2d Sideface wmk first type TAS perf 11.8

[bill]

This note is about the 2d Sideface watermarked first type TAS perf 11.8, listed in Gibbons' Australia catalogue
(8th edition) as SG151. The common perf 11.4 on this watermark is SG145/145a/145b depending on the shade.

The Sideface series watermarked first type TAS (also described as TAS between lines) was mostly issued during
1871 to 1878, except for the 5 shilling which continued on this paper until the early 1890s. Meanwhile, a new
paper (second type TAS without lines) was used for low value Sideface stamps from 1880 locally (½d, 3d, 4d,
1d also in emergencies only) and in the 1890s for ½d, 1d, 2½d on 9d, 4d and 9d (1d only in emergencies). It
is worth noting that the 4d was printed in shades of yellow from 1876 after the 4d blue was abandoned when
the 9d blue appeared in October 1871. See page 67 of Basset Hull. Some of the old first type TAS paper was
also used around 1891 for printings of ½d, 1d and 4d only as set out in the Gibbons catalogue.

NB The London printings perf 14 are not covered in this note. These were the 1d and 2d (multiple printings
that are nearly indistinguishable except for wing margin examples from the very earliest printings) and an 8d
(one printing in 1878 only), all being on second type TAS paper. The impression of the London printings is far
better than for the local printings. The 2d Sideface was not printed in Hobart at all after 1878.

The 1871-1878 printings are nearly always found per 11.4 (called 11½ in Gibbons) but they are also found as
perf 11.8 (called 12 in Gibbons). I have seen a few of the 1d, 3d, 4d, 9d and 5/- as perf 11.8 but not the 2d
as perf 11.8. Basset Hull records on page 77 of his book that thirty sheets of 2d were perforated 11½ by the
Walch machine. We know that Walch had a perf 12 machine (actually 11.8) while the Government machine
was perf 11½ (actually 11.4). Basset Hull should have written perf 12 or 11.8 but even he did not have the
full story at his disposal when he wrote the book. Corrections were made by collectors like R. Yardley much
later on. In short, 30 sheets of 2d were perforated 11.8 in February 1877. Where are they now?

The question for readers is this. Has anyone actually seen the 2d per 11.8 variety? It is important to take a
lot of care in measuring these perforations as the difference is not great. With some experience, it is fairly
straightforward to correctly classify stamps as perf 11.4 or 11.8 with little fuss. Extra care is warranted in
the case where the scarcer perforation is highly priced in the catalogue as it is so easy to believe that you
have the rarity when in fact you don't really have it at all.

If you have this rarity, it would be very nice to see an image of that rarity. To be really sure, you can scan
the rare 2d positioned alongside the common 2d perf 11.4 so that we can see how the perfs do not match.
The two stamps can be placed about 2 mm apart and scanned together as a single image.

[bill]

An example of the very scarce 2d Sideface, wmk first TAS (with lines) and perf 12 has been seen
as a scan (together with an example of the common perf 11½ to compare the perforations). So
there is no doubt that this very scarce variety (SG151) exists. The normal perf is catalogued as
SG145/145a/145b (three different shades for the general collector).

The usual perforation between 1871 and 1880 is 11½ so the perf 12 variety would arise from an
emergency use of that machine when the Government's perf 11½ machine was not available.
The other five Sideface values of that time (1d, 3d, 4d, 9d and 5/-) are not as scarce perf 12.