Queensland 1895 1d Burelé band article

An article from the London Philatelist vol. 5, 1896, p. 53 on the 1d Burelé band issue. The face value for this sheet was 10 shillings.

QUEENSLAND-We reproduce some interesting information from the M. J., about the late surfeit of varieties in paper, printing, etc.:

"A correspondent in this Colony sends us some interesting information as to the causes of some of the numerous varieties that have been issued of late. Two or three years ago, when the finances of the Colony were not in a satisfactory condition, orders were given for economies of all kinds, and that all stocks should be kept as low as possible, and this was the reason for the proper paper first running short. Various samples of paper obtained locally were tried, but were not found to answer, and recourse was then had to the large Crown & Q paper, previously used for the higher value postage and for the Beer Duty stamps. This paper is thick and soft, it was found to absorb the gum, and the public complained that the stamps would not stick! The paper with a Burelé band on the back was then taken into use for the 1d. value, but this formed so distinct a mark that the public bought up the stamps for speculative purposes, and after the new penny appeared, on the proper paper, the Burelé pennies were sold on the spot at 30 shillings to 40 shillings per sheet of 120.

The same thing then happened with the 1/2d. value, except that the Burelé paper was tried first, and when there was a run upon this variety the Beer Duty paper was employed. But the public had learned a little Philately by this time, and the second lot disappeared as fast as the first had done. Lastly, the plain paper, with invisible embossing, was brought into use, and this appears to have stopped the speculation, for, as our correspondent tells us, the public saw nothing in these, and did not buy except for legitimate use.

Just before the new supply of paper arrived, the 1s. stamps ran short, and in order to prevent these (the supply printed provisionally?) being bought up by collectors, the precaution was taken of sending them to small towns only, where they would be asked for in limited quantities."

We do not think the above is any excuse for what must necessarily appear to be a mere money-making scheme on the part of the postal authorities and official speculators. Had either extra large quantities of the Beer Duty paper, or the paper with Burelé band, been issued, speculation would have been stopped. Freaks like this, in the best of our Colonial Post-offices, bear a bad impression both to the perpetrators and Philately

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

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.

Queensland 2nd Sideface Perforation 9½ article

This article was written by C. S. Graham in the Queensland Philatelic Review between 1923 - 1926.

The 9 ½ x 12 Perforations of Queensland, 1882 issues. 

By C. S. GRAHAM, Esq. 

"The information regarding these issues which is available to the ordinary collector is so small that I venture this article in the hope that it will lead some more experienced collector to give us the benefit of his wider experience through the columns of this Magazine.

Gibbons’ 'catalogues, the "spot “penny (No. 176), two types of (Nos. 177 and 183), and 1/- type  11a (No. 178). 

These are perforated 9½ horizontally and 12 vertically, but there are other variations not yet listed.

I have one specimen of No. 176 perforated 9½ at top and 12 at bottom and sides, another 12 at top and bottom and 9½ at sides, and yet  another perforated 9½ on one side only, showing that the 9½ perforation  not done regularly in horizontal  vertical rows. 

A specimen of 178 (1/-) shows the 9½ perforation at bottom and three parts of the way across the top, the remaining portion being perforated a distinct 12, with typical small holes. 

In view of the very erratic perforation which characterised Queensland issues at about this period, I cannot help thinking that these examples point to the 9½ perforation having been done, either by the Post Office or by some other Government department,  as an after process on certain sheets where the perforation was defective. 

A specimen of No. 166 ("spot” 1d.), (of full size and with fair margins), imperforate on, three sides and part perforated on the other, lends further evidence to  this theory.

Gibbons notes No. 179, ld. type 12 (no spot after "penny"), as occurring imperforate but does not catalogue the 9½ X 12 perforation  of which I have a specimen and of which several examples are held by local collectors.

There are probably other varieties in the albums of our members, and the recognition and listing of these will depend to a great extent on the information from those who are fortunate enough to possess them.

One of the objects of the Queensland Philatelic Society is the preparation of a full catalogue of Queensland stamps, and the co-operation of members will be heartily welcomed." 

Graham's theory that these stamps perforated "either by the Post Office or by some other Government department, as an after process on certain sheets where the perforation was defective" is incorrect. This perforation machine was used due to increased demand. As Badger wrote in the Australian Stamp Monthly in 1936 (P. 134), "When there was an unusual stress of work, a single line machine of the rotary type was used for the horizontal row of perforations. The perforation was just over 9.5, making the stamps perforated by it, perf 9.5 x 12." 

Nevertheless Graham is partly right in that while the perf 12's were done in the normal manner in the normal location, the horizontal perf 9.5 was done at the Government Printing Office. The job was not wholly done at the Government Printing Office for reasons of control.

This machine was a rotary single-line wheel machine, perforating large round clean-cut holes gauging 9.5. It was obtained by the Queensland Government on 29 May 1883. Some accounts refer to it being sent to British New Guinea but according to Hausberg writing in 1906, as well as my own knowledge of New Guinea during this period, this is incorrect.