1895 1d Burelé band PE of Penny omitted (SG 206a)

This page seeks to show all the 1895 1d red-orange PE of Penny omitted (SG 206b and Scott 102a) examples I have seen

This variety appears on Plate 3 (1892 - 1895) of the 1d issued in 1887 and was printed in February 1895 on plain paper with the Burelé band on the back, perf 12.5 / 13 comb. It is a type 2 die and is in position no 2 (2nd stamp from the left on the 1st row) on the sheet

The "PE" of Penny is almost entirely obliterated. It is a transient flaw and is known on stamps of both red-orange and pale yellow-orange shades

It is believed that no more than 180 sheets were produced before the flaw was spotted and the defect corrected. Stanley Gibbons lists it as SG206b and prices it both mint and used. However, I have never seen a used example, which strongly suggests that the sheets containing this flaw never went on sale at post offices, and therefore any existing examples came from within the Queensland Post and Telegraph Department 

This is confirmed by Samuel Dalby, writing in the Philatelic Journal of Great Britain (Philatelic Fragments, 20 September 1914, p. 160), where he wrote that "the faulty sheets were not thrown out, but were included in the quantity sent to the Postal Department". They would have come from the Government Printing Office where they were printed

How did this flaw occur? Dalby suggests the following: "Soon after the printing of this emission was started, an unnoticed air bubble on the inking roller burst and the composition from the bubble clogged the letters PE on one of the stamps. In the earlier feedings the defect appeared as a large blot; as it became more consolidated by repeated pressure an even surface was formed which gave a clear impression, "ONE --NNY” until a few sheets had gone through the machine, when the fault was discovered and the electrotype was
cleaned."

Ken Scudder (Queensland Postage Stamps 1879 to 1912, p. 170), provides additional information. "Initially this bubble of ink sat upon the tops of the "PE" but soon worked down to obliterate these two letters. Curiously, this flaw is known on stamps of both Red-Orange and Pale Yellow-Orange. As the flaw was transient, it would seem that the changes in colour may have, to some extent, been random. It is believed the air bubble came about when a new inking roller was used for the first time." 

It is believed that at least 2 complete sheets containing this flaw have survived, one held by Ken Scudder and the other by Dr Andrew Mortlock.

A block of 15. Red-orange. In my collection 

Red-orange. In my collection 

A strip of three. Red-orange. In my collection 

A strip of three. Red-orange. In my collection 

A strip of three. Red-orange. In my collection 

A block of six. Red-orange. In my collection. Ex Butler

From the sheet held by Dr Andrew Mortlock

Millennium auction no 19 lot no 357

Seen in Prestige Philately auction no 146 lot no 1136 with this wonderful description: "NO WATERMARK BLUE BURELE BAND: 1d upper-left corner strip of 3 with an Early State (Black Cloud Descending) of the 'ONE NNY' Flaw, full unmounted o.g. ["The Australian Philatelist" of March 1895 at page 104 states: "After printing a few sheets, the fault was discovered...This error was corrected..." However the early state of the flaw goes unmentioned]". Ex Manning

Seen in Prestige Philately auction no 146 lot no 1137 and Spink auction no 20030 lot no 206. Ex Manning and Diffen

Seen on Ebay

Seen in an auction catalog somewhere on the Internet

Millennium auction no 17 lot no 159 

Spink auction no 12043 Lo no 1305. Ex Griffiths

Spink auction no 13011 Lo no 2291

Seen at Status auction in May 2017

From the collection of Dr Andrew Mortlock

Prestige Philately auction no 96 lot no 411. Ex Colonel Harries

Phoenix auction no 19

In the collection of Carl Burnett 

In the collection of Carl Burnett 

In the collection of Carl Burnett and uniquely cancelled to order for presentation to members of parliament and other dignitaries

Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

Courtesy of Dave Elsmore

Stanley Gibbons sales. Ex Butler 

Stanley Gibbons sales. Ex Butler 

Ebay, June 2018, and then Gartner 49

Seen in Corinphila auctions, October 2017:1 d. vermilion-red, no wmk. with burelê in blue, a fine unused strip of three, central stamp (position 2 on sheet) showing the variety "PE" of PENCE missing. Unapparent diagonal bend but fresh and fine, large part og.

A strip of 3 for sale on Ebay in October 2020

A block of 6 seen in Status auctions in September 2022

A block of 6 seen on Ebay in November 2022

Seen on Ebay in March 2023

Seen in the collection of John Pearson

Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

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 flaws

There are no known varieties. Here are a number of flaws that I have found on this issue. Click on the images to enlarge them.

Damaged oval on left-hand side in line with the spandrel in both stamps.

Oval flaws. Top left: Break in right hand oval opposite the spandrel. Top right: Oval below "A" of Queensland is broken. Bottom left: Gap in Oval under "N" of Queensland. Bottom right: Broken oval above "NS" of Queensland.

Break in oval frame above "N" of One

Top left: Top stroke in "E" of One thin and damaged. Top right: The bottom stroke of "E" in One is misshapen. Bottom left: Broken "O" in one and dot in "S" of Shilling. Bottom right: Break in oval below 2nd "L" of Shilling.

Top left: Broken top stroke in "E" of One.  Top right: Mishapen second "I" of shilling. Bottom left: Blotchy "S" of shilling. Bottom right: White excrescence on top left of the second "I" of shilling.

Broken top stroke in "E" of one

Top left: White dot in "S" of Queensland, broken bottom left frame line. Top right: Broken left frame line. Broken bottom bar of the second "E" in Queensland. Bottom left: Misshapen middle horizontal line in the first "E" of Queensland. Bottom right: Dot in "S" of Queensland.

Top left: Dot in "S" of Queensland. Top right: First "E" of Queensland elongated bottom horizontal stroke. Bottom left: Misshapen middle stroke in the first "E" of Queensland. Bottom right: Disjointed 2nd "N" of Queensland.

Top left: Damaged 2nd "N" in Queensland. Top right: Damaged "A" in Queensland. Bottom left: Broken middle line in "A" of Queensland. Bottom right: "LA" in Queensland almost joined. Dot on 2nd "E" of Queensland

Top left: "LA: in Queensland almost joined. Top right: Blob on "S" of Queensland. Bottom left: Protuberance at left of the bottom stroke of the first "E" in Queensland. Bottom right: Damaged 2nd "N" of Queensland.

Top left: White line above "N" of shilling. Top right: Damaged top frame, white blotch on Queen's face in line with her mouth and nose. Bottom left: Whole prong above "O" of One detached. Worn plate.  Bottom right: Blob above "E" of One.

Top left: Curl on right spandrel detached. Top right: Damaged bottom left hand prong. Bottom left: Bottom inner left frame line is crooked. Worn plate.  Bottom right: White blob in front of the neck.

 Joined dots at top right frame

White blob on Queen's forehead above her nose very pronounced.

Beer duty paper, flaw on Queen's neck on right hand stamp

White horizontal line in upper right hand corner

SG 205 mauve on thick paper. Blotchy printing