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At the very end of Basset Hull's book on Tasmania (1890), there is a public
notice to the effect that sales of stamps at the GPO would be discontinued
as from 1 October 1857. Thereafter, intending purchasers of stamps could
only obtain small quantities from licensed vendors, such as Walch & Sons.

There was an exception for lots of value £5 or greater by applying to the
Postmaster-General.

Was this notice ever rescinded in later years or was it permanent? Is this
matter documented further in the literature anywhere? I ask as the GPO
issued notices saying what stamps could be obtained at the GPO in 1897
and in 1900 (and perhaps on other occasions).

Thanks,
Bill

The Post Office Notice advising of the discontinuation of sales of stamps at the GPO
as from 1 October 1857 (except for undivided lots of value £5 or more) surely would
have been treated as "expired" some time after Federation. The post office became
a Commonwealth responsibility from 1 March 1901. New postal regulations replaced
the old colonial regulations in due course.

We might expect the old Post Office Notice of 1857 to be effectively superseded by
a raft of new rules after 1901 but details seems to be lacking. One wonders if that
Notice was withdrawn prior to 1901.

Hopefully, someone out there may be able to tell us more about the eventual fate
of the 1857 Notice.

There is an interesting philatelic possibility. If people were allowed to buy stamps
at the Hobart GPO after 1901 (if not before), is it possible that collectors in Hobart
were able to acquire small stocks of perforation varieties on the Pictorials and the
Queen's head stamps? After all, many of these perforation varieties appear to be
more plentiful in unused condition than as used stamps. It could be worthwhile to
find out why so many unused stamps with compound perforations still survive. We
also consider the Tasmanian listing in the Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue in
which we find lots of compound perforations recorded.

We note that quite a few compound perforations survived on Victorian stamps of
the early Federal era as noted by Geoff Kellow in his book on Victoria and in the
Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue, especially in unused condition. Someone
must have found out what perforation varieties were turning up in Melbourne as
many are recorded. As for Hobart, some of these varieties got into philatelists''
hands. This phenomenon also took place in Sydney while in Adelaide, numerous
value page numbers were about to whet the local collectors' appetite. All this is
based on Geoff's catalogue listing, which has more details on what happened in
those days. Such observations may help to explain the high frequency of exotic
perforation varieties in early Commonwealth era issues for Tasmania.

As for compound perforations on the Chalons (not roulettes here), few collectors
were looking for them and, anyway, one could not easily get them from the GPO
because of the 1857 Notice. So those early varieties are rare.

So, can someone say when the 1857 Notice was finally withdrawn or rescinded?
Is there not an official notice well after 1857 to withdraw this Notice?

On revisiting The Courier, No. 36, we see on page 18 an image of a slip of paper from the GPO
advising of stamps and postal stationery that were available to the public. Apparently, it was
possible to buy stamps at the GPO without regard to the £5 limit specified In the Notice from
1857. Thus, one could purchase stamps of any denomination from ½d to £1.

A handwritten amendment adds the newly issued £1 and another amendment now advises of
two versions of the 5/- stamp. The printed version only lists the 5/- of 1864 (St George and
Dragon obviously) and does not include a £1 stamp.

What happened to the Post Office Notice of 1857? Perhaps it is worth going through Walch's
Almanac as there will be a short section on the Post Office. We have reason to suspect that
the Notice of 1857 was rescinded but Basset Hull does not tell us.