1895 1d Burelé band Electro Types

The second Sideface issues were based upon a single 2d. master die stamp known as the Ridgway head of Queen Victoria on a lined oval background, made by Bradbury Wilkinson in 1882. A mould was made using 4 clichés or copies taken from the die itself and soldered together. This mould was then repeated 30 times to make up the two pence plate.

By 1887 this plate was worn out and new plates were constructed. Stamps from the first plate of the new 1d design (lacking the stop after "PENNY") were placed on sale on 5 May 1887. It was replaced in October 1889 by Plate 2 and Plate 3 from 1892 onwards.

The moulds used in 1887 sustained damage or eventually wore down, leading to their gradual replacement. In all 4 different dies were used. By June 1894, the 3rd printing plate was made up of 9 die 4 and 21 die 1 units and it was this plate that was used for the final 1895 printing on on plain paper with a Burelé band on the back as a security measure.

Initial die sub-type

Top row L-R sub-types 1, 2. Bottom Row L-R sub-types 3 and 4. This block is from positions 1, 2, 11 and 12 on the sheet)

Sub-type 1

A - The 2nd dot from the bottom of the left frame breaks out of the frame
B - Dots 7 and 8 from the bottom in the right frame are joined
C - Leg of the "P" of "PENNY" is longer than other types

Sub-type 2

A - “LA” of “Queensland” joined

B - The 9^th dot from the bottom of the left frame is joined to the spandrel vertical line

Sub-type 3

A - Upward projection of the frame at top left corner

B - The dot above the ‘L’ of ‘Queensland” runs out of the frame
C - Leg of the "P" of "PENNY" is shorter than other types

Sub-type 4

A - A weak or broken shading line in front of the throat

Spandrel Flaw

The Spandrel flaw originated from a small indentation in the lead mould from which the die was formed. The white area surrounding the coloured triangle resulted from the lead being slightly raised around the edge of the indentation. It appears in Sub-type 4 in positions 12, 16, 20, 54, 56, 72, 80, 94 and 120. Positions 80 and 120 are intermediate, not always appearing fully formed.

Spandrel flaw in position 12

The 9 spandrel flaws. Top row left to right are positions 12, 16 and 20. Middle left to right are positions 54, 56 and 72 and the bottom row left to right are positions 80, 94 and 120

Dies 1 and 4

As mentioned above, 9 die 1 and 21 die 4 units were used. These can be distinguished by the following additional features.

Die 1

Type 1. The "A" of "QUEENSLAND" is well formed

Type 2. "LA" of "QUEENSLAND" joined and letters well formed
Type 3. The "A" of "QUEENSLAND" is well formed

Die 4

Type 1. A coloured dot in the shading lines just below the centre of the bust

Type 1. The "A" of "QUEENSLAND" is well formed

Type 1. The top curl of the right side ornament may be closed off by a fine line

Type 3. The "A" of "QUEENSLAND" is well formed

Type 4. A triangular flaw in the lower right spandrel

Position of sub-types in sheet

Sub-type 1: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 21, 23, 25 ,27, 29, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 101, 103, 105, 107, 109

Sub-type 2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30. 42, 44, 46, 48, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110

Sub-type 3: 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119

Sub-type 4: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80. 92, 94, 96, 98, 100, 112, 114, 166, 118, 120

Position of dies 1 and 4 in sheet

Die 1: 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 11, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118

Die 4: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 43, 44, 45, 46, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 62, 69, 70, 71, 72, 79, 80, 83, 84, 93, 94, 109, 110, 119, 120