Queensland 1 shilling mauve beer duty paper article extract

This is an extract from "Queensland Philatelic Fragments" by Samuel Dalby that appeared in the Philatelic Journal of Great Britain from 1913-15. This extract relating to the Queensland 1 Shilling Beer Duty Paper appeared on January 20 1915, p. 4.

One Shilling, Beer-duty Paper

Though sheets had been supplied to the Parcels Post branch during the last week of August, and dealers had also been able to obtain limited quantities at the Accountant’s  office during September, the one shilling on thick paper was first purchasable by the general public at the stamp counter, Brisbane, on 15th October, 1895. Whilst the writer would hardly go so far as to stigmatise this emission as unnecessary, its sale was certainly strung out for a period which was quite unwarranted by the small quantity printed; it was sold intermittently with the regular paper until late in 1897, a period of over two years.

The shilling on beer-duty paper was printed in pale mauve from the 1883 plate or a reconstruction of that plate. At column 1, line 12 (No. III), was a small white horseshoe-shaped defect which twice cut the dotted border and the outer white oval just above the O of “one"; that and three or four other, less prominent, varieties all appeared in the bottom line, not alone on the beer-duty paper, but also on the normal paper printings of about the same time. In a large unused block from the upper half of a sheet on normal wmk. paper. I found at column 1, line 2 (No. 11) a similar, but not quite identical, horseshoe flaw which did not appear on the beer-duty paper. The writer having no means of fixing the date of this block of stamps, he cannot opine if the fault developed after the printing on beer-duty paper, or if it existed prior to 1895 and had been eliminated by substituting a new cliché of four stamps. 

It may be remarked that both these "horseshoe " damages happened on a type Ill. stamp; one on lower left, the other on upper left, corner block of four. In the thick paper emission on line 4, column 7 (No. 37), the foot of the letter L closely approached the A of " Queensland," in some specimens the letters touched at points; an additional mark of identification was that the second dot in the outer border (above the centre of letter S of "Queensland") had a smaller white dot surmounting it. In the succeeding printing on ordinary crown over Q paper, the LA of this stamp (No. 37), became quite joined similarly to the well known type Il. variety of the 1d., 2d., 5d., and 2/-, but in the solitary specimen of 1/-, the variety occurred on a stamp of type III. In cliché No. 9. owing to the close spacing of the shilling stamps not fitting the Buncle No. 1 comb machine, they were perforated I2 with the Hughes & Kimber single line machine.

Queensland 1 shilling watermarks and papers

Watermarks

There were two types of watermarks used.

For all issues except SG 205, which was issued on the thick beer duty paper, the watermark used was Crown over Q. The watermark is 19 to 19½ mm. high, measured from the top of the crown to the lower curve of the Q, the central compartment of the crown has the sides nearly parallel, and both outlines of the tail cross the body of the Q.


Crown over Q Watermark

For SG 205, issued on the thicker beer duty paper in August 1895, the existing beer duty large crown Q watermark was used. This watermark is much bigger than he normal Crown over Q watermark as the beer duty stamps were bigger than the 2nd sideface issues. With the smaller-sized stamps the watermarks were very considerably out of register, and specimens may be found with scarcely any watermark showing.


Beer duty watermark used on SG 205.

Papers

There were three types of papers used, all issues except SG 205 were printed using the De La Rue Crown Q (2nd Type) Paper. This paper was supplied by Messrs. De La Rue & Co., the first consignment being received in Brisbane about the middle of October, 1879. It is a medium white wove paper with a watermark Crown above a double-lined Q (2nd type) to fit each impression on the electrotype plate. The 120 watermarks (10 x 12) are enclosed in a single-lined frame 8¼ inches (20.95 cm) wide and 11¾ inches (29.85 cm) high. There are no marginal inscriptions, but crosses, 5/16 in. (0.8 cm) x 5/16 in. (0.8 cm), are situated in the centre of the top and bottom margins, and in a position in the side margins in which the horizontal limbs of the crosses are in line with the lower edges of the fifth row of watermarks.

The De La Rue Crown Q (2nd type) paper was specially designed to give the best results with electrotype printing, and seems to have had a certain proportion of zinc white or white lead, probably the former, in its composition, giving it a dead white, and sometimes a chalky appearance.

SG 172 and SG 174 were also printed on the Cowan Crown Q paper from the middle of 1896 onwards. The Cowan paper has the same Crown over Q watermark but can be distinguished from the De La Rue paper by its being of a more open texture and generally showing a distinct mesh, and being thicker and not so surfaced as the De La Rue paper. It is also of an ivory white tint as against the dead white of the De La Rue manufacture.

The stamp on the left is dated 1899, so it is the Cowan paper, showing the distinctive mesh. The block on the right is from 1892 and is the De La Rue paper.

The colour is harder to show, but usually the De la Rue paper looks whiter.

SG 205 was printed on the Beer duty paper which was used as an emergency paper for the 1d. 2d. and 1-/ 2nd sideface stamps in 1895.

It is a very thick white wove paper with 120 watermarks, large Crown and Q, in twelve horizontal rows of ten, enclosed in an interrupted single outline frame, which only shows for 1 inch (2.54 cm) each side of the four corners. There is a cross in the centre of each margin, and an inscription "QUEENSLAND BEER DUTY" in double-lined capitals, reading upwards in the left margin. 

It is not known who supplied this paper, but it has the general appearance of being of a similar manufacture to the De La Rue 2nd Crown Q paper.

About 1894 Queensland experienced a period of financial stringency, and it is probable that only a small reserve (if any) of the De La Rue Crown Q (2nd type) watermarked paper was maintained. Thus, when towards the end of 1894 a shortage of paper occurred, probably owing to a delayed shipment from England, recourse was had to provisional papers.

The Beer Duty paper was the first to be requisitioned, and printings of the ld. and 2d. were issued on 16th January, 1895, and of the 1s. in August, 1895. It is not known when the printing of the 1s. was made, but it was issued to the Parcel Post Branch at Brisbane on the date mentioned, and to the general public on the 15th October following. 

Queensland 1 shilling mauve on Beer Duty paper

The 1 shilling mauve is listed in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue as being printed on thick paper in August 1895. (SG 205). This is the famous beer duty paper printing, with a different watermark (Stanley Gibbons w10 large Crown and Q) but still using the existing C Line 12 Perforation Machine. How did this come about?

About 1894 Queensland experienced a period of financial stringency, and it is probable that only a small reserve (if any) of the De La Rue Crown Q (2nd type) watermarked paper was maintained. Thus, when towards the end of 1894 a shortage of paper occurred, probably owing to a delayed shipment from England, recourse was had to several other existing papers that were on hand. In the case of the 1 shilling, it was printed on beer duty paper only.

The paper used to print the Beer Duty revenue stamps - whereby an excise was levied on Queensland manufactured beer - was a very thick white wove paper with 120 watermarks, large Crown and Q, in twelve horizontal rows of ten. The watermarks are much larger than that found on the De La Rue Crown Q (2nd type) paper. 

The reason it was so thick and heavy was because brewers were required to affix the prescribed amount of excise to each cask before being sent away to retail establishments.

Beer duty stamps were larger than the 2^nd sideface postage stamps so with the smaller-sized postage stamps the watermarks were very considerably out of alignment, and examples exist with scarcely any watermark showing. Further information on this paper here.

By the time the existing 1 shilling stocks on the De La Rue 2nd Crown Q paper were exhausted and needed to be printed on the Beer duty paper, several other values had already been printed on this and other types of papers. Consequently the public was alert to this and keen to collect copies for stamp collecting or investment (speculative) purposes! In order to stop this happening, the postal authorities first issued the new 1 shilling stamps only to the Parcel Post Branch at Brisbane in August 1895. On the 15th October 1895 the stamps were released to the general public, but only in small towns where they would be available in limited quantities.

The 1 shilling stamp on beer duty paper was not well received for postage purposes as the paper, being thick and soft, was found to absorb the gum, and the public complained that the stamps would not stick!

32,400 1 shilling stamps (270 sheets) were printed on the Beer Duty Paper (as per the Australian Philatelist 1 May 1902 p. 101) and it appears that 30,000 copies (250 sheets) were supplied to the Brisbane Parcel Office (Robson Lowe p. 115) with the remaining 2,400 copies (20 sheets) being supplied to the country post offices two months later. Therefore I assume that most of the extant mint blocks come from the Brisbane parcel office. It would be an interesting exercise to see how many country postmarks can be located on this issue, as they would be extremely scarce.

This issue has the same perforation as the 1 shilling stamps printed on the De La Rue 2nd Crown Q paper but can be distinguished from the latter by the larger watermark and by feeling the thickness of the stamps as this paper is noticeably thicker and stiffer, almost like a card.

Here are a mint block and a used pair of this issue, The cancellation for the used pair is BRISBANE T.C. [Telegraph Counter] 1895. Note how the perforation 12 single line machine struggled with the thicker paper resulting in the characteristic rough perforations of this issue

Block of 9. Seen at Classicphil auctions

And here is an example from a country post office, Bundaberg, numeral 148

And this stamp on Beer Duty paper looks like it has been cancelled to order

And here is what a beer duty revenue stamp looks like

Queensland Beer Duty Paper article

This article appeared in "Notes from the Old Country" by Derek Ingram in the Australian Philatelist, 5 October 1916, p. 25 and discusses the use of the beer duty paper for Queensland second sideface stamps in 1895.

"Beer Duty" Paper.

Mr. Samuel Dalby’s allusion to the beer duty paper ("A.P.,” May, 1916, p. 137), reminds us of a topical subject — topical in two ways: Firstly, because it recalls a previous experience of paper difficulties, and, secondly, because of the present agitation to prohibit the sale of beer altogether in this country during the war. The beer duty, and other provisional papers of 1895-96, were brought into use in Queensland owing to the severe retrenchment forced by the financial stress of 1893, and, in view of this precedent perhaps we shall yet have beer duty paper for the Commonwealth stamps — that is, if the shutters are put up on the beer shops and breweries for any length of time.

Queensland’s "beer duty paper" stamps of the values of 1d. and 2d., appeared, it will be remembered on January 16th, 1895. We all know that its quality of "beer duty" paper was because it was first procured for the stamps needed in levying the excise on Queensland manufactured beer, but why not group it under that convenient head in the catalogues? The paper itself has a most interesting history, in view of its weight and strength — rendered necessary by the law requiring brewers to affix the prescribed amount of excise to each cask before being sent away to retail establishments. In addition to its employment for the ld. and 2d. stamps, we find it in the handsome steel-plate postage stamps of the values of 2/-, 2/6, 5/-, 10/ and £1, which were about the same dimensions as the lower denominations of the excise stamps.

The beermark — beg pardon! Watermark — was a large circular double-lined Q, surmounted by a crown. It seems in sheets cut to the size needed for the pence postage stamps — about 12¾ X 9¼ inches — there were only 90 watermarks in nine columns of ten lines, and of these were twenty which fell, either wholly or in part, on the side margins. In some sheets, one may see twelve stamps with the full watermark, i.e., four stamps each in lines 1, 6, and 11 of the sheet, with only eight having full watermark in other sheets — four each in lines 4 and 9. Several contemporary journals — even the infallible "London Philatelist" — chronicled some of the stamps, when they first appeared having no watermark, as one might do now in the case of the New Zealand King George 1½d. engraved stamp on the “large pictorial" paper, had one not known the nature of the paper when chronicling the stamp.

Many specimens of the Queensland “beer duty paper" stamps have such tiny portions of the watermark that they are easily mistaken for unwatermarked examples.

Queensland Beer Duty Paper

This extract on the The C Line 12 Perforation Machine is taken from The Postage Stamps of Queensland by A.F. Basset Hull, 1930, pp. 18-19.The Beer duty paper was used as an emergency paper for the 1d. 2d. and 1-/ 2nd sideface stamps in 1895.

This is a very thick white wove paper with 120 watermarks, large Crown and Q, in twelve horizontal rows of ten, enclosed in an interrupted single outline frame, which only shows for 1 inch (2.54 cm) each side of the four corners. There is a cross in the centre of each margin, and an inscription "QUEENSLAND BEER DUTY" in double-lined capitals, reading upwards in the left margin. The inscription, which is about 14 inches (35.6 cm) long, is situated 1 inch (2.54 cm) outside the outline frame, with a line, 7¾ inches long, ¼ inch below, and placed centrally with regard to it. The sheet of paper under review was not numbered, and only showed a small part of the inscription, so that the height of the lettering cannot be given.

It has not been ascertained who supplied this paper, but it has the general appearance of being of a similar manufacture to the De La Rue 2nd Crown Q paper.

In November, 1886, the engraved high values, 2s. to £l, were issued on the Beer Duty paper, which continued in use till 1902 or 1903. The vertical spacing of the watermarks registered with the impressions on the engraved plates, but laterally the watermarks were spaced too far apart.

The sheets of paper, as cut down to fit the engraved plates, were not numbered.

About 1894 Queensland experienced a period of financial stringency, and it is probable that only a small reserve (if any) of the De La Rue Crown Q (2nd type) watermarked paper was maintained. Thus, when towards the end of 1894 a shortage of paper occurred, probably owing to a delayed shipment from England, recourse was had to provisional papers.

The Beer Duty paper was the first to be requisitioned, and printings of the ld. and 2d. were issued on 16th January, 1895, and of the 1s. in August, 1895. It is not known when the printing of the 1s. was made, but it was issued to the Parcel Post Branch at Brisbane on the date mentioned, and to the general public on the 15th October following. With the smaller-sized stamps the watermarks were very considerably out of register, and specimens may be found with scarcely any watermark showing.

The sheets of stamps on Beer Duty paper were not numbered.

Queensland B1 Buncle Comb 12.75 Perforation Machine

This extract on the B1 Buncle Comb 12.75 Perforation Machine is taken from The Postage Stamps of Queensland by A.F. Basset Hull, 1930, pp. 46-7. It was widely used on Queensland 2nd sideface stamps from 1890 onwards.

This machine was obtained in 1890 from J. Buncle & Co., of Melbourne, who presumably carried out the work of conversion from an existing B single-line machine.

In this machine the long line of holes measures 12¾ inches, and as there are 64 holes in 100 mm., 128 holes in 200 mm., and 192 holes in 300 mm., the gauge is 12-8, which is practically 12¼, and is regular throughout the line. Not counting the hole in the back of the comb, each of the thirteen teeth contains 13 holes gauging 12¾. Thus the gauge of the machine may be said to be 12¾ x 12¾. The machine was operated by a treadle.

At first the B1 machine gave small clean-cut holes. Towards the end of 1895 or beginning of 1896 the machine had become worn, and was fitted with larger pins, for we find a large hole perforation in the stamps in use about that time.

The B1 machine seems to have been brought into use about the beginning of April, 1890, since the earliest postmark date of a copy, the ld., perforated by this machine is 8th April, 1890, as recorded in the Stamp Collector’s Fortnightly, Vol. IV., page 139.

The machine was used to perforate the vertical columns of stamps in the sheet, and at each end of the long line of holes there were certain spare holes which partly perforated the upper and lower margins, and so facilitated the separation of stamps from the sheet. At first there were nine spare holes at each end of the line, subsequently reduced to seven, possibly owing to the sheets coming apart too readily in the former case.

Now, imagine this vertical comb, with teeth to right, operating on a sheet and working from right to left. On the first stroke of the machine the teeth will perforate the right margin of the sheet, and the back of the comb will perforate the right edges of the column of stamps, and also partly perforate the upper and lower margins. The next stroke of the machine will complete the perforation of the right column of stamps, and so on to the completion of the perforation of the left column of stamps.

Thus the sheet will have the impressions completely perforated, the top and bottom margins being partly perforated through, as also one of the side margins, the other side margin being left intact.

In January, 1895, when the thick Beer Duty paper was being used provisionally, great inconvenience was experienced in the first supplies to the General Post Office by the difficulty in separating stamps in consequence of the side margin which had not been perforated. This was remedied by turning the sheet round and passing it through the machine again, the back of the comb perforating the vertical line a second time, and the teeth perforating the margin.

The convenience of this practice was at once recognised and the procedure adopted for future use. Thus all sheets of stamps subsequent to January, 1895, show a vertical double line of perforation on one of the side margins. Cases are known in which the perforation of the side margin has been overlooked, but these are extremely uncommon.

The B1 comb machine, commonly known as the Buncle machine, was in use from 1890 onwards; in fact it was seen in actual working by a member of the Committee early in 1924.

Perforation pull for the B1 Buncle Comb 12.75 Perforation Machine