Return To Catalogue - 1851 issue (Victoria laureated) - 1856-60 issue - Issues of 1856 to 1903 - Miscellaneous (due, fiscals etc.) - Australia - Railway stamps
Note: on my website many of the
pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.
1 p red 2 p blue 3 p green
For the specialist, 2 plates exist of the 1 p, 5 plates of the 2 p:
Plate 1 and 2 of the 1 p, first picture reproduced with
permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com
Plates of the 2 p, plate 1 and 2 reproduced with permission from:
http://www.sandafayre.com
| 1 p | Plate 1 | No clouds |
| Plate 2 | With clouds (except for one position, which still doesn't have any clouds) | |
| 2 p | Plate 1 | Background with vertical wavy lines, next to fan shading in circle |
| Plate 2 | Background with horizontal wavy lines, date on the bale at the left | |
| Plate 3 | Background with horizontal wavy lines, no date, bale with single lines | |
| Plate 4 | As plate 3, but bale with double lines | |
| Plate 5 | As plate 3, with pearl in the fan |
Value of the stamps |
|||
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon |
*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare |
||
| Value | Unused | Used | Remarks |
| 1 p | RRR | RRR | |
| 2 p | RRR | RRR | |
| 3 p | RRR | RRR | |
Site with much information about these stamps: http://www.stampsandstuff.net/nsw01_menu.php by Alex Mantegazza.
(A so-called butterfly cancel used in Victoria)
(Barred oval cancel used in Sydney only)
(Barred numeral cancel with horizontal bars)
Numeral 'ray cancel 64'
I don't have much information about the barred
numeral cancels. In 1849 when the stamps were issued, 96 post
offices existed. Each of them was assigned a number
based on the pattern of roads going out of Sydney
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_New_South_Wales)
Apparently new numbers were still allocated up to about 1904.
Some numbers also were re-located to other towns as time passed. Sydney
itself used cancels without any number. The
numeral cancels were first issued with horizontal
bars, later numeral cancels with rays were
introduced. From many of the later issued numbers, it is not
clear to which town they actually belonged. I only know that the
following numbers correspond to the towns:
1: Ryde
2: Parramatta
3: Windsor
4: Richmond
5: Gosfored
6: St.Mary's
7: Penrith
8: Hartley
9: Bathurst
10: Carcoar
11: Canowindra
12: Cowra
13: O'Connell
14: Orange
15: Molong
16: Wellington
17: Dubbo
18: Mudgee
19: Rylstone
20: Liverpool
21: Campbelltown
22: Appin
23: Wollongong
24: Dapto
25: Kiama
26: Shoalhaven
27: Huskisson
28: Ulladulla
29: Broulee
30: Camden
31: Picton
32: Berrima
33: Marulan
34: Bugonia
35: Goulburn
36: Braidwood
37: Bungendore
38: Queanbeyan
39: Cooma
40: Bomballa
41: Collector
42: Gundaroo
43: Gunning
44: Yass
45: Binalong
46: Gundagai
47: Tumut
48: Tarcutta
49: Wagga-Wagga
50: Albury
51: Deniliquin
52: Moulamain (later Bourke)
53: Balranald
54: Carrington (later Pyrmont)
55: Newcastle
56: Hexham
57: Raymond Terrace
58: Clarence Town
59: Dungog
60: Paterson
61: Gresford
62: Morpeth
63: East Maitland
64: West Maitland
65: Wollombi
66: Singleton
67: Muswellbrook
68: Scone
69: Murrurundi
70: Packataroo (later Blayney)
71: Tamworth
72: Wee Waa
73: Warialda
74: Callandoon (later Jembaicumbene)
75: Jerry's Plains
76: Merton
77: Merriwa
78: Cassilis
79: Coolah
80: Coonabarabran
81: Warwick (later Lambing Flat)
82: Armidale
83: Wellingrove
84: Tenterfield
85: Drayton (later Booligal)
86: Gayndah (later Pennant Hills)
87: Ipswich
88: Port Macquarie
89: Kempsey
90: Grafton
91: Tabulam
92: Richmond River Casino
93: Boyd (later Gerringong)
94: Eden
95: Brisbane (later Brownlow Hill)
96: Maryborough
890: Edgecliff
893: Smith Town
897: Upper Burragorang
898: Belmont (near Newcastle)
908: Werris Creek
910: Homebush
914: Miller's Point
917: King Street (Sydney)
919: Granville (Sydney)
922: Arncliffe (Syndey)
924: Park Street (Sydney)
2099: Toolijooa
Examples:
This is the first forgery described in Album Weeds; there is a line through the word 'CAMB'. The fan at the bottom of the circle has a six segment ornament at its base which is quite different from the genuine stamps. There are other differences. I've been told that this forgery was made by Jeffreys, but I doubt this information is correct. Note the 'VF' in a circle cancel on one of the forgeries. This cancel appears on many other forgeries of other countries (see http://www.bondskeuringsdienst.nl/VFstempel.pdf by Hans J.A.Vinkenborg).
Third forgery of the 2 p of Album Weeds:
In this forgery a city is shown in the central circle, which has absolutely no resemblance to the genuine stamp. Furthermore the inscription reads "SIECILLUM NOV. CAMB. AUSTR." instead of "SIGILLUM. NOV. CAMB. AUST." The value inscription is in colour on a white background instead of in white on a coloured background for the 1 p and 2 p forgeries. I have seen this forgery with many different cancels; "CORRE...." ("CORREOS") in a circle and mute cancels in black or red. It appeared somewhere around 1868, since 'The Stamp-Collector's Magazine' of May 1, 1868 decribes it on page 76. I've also seen the 3 p value with the "CORREOS" cancel. I've also seen the 2 p value with a "NSW" surrounded by 3 ellipses, much like the later genuine cancels.
(Another forgery)
(Probably made by the same forger, compare the weird cancel on
the first stamp and the 2 p forgery above!)
In this forgery, there is always(?) a scratch through the top of
the 'S' of 'POSTAGE'.
(And more forgeries)
A lithographed forgery. Two types printed side by side.
1 p "proof" with the background pattern like bricks....
Most likely a crude forgery.
Forgeries with a '8' numeral cancel. Similar cancels were used by
Oneglia on his Nova Scotia forgeries.
Two different 3 p forgery types, printed together.
Jeffreys made forgeries of at least the 1 p (plate 1).
(Jeffreys forgeries with '49' cancel of Wagga-Wagga)
The Jeffreys forgeries are engraved and dangerous, but they do not show the plating characteristics. The star is placed under the 'TA' of 'POSTAGE' (genuine stamps always? under the 'T'). According to 'Philatelic Forgers, their Lives and Works' by Varro E. Tyler they exist either cancelled with the Sydney barred cancellation or the numeral cancels '43', '12', '24', '29', '34', '49', '62', '64', '84', '93' or uncancelled. But I have also seen them with the cancels '38' and '92':
(Jeffreys forgeries with '38', '92' and '24' cancels)
Jeffreys forgery with '84' cancel
(London Exhibition Sheet)
In 1950 a souvenir sheet was issued in London for 'The London International Stamp Exhibtion'; On this souvenir sheet there is a 1 Sh Nova Scotia 1852 violet stamp, a Penny Black, a New South Wales 1 p red 1850, a Ceylon 4 p 1859 and a 4 p Cape triangle of 1853, it was reproduced by the collotype process and printed by Waterlow & Sons. I have seen all the cuts from this sheet offered as forgeries.
Cut from this sheet, the part with '1850' has been cut off. Click
on this image to see an enlarged stamp.
Crude forgery with cancel 'SYDNEY JAN .. 930 PM 92 28'. Next to
it a later issue forgery with the same cancel.
Mystery item 2 p in red? The design of this forgery is identical
to the image given in "The illustrated catalogue of postage
stamps" by J.E.Gray (1870, page 160).
Another mystery item 1 p blue. Rather crude design.
Another forgery?
I've heard of forgeries with a misspelt 'SIDNEY' circular cancel (NEW SOUTH WALES in a circle and 'SIDNEY' straight in the center). I haven't seen this type of forgery yet.
I know that Alfred van Dyck made some facsimiles of the essays of this issue. I have no further information. In the Philatelic Journal of America Vol X, July 1893, No 103, page 22 one can find the following text: "We consider that this is the cleverest swindle that has been perpetrated on the philatelic public since that archswindler Van Dyck palmed off on many dealers and collectors the reprints of New South Wales" when discussing some forgeries o f Bolivia.
Literature:
History of the Post Office: Together with an historical account
of the issue of postage stamps in New South Wales compiled
chiefly from the records, 1890 , 110 pages by Andrew Houison;
This book was withdrawn after forgeries were made from the plates
of this book (15 photogravure plates). A reprint was made in
1983.
For the New South Wales 1851 issue (Victoria laureated), click here.