Queensland Bisects article by P. L. Pemberton

This article, Queensland Bisects, and a Plate Variety by P. L. Pemberton appeared in the Philatelic Journal, January-March 1943, pp. 9-10. I have been advised that the information regarding the 6d plate variety is incorrect as all three stamps (A B C) are single issues from the same pane on the sheet and should therefore be disregarded. I have 4 bisect examples in my collection and will be adding them to this blog in due course and linking to this post. The first one may be listed by Pemberton in this article, although it is S.G. 172 lilac not S.G. 171 violet (6d.green. and 1/- (S.G. 171) both bisected.)

Clicking on the two scans will open it up in high resolution. I have also transcribed the text regarding the bisects below.

Queensland Bisects, and a Plate variety

By P. L. PEMBERTON.

I am indebted to Mr. C. J. L. Snowden for the sight of the various curiosities which I am about to describe. The most important of these are the bisected stamps, of which Mr. Snowden has lent me three specimens to illustrate. These and others, of which particulars are appended, are mostly, Mr. Snowden tells me, from the great collection of Queensland formed by the Rev. James Mursell and which Mr. Snowden has recently purchased.

Though, as Mr. Snowden says, these splits must be very rare, there seems to be no evidence that they were ever authorised. All the specimens are postmarked Brisbane, and this fact does not help their status, for one would expect that if there was a shortage of stamps anywhere it would not be in the capital. Neither is the fact that all values from 1d. to 1 shilling, with the exception of the 2½d., are represented in this condition much in their favour. The only evidence to support the presumption that, for a period of, perhaps, a year or so, any split stamp would be accepted as payment of postage, is the fact that, among the specimens shown to me by Mr. Snowden, no two are of the same date and that the period covered ranges from November, 1893 to October. 1894. This seems to show that if there was some employee at the Brisbane Post Office who was amenable to persuasion by some misguided philatelist, he was able to oblige over a rather long period and also that his favours were rather spasmodic. As it seems unlikely that an irregularity of this nature should have been allowed to persist for so long these facts seem to show that the practice of using half stamps was, if not actually permitted by regulation, at least winked at by the postal authorities - at any rate during the period covered by the dates given. It is, however, unfortunate that none of these splits is on an entire envelope because one cannot be sure that a charge was not collected on delivery.

The following is the list of these varieties in Mr. Snowden's collection:—

1882-83, Perf. 12.

6d. green (S.G. 1.70) bisected.

6d.green. and 1/- (S.G. 171) both bisected.

1/- violet (SG. 171) bisected.

2d. (SG. 168), and 1/- (S.G. 171), both bisected.

1890-94. Perf. 12½-13

ld. (SG. 187) bisected.

2d. (SG. 188) bisected.

2d. (S.G. 188) and half 1/- (171).

½d. (S.G. 184) and half 3d. (192).

4d. (S.G. 193) bisected.