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Education Department (red) postmarked HOBART 28 OCT 1902 -- image to follow. May be LRD of all Frank Stamps? David

I have the following for Hobart: 1d Wide H - MAR 28/1896 1d S - MAY 31/1899 1d T - FEB 21/1896 2d H - FEB 28/1902 2d L - JAN 29/1901 2d S - APR 12/1900 Postage Paid without Value Tablet - H MAR 4/1903 I have the following for Launceston: 1d H - OCT 6/1898 piece only 1d L - JUN 14/1898 2d L - OCT 29/...

The Recherche Bay BN 75 examples in both the Askeland Second Allocation reference collection and my own look like your example -- a thick "7" and a slanted "5." The top of your "7" is not tapered -- at least not as tapered as my First Allocation example. BN 75 was issued to Recherche Bay in 1861 in ...

I sold a card to Malcolm Groom that was sent to Malta 14 May 1900, one day earlier than this. As I recall it had a msg inside about the "new issue" of these lettercards. I no longer have the image, but perhaps Malcolm will share it with us.

My theory is that the scarcity of these specimens indicate that they are likely from the files of the stationery printers. If they were exchanges with intercolonial postal authorities, we would see a lot more of them. The frank stamp on both pieces may have been applied routinely to unaddressed stat...

p7318t.jpg T. Overton of Chapel St, South Yarra was a real estate broker and insurance agent. Likely a philatelist. I have been unable to match the handwriting to other philatelists in Hobart, but this sort of thing has got to be philatellically inspired, perhaps the result of a dare. I agee that t...

Spring Bay endorsement on cover early 1859. Seems plausible. Emu Bay for comparison. Impression Bay had BN48 briefly as well as an unframed circular handstamp with the town name, so they would have no reason to endorse "Impression Bay" on anything.

I believe it is an uncommon combination. By 1912, the rate to Br. Colonies was 1d, so it had to be to a foreign post office to need the extra Halfpenny. The overprinted stamp is hard to get on cover or card used in the period. Also scarce is the ONE PENNY overprint perf "T" on cover. David

One is 1859 and the other 1869 -- look carefully at the left part of the bottom half: open on a 5 and closed on a 6. The writing obscures part of it, but you can see the bottom loop goes way beyond what the borrom loop of a 5 ought to be. The 5 bottom loop is a bit more squashed, and the 6 round. Th...

The perfin "T" on the ad and 4d Sideface stamps remind me of some dodgy postal stationery uncovered a couple of years back out of Sydney that had the same distinctive bump in the vertical perforation.

Illustrated is an official letter endorsed by Postmaster A. C. Douglas to the British Post Office Constantinople sent FREE from Hobart 10 June 1876. The unframed Hobart Town c.d.s. is Type 3 according to Randall Askeland. Covers from the 1870s are uncommon in my experience, and this is the first unf...

The covers were forwarded by hand delivery (or pick up by Tatts runners). Printed and numbered receipts were given, the stub of which was glued to the top envelope of a bundle. The receipts were usually gray but occasionally white, and you will see some covers from the era with stub attached or evid...

The most current reference to answer your questions on Tattersalls/George Adams operations before and during the Postal Ban is "Beating the Odds" by David McNamee (RPSV, 2002) available at major philatelic libraries and in the Tasmaniana section of the State Library of Tasmania and for sale from the...

It is a private individual's wrapper, perhaps purchased at Walch Stationers. The handwriting appears to be A. F. Basset Hull.

Mavis Pope illustrates this 2d. Says engraved and heavily inked. Created by unknown forger. I have seen fake Courier 4d also with that cancel type.

Ross,

Your "311" cancels are one of the known versions of "36."

6d Stamp Act 2d 1900 date 1d on document 1900 date 3d on document tied by crease 1900 date

A selection of my Pictorials with fiscal use.
1d with 1899 date. Halfpenny 23 April 1900 6d 23 Nov 1900

Unlawful use of 1d on a sight draft for Tatts winnings dated 30 June 1902.

Ross, You are correct. There are two heads to the first type (Type 1a in my nomenclature) used on SF and Key Plate stamps -- one we call "parallel row," and one we call "sloped left/right," referring to Row 2. The sloped pin arrangement also has a larger gap between Rows 2 and 3. The sloped row 2 he...

There are at least 2 used copies of the ½d orange (x5) and one other mint that I have seen. I use Higgins & Gage, plus there are some (like this one) that are not listed, and some are varieties (appear in various sequences or shades). Not listed I have found include: Postal Cards 1d emeral green on ...

It looks like it says Mrs Hawkes or Hawker.

The contract mail packets carried letters to the UK for twopence-halfpenny (the current UPU rate that Members used, although the Australian Colonies were not yet Members of UPU) effective 1-1-91. They would be in closed bags sent to the UK. Whatever arrangements Italy and France made with the Royal ...

The key is not the shape of the serif of the "1", but whether it points due West (flat on top) or slopes to the Southwest. The "5" should slant slightly to the right. I think the attached is BN51 First Allocation for Prosser's Plains. Quite scarce.

The 6d Chalon on Large Star wmk was never released for postal use. A full sheet of the stamps was run off as a proof sheet, which was misfiled in a desk drawer, or so the story goes. The sheet was found some years later crumpled up at the back of the file drawer. All examples are unused, and most ex...