Tasmanian Postal  Guides 1894 – 1901

  The Tasmanian Postal Guides were issued twice per year and contain detailed information about current Postal arrangements, Telegraph and Money Order  services. Details of postal rates, Post Office openings and closings, new routes, Stamp Duty rates and much more information  is listed.the TPS has up-loaded a number of these as pdfs available for download. See the Tasmanian Archives page  for details

Tasmanian Registered Mail

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  David McNamee has researched the postal history of registered mail services in Tasmania from pre-stamp times to 1912, including rates, markings and Postal stationary and forms. First published in The Congress Book 2006, Rosemont: The 72nd American Philatelic Congress, 2006, pp. 122-148 , this article is reproduced by kind permission of the Author. David Mcnamee has also formed a comprehensive Exhibit of Tasmanian Registered mail

Embossed Platypus used as Postage

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Tasmania’s embossed Platypus is occasionally found on wrappers used as a postage stamp. David McNamee documents known examples and traces the postal history surrounding these unusual items. This article is used with the kind permission of the author and the Society of Australasian Specialists.

Tasmanian Revenue Stamps

  This article by Bill Lloyd-Smith is an excellent and quite detailed description of the Tasmanian Revenues with 21 colour illustrations starting with the Newspaper duty stamp of 1827 through until the last of the Tasmanian duties in the 1990s. All issues are explained along with some detail on important varieties, various printings and the legislation changes underpinning the stamp issues. Reproduced with kind permission of the Author. [Read more…]

 Tasmanian Beer Duties

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 Dingle Smith and Martin Walker have written a comprehensive draft article on beer duties. The Authors welcome any contributions. 

A guide to the Stamps of Tasmania

   This is an introductory article on the postage stamps of Tasmania covering the period from 1853 until 1913. Tasmanian stamps, particularly the the earlier issues are  considered beautiful examples of postage stamps and are highly collectable though some issues are very scarce or rare.  All issues are discussed including Couriers, Chalons, Sidefaces, Tablets Pictorials and postal fiscals ( platypus and St George & Dragon issues.)

Intended as an overview, this article also  discusses some of the more important varieties, shades and printings and provides a good guide for those interested in further research. [Read more…]

1d & 2d Pictorial  stamp flaw finder

 Richard Singleton has developed Guides to the flaws on the 1d typographed, 2d typographed and 2d stereo  and  Pictorial stamp issues. He also shows how to identify the London, Lithographed, Typographed and Electro printings of the  Pictorial stamps. You can read on line or download these three articles. The TPS thanks Richard for permission to publish his work on our website. [go to Pictorial stamp flaw finder page …]

[Read more….]

4d Courier very large hi-res images of defaced plates

Basset Hull in “Stamps of Tasmania”, 1890, provides two reproductions of defaced plates of th 4d Courier stamp, 1853, to illustrate the differences between the two plates.

These have been scanned at the highest possible resolution and provided here for reference.

Collectors may find these useful for plating purposes or just to view complete sheets of these stamps. Despite the chisel cuts across each stamp, much of the detail is still visible.

WARNING: While the thumbnail images are quite small, clicking on them will display the original images which are very large at nearly 17 mb. They may open very slowly as a result and will be very slow to download.

An introduction to Tasmanian Postal stationary

This is an introductory article explaining the various types of Tasmanian Postal stationary. There are 9 illustrations and notes regarding relative rarity, period of issue, printers and more.
This is the only over view of Tasmanian Postal stationary that we know and well worth reading for any collector of Tasmanian material.
[ Read more… ]

 Australia-UK Mails – The Accountancy Period

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  This artilce by Colin Tabeart provides important information on ship mails and postal markings from the early Colonial Period, as well as 10 images of rare covers. 

Tattersalls and the Post Office – Richard Breckon

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 Australia’s most famous Lottery was located in Tasmanian from 1896 to 1954, and had an enormous impact on Postal History within Tasmanian and the whole Commonwealth. Reproduced from ‘The Australian Philatelist’ V2, No 2, Winter 1989, with kind permission of the Author

TASMANIA HAND CANCELLATIONS 1913 – 88: An up-date in 2001 Courier #31, May 2001

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Three  volumes of work provide Tasmanian Postmark Collectors with a firm foundation for the Commonwealth Period Postmarks. This Article, from The Courier #31, by John Hardinge, Robbie McDonald and Vytas (Jack) Navickas, provides an up date to 2001, including new finds, new early and late dates and additional information.

1) Avery and J Hardinge (1993)  – Tasmanian Hand Cancellations 1913 – 88, Part 1: Offices A – L (Excluding Hobart and Launceston) . Magpie Publications

(2) Avery and J. Hardinge (1994), TASMANIA HAND CANCELLATIONS 1913 – 88, Part 2:Hobart, Launceston, Other Offices M – Z, Magpie Publications.

(3) A. E. Orchard (ed) (1996) – THE POST OFFICES OF TASMANIA, Second Edition: Openings and Closings 1812 t0 1995(With up-dates to Tasmanian Hand Cancellations 1913 – 88). Revised and up-dated by J Hardinge. Magpie Publications.

 The Essays and proofs of the Pictorial Issues of Tasmania. Courier No 28 December 1999

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A comprehensive treatment of the Essays and Proofs of the Tasmanian Pictorial Stamps . Note this pdf is 7 mb and make take some time to open and download.

  Circular Date Stamps on Tasmanian Pictorial Stamps – Rarity Ratings

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In January 2015 the TPS published a completely revised and expanded Rarity rating in a “Guide to cds on the Tasmanian Pictorial Issues 1899 to 1912”.

This new ratings scale can be downloaded using the link above. The complete listing of more than 600 date stamps, early and late dates and much more information is available for purchase at $30 plus postage. Please visit the  “Guide to cds on Tasmanian pictorial issues” page for details and on-line order form.

 A list of the most common CDS found on Pictorial Stamps

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 This list of the largest Post Offices in Tasmania 1906 provides a useful reference. Collectors should be able to easily and cheaply find these CDS on Pictorials. Non-rated cds NOT on this list are by definition the scarcer of the non-rated offices.

Basset Hull

    Author of “Stamps of Tasmania”, Basset Hull produced the first and still the most useful publication on Tasmanian Stamps in 1890.
A sample chapter of “Stamps of Tasmania” is provided on the Basset Hull page here along with some information about Basset Hull. TPS members have access to many of the key chapters in the Members Only section of our site.