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
The Kangaroo stamp with tab is a self-adhesive peel & stick personalised stamp. The person who submitted the tab scanned in the image from the Stamp Bulletin and submitted it for printing. This should've been picked up by the Personalised Stamp Department at Australia Post and not allowed but was missed.
I am wondering if anyone knows the correct first day of issue for this PSE by reference to an old stamp bulletin perhaps? Latest 32nd Edition Seven Seas ASC has the first day of issue as 17 September 1986.
I am wondering if anyone knows the correct first day of issue for this PSE by reference to an old stamp bulletin perhaps? Latest 32nd Edition Seven Seas ASC has the first day of issue as 17 September 1986.
Regards
Paul
There are several on ebay at the moment that have the same date as yours above, so I am confident 24th September 1986 is the correct date.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
A recent Delcampe acquisition this 1960 Melbourne Cup this Wesley Cover Service fdc:
Not a postmark I didn't have nor an exotic location but a postmarking error with the 2d olive green Queen Mother being postmarked fdi when issued some 8 years earlier. The 2d stamp was added to make up the airmail rate to England of 2s 3d & the postal clerk was too lazy to pick up the normal cds & instead continued with the fdi postmark.
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
I am wondering if anyone knows the correct first day of issue for this PSE by reference to an old stamp bulletin perhaps? Latest 32nd Edition Seven Seas ASC has the first day of issue as 17 September 1986.
Regards
Paul
I sent the query to John at Seven Seas and he diligently advised last Friday:-
"I eventually found a copy of the relevant Aust Post Stamp Bulletin, and the issue date of this PSE is specified as 17 September 1986. I think we must assume that is the correct date."
A mystery then why a number have been stamped 24 September 1986...
I am wondering if anyone knows the correct first day of issue for this PSE by reference to an old stamp bulletin perhaps? Latest 32nd Edition Seven Seas ASC has the first day of issue as 17 September 1986.
Regards
Paul
I sent the query to John at Seven Seas and he diligently advised last Friday:-
"I eventually found a copy of the relevant Aust Post Stamp Bulletin, and the issue date of this PSE is specified as 17 September 1986. I think we must assume that is the correct date."
A mystery then why a number have been stamped 24 September 1986...
Paul
I will look for my copy of the Aust Stamp Bulletin but in the meantime I still believe that 24 September 1986 is the correct day of issue. I have seen many postmarked on the 24th but only one on the 17th. There are several on ebay at moment from different places all postmarked on the 24th.
I believe Adelaide simply forgot to change date after postmarking AAT fdcs on 17 September 1986:
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
I e-mailed the Philatelic section of Australia Post and received a prompt reply from Ms Cheryl Roy, Manager Philatelic Category, confirming the issue date was 17 September 1986. Ms Roy also provided a copy of the Stamp Bulletin page from issue #185 in August 1986 announcing the issue date as 17 September 1986. Copy below.
Ms Roy added:-
"Back in the 70’s and 80’s a lot of our outlets stamped the product themselves and it appears some outlets must have stamped them with the incorrect date of the 24th."
Brad, case closed now I think... Certainly, a lot of 24 September error stamped PSEs for this issue around.
Regards
Paul
PC's Stamps wrote:Brad,
Maybe there was a later issue date correction in a subsequent stamp bulletin?
I will send that query to Australia Post.
Regards
Paul
No need to ask Australia Post Paul, here is the answer in the next stamp bulletin number 186:
From the September 1986 Philatelic Bulletin:
Production problems caused the delay in issue from 17th to 24th:
From the APW PSE Album
I think this now clears up the issue.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Thanks Brad.
Checking my e-mails this evening and I did receive another very prompt reply from Australia Post late yesterday afternoon. Further checking by Ms Cheryl Roy, Manager Philatelic Category revealed the following in November Stamp Bulletin #187:-
"An unknown quantity of OECD pre-stamped envelopes was inadvertently sold at the Adelaide GPO Philatelic Sales Office on 17 and 18 September 1986. The release should not have been until 24 September 1986.
The issue date for the envelope had been deferred from the 17th to the 24th when difficulty was encountered in reproducing exactly the colours of national flags in the design.
However, the production difficulty was overcome earlier than expected and some stocks reached post offices in time for the originally scheduled launch day. This in turn led to the envelopes being accidently released a week earlier than intended.
The official issue date remains at 24 September 1986. Australia Post does not intend producing first day covers showing 17 September 1986."
Brad, together with Australia Post's help, we did well on solving this mystery!
Regards
Paul
We all know that stamp for JFK's 100th birthday was issued on "President's Day, February 20, 2017:
So imagine my surprise when I spot this cover for "Uncle Sam's Hat" postmarked on February 18, 2017, using the JFK stamp that wasn't issued until two days later:
I really wonder how something like this happens.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
I may have shown one of these covers before, but I found this today when looking for something else & need to show both covers to explain what went on:
Two covers prepared by Havilah Enterprises (Alpha Covers) for the Australian Tennis Open of 2004:
Dated 19th January, 2014 - 10 years in advance
Dated 31st February, 2004 - an impossible date.
I wrote to Australia Post & below is their reply:
Impossible dates, yes & not an Australian Postmark, really
Well what is this then
Is seems to me that someone used the prior years postmark as is shown here.
Here is some sort of explanation from Colleen Woolley in Oz Pictormarks:
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Here's some covers for the Concession stamp from October 2017.
The single-stamp cover is the official post office one they did. The minisheet cover is my own assembly that I sent to the philatelic bureau with a request that they post mark it with a pictorial Canberra post mark dated 1 November, as that was the date of issue for the minisheet (it was part of the Annual Collection that was released this date and that was the only way to get one). Instead they used the FDI postmark from a month previous.
I understand how it happens, as they have explained to me before that they consider the official first day of issue as the release date for the stamp design itself and not for different versions (gummed vs self-adhesive, for example) of a stamp. In this case, my request must have reached them while still within their time limit for the FDI postmark and they just went with that instead.
Borrowed from "The Errors in Artistic Designs of Stamps" thread:
King Tut wrote:MISIDENTIFIED PERSON
This stamp celebrates the settling Newcastle on the Hunter River by portraying Lt John Shortland who discovered the river.
However the Lt John Shortland who in 1797 discovered the Hunter River on which Newcastle stands was the son of the gentleman on the stamp - a clue is the absence of epaulets, which became part of the naval uniform in 1795 and hence would have been worn by his son.
This is a portrait of the correct John Shortland, by an unknown engraver, State Library of New South Wales.
I found this fdc on ebay which compliments King Tut's entry:
and shows the error of Captain Shortland being incorrectly pictured on the stamps as Lieutenant when Lieutenant Shortland should have been pictured on the stamp.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Now I want you all to keep quiet about this one because it is a big secret, so don't tell a soul or they might fix it & it's only been around a few months:
Yes there are 2 "l"s in Caulfield & not 1 as in the cds on the right.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Full time horse non-whisperer, post box searcher and lichen covered granite rock percher. Gee I'm handsome ! You gottem birds, butterflies, shells, maps, flags and heads on stamps ? Me wantem !
The Sydney University students, as you would expect, were clever enough to have this 1983 Australia Day fdc correctly postmarked on first day of issue:
But what happened at Waterloo? It appears that someone forgot to move the year forward & this one was postmarked a year early on 26th January 1982:
Did anyone meet their "Waterloo" after this error
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
We had the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games from the 4th April 2018 to 15th April 2018 & here is the fdc produced for the event:
So why is it postmarked "Brisbane"
Brisbane is about an hour & 80 kilometres north of the Gold Coast & while I appreciate there is no post office called the "Gold Coast", I think it would have more appropriate for the National FDI postmark to be "Surfers Paradise" or "Coolangatta".
I picked up the ones below on ebay & I am not sure why they are postmarked on the 6th April & 28th April as these are neither the first day or last day of the Games":
But if they had done these earlier maybe they would not have run out of stamps.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Something received from Stampboarder Rod Perry recently:
This one with a nice "bulls eye" GPO Melbourne fdi cancel as well as a nice Melbourne machine slogan cancel on November 2, 1960. I didn't think the cover had been re-used so out came the magnifying glass on the fdi cancel:
Surprise, surprise the fdi cancel also says November 2, 1960 which was the fdi for the Queensland Stamp Centenary not the 100th Melbourne Cup which was 12th October 1960.
Did someone slip this one in when sending out the end of month statements
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
First day cover for the Sesqui-Centenary of New South Wales issued 1st October 1937 with SG 193 & 194 & 1d green Queen Elizabeth & 3d Airmail to Singapore:
Mildura cds is dated 30th September 1937, one day before issue.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
I have this letter it was cancelled at the Adelaide Sturt street LPO 5000
on the 31 DEC 2018 last day of the year, then with a machine cancel AMC SA 522 02 JAN 19, then on the stamp with a square cancel JAN 2 2018 missing the 2 unfortunately looks like someone forgot to change the year date:
Nice cover. Could you post a larger image of the stamp & postmark section please. There seems to have been a lot of postmarking happening here but not with the postman's bike.
Perhaps Australia Post are going from one extreme to the other, i.e. no postmarking to double & triple postmarking.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Noting that the British mail audit diamond is on the cover, we know that this cover arrived in England around October. I thought the sea voyage was about 6 weeks so unless this item was delayed, this is more than just the year wheel being in the wrong position (i.e. 8th June 1937).
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
BigSaint wrote:That one is quite spectacular peterh.
Noting that the British mail audit diamond is on the cover, we know that this cover arrived in England around October. I thought the sea voyage was about 6 weeks so unless this item was delayed, this is more than just the year wheel being in the wrong position (i.e. 8th June 1937).
Brad
Yes, I guess we'll never know when it was actually posted.
Australia Racehorse Tulloch stamp (SG #699) issued 18th October 1978 with Doctor Blade flaw to right of horse's nose & front leg continuing down length of right hand side of stamp:
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
This is my 18c flower missing all the black but not as nice as the one you shown.
It was of the same day to the accountant of another firm. Though it was sent by the Philatelic Sales section, I tend to believe that it was not contrived.
This is my 18c flower missing all the black but not as nice as the one you shown.
It was of the same day to the accountant of another firm. Though it was sent by the Philatelic Sales section, I tend to believe that it was not contrived.
Dan
Looks like someone was sending out the monthly invoices or cheques.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.
Australia Performing Arts stamps (SG #641-644) fdc issued 19th January 1977:
However I recently picked this one up at a Brighton Philatelic Society auction:
Dated one year before issue, 19th January 1976, postal staff, at St.Kilda West, appear not have turned over the year wheel on the fdi canceller, for the first new issue of the 1977 year.
Another correctly dated one, this one from the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement with their distinctive overprint in the bottom left corner.
Brad
Specialist Collector of World Horse Racing Covers, Melbourne Cup & Kentucky Derby, & JFK fdcs.