Showing posts with label postal use. Show all posts
Showing posts with label postal use. Show all posts

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Queensland 1 shilling mauve / lilac/ violet covers

A census of Queensland one shilling 2nd Sideface covers with details of the postal rates used. Most of these stamps, being of a high value, were used for fiscal purposes. When used for postal purposes, it was mainly for parcels, so covers are scarce

1883
Bundaberg to Herrnut, Germany dated 30 November 1883. The postage paid was 3s 10d 
including 6d registration. The letter rate was 8d per half ounce, so this was a quintuple (5x) rate letter. Seen at Heinrich Koeler auction no 382 lot no 1678

1884
Townsville to Bradford, England dated 1 March 1884. The postage paid was 1s 10d including 4d registration. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce, so this was a quintuple (5x) rate letter. Seen at Leski auctions 

1885
Townsville to Brisbane dated 16 February 1885. The postage paid was 1s 6d. The Queensland letter rate was 2d per half ounce and 4d for registered so this is a 7 x (septuple) rate cover. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

Cooktown to Troppau, Austria dated April 1885. The postage paid was 1s. The letter rate via England was 6d per half ounce so this is a double rate cover. Seen in Prestige Philately auction no 161 lot no 362

1886
Brisbane to Middlesex, England dated 27 October 1886. The postage paid was 1s 4d including a registration fee of 4d. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce so this is a triple rate cover. Seen in Spink auction no 12015 lot no 2346

Maryborough to Scotland dated 18 November 1886. The postage paid was 1s. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce so this is a triple rate cover

1887
Rockhampton to North Shields, England dated 16 April 1887. The postage paid was 1s 10d including registration of 4d. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce so this is a quadruple rate cover

South Brisbane to Manchester, England dated 8 September 1887. The postage paid was 1s. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce so this is a triple rate cover

1888
Mackay to Staffordshire, England dated 16 June 1888. The postage paid was 1s 4d including a registration fee of 4d. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce so this is a triple rate cover. Seen in Spink auction no 12043 lot no 1293. Ex Alan Griffiths

Brisbane to Glasgow, Scotland dated 13 July 1888. The postage paid was 3s 6d plus a missing stamp. The letter rate was 4d per half ounce so this could be an 11 x rate cover with the missing stamp being 2d!

Bundaberg to Hamburg, Germany dated 19 November 1888. The postage paid was 3s 9d. The letter rate via the French packet boat was 9d per half ounce, so this was a quintuple (5x) rate letter. Seen at Abacus auctions no 234 lot no 122

Bundaberg to Graz, Austria dated 19 November 1888. The postage paid was 1s 10d including a registration fee of 4d. The letter rate via the French or German packets boats was 9d per half ounce, so this was a double rate letter. Seen at auction

1889
Brisbane to Meriden, Connecticut, USA  via Brindisi dated 14 May 1889. The postage paid was 1s 10d. The letter rate to the USA via England was 8d per half ounce, so this is a triple letter rate with a shortfall of 2d; and accordingly 4d to pay (2d + 2d fine) is noted in manuscript in red.
 Seen in Rumsey auction no 93 lot no 4167

Brisbane to Erlof, Sweden dated 10 June 1889. The postage paid was 1s. The letter rate via the French or German packets boats was 9d per half ounce, so this was a single rate letter and registration incorrectly charged at 3d. Seen in Corinphila auction no 291

Bundaberg to Freetown, Sierra Leone dated 12 June 1889. The postage paid was 1s 1d including a registration fee of 4d. The letter rate was 9d per half ounce via England. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

1890
Cooktown to Halle, Germany dated 21 January 1890. The postage paid was 1s 6d.The letter rate via the French packet boat was 9d per half ounce, so this was a double rate letter. Seen at Cavendish auctions in December 2017

Goondiwindi to Oberhessen, Germany dated 22 July 1890. The postage paid was 1s, including 4d registration. The letter rate via the French or German packets boats was 9d per half ounce, so this was a single rate letter and registration incorrectly charged at 3d. Seen on Ebay

Brisbane to Boston, USA  via San Francisco dated 4 August 1890. The postage paid was 1s 6d. The letter rate to the USA via San Francisco was 6d per half ounce, so this is a triple letter rate. Seen in Gaertner auctions no 25 lot no 6322

1891
Brisbane to Leipzig, Germany dated 27 May 1891. The postage paid was 1s 4d, including 4d registration .The letter rate was 6d per half ounce, so this was a double rate letter. Seen on Ebay

Brisbane to London, England dated 23 September 1891. The postage paid was 2s 9.5d. 
including a registration fee of 4d. The letter rate was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is a 11 x  letter rate with 2d left over or else a 12 x letter rate underpaid by half pence? Seen in Abacus auction no 240 lot no 608

1893
Gympie to Budapest, Hungary dated 1 May 1893. The postage paid was 1s. including a registration fee of 3d. The letter rate was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is a 3 x  letter rate with 1.5d left over or else a 4 letter rate underpaid by one penny? Seen in Corinphila auction 2023

1895
Brisbane to New York, USA  via San Francisco dated 31 May 1895. The postage paid was 1s 4d including registration of 3d. The letter rate to the USA was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is a 5 x letter rate with halfpence left over. Seen on Ebay

1898
Brisbane to Baden, Germany dated 12 February 1898. The postage paid was 3s including a registration fee of 3d. The letter rate was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is either a 13 x rate (highly unlikely and a ha'penny too much) or, more likely, a philatelic cover. Seen at Abacus auction no 239

Philatelic use after the 1s stamp was withdrawn from sale in June 1899
The 3rd Sideface 1s stamp went on sale in June 1899, replacing the 2nd Sideface 1s stamp. Therefore any examples of the 2nd Sideface 1s on cover from mid-1899 onwards, especially if posted in Brisbane or a larger regional post office, are most probably philatelic

1900
George Street, Brisbane to Salzburg, Austria dated 2 January 1900. The postage paid was 3s 6d including a registration fee of 3d. The letter rate was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is either a 14 x rate (highly unlikely and 2d left over anyway) or, more likely, especially as the 1 shilling 3rd Sideface issue went on sale in June 1899, a philatelic cover. Seen at auction

1901
Brisbane to Sydney 
dated 23 March 1901. The postage paid was 1s 3d including a registration fee of 3d. The letter rate was 1d per half ounce, so this letter was either the 12 x rate or, most likely, philatelic, especially as the 1 shilling 3rd Sideface issue went on sale in June 1899. Seen in the collection of Dr Andrew Mortlock

1913
South Melbourne to Paris, France dated 21 August 1913. Seen in the collection of Dr Andrew Mortlock. Ex Butler

1916
Thursday Island to Wellington, New Zealand, dated 11 April 1916. Seen on Stampboards

1965
Sydney to Birmingham, England via American Samoa dated 11 July 1965. Seen on Ebay

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

1895 Queensland 1d Burelé band postally used

Due to a paper shortage, stocks of the ordinary watermarked paper ran out and the 1d. had to be printed on thick beer duty paper, going on sale on 16 January 1895. By late January stocks of this emergency printing were running low and there was also widespread dissatisfaction with this printing as the stamps were falling off envelopes due to adherence problems.

A further emergency printing was therefore considered necessary, and owing to the problems associated with the original emergency printing it was decided that until the anticipated supplies of the of the usual paper were received from London, a further emergency printing, using plain wove paper with lithographed Burelé bands on the reverse as a security measure, would be issued. Meanwhile the supplies of ordinary watermarked paper had arrived in Brisbane in 1 February 1895.

The Burelé band printing went on sale at post offices on Tuesday 19 February 1895 and quickly attracted interest from collectors and speculators due to the Burelé band on the back. As the normal watermarked paper stocks had now arrived in the colony, the Burelé band printing were replaced on Friday 22 February 1895 (Scudder gives this date but I have been unable to corroborate it. Robson Lowe in the Empire in Australia p. 116 gives a date of 28 February 1895) by a new 1d. stamp, the so-called Cameo issue as the background shading around the Queen's head had been removed.

This meant that the Burelé band printing was only on sale for a handful of days before being replaced! Accordingly postally used examples are rare, while mint copies, blocks and sheets are relatively plentiful as they were snapped up for speculative purposes. Scudder writes that 420,000 stamps were issued. However in the London Philatelist vol 4, May 1895, p. 144, a remark made in connection with this printing was that "The quantity issued of these appears to have been very small". The following month (p. 172), a figure of 300,000 was given.

I have divided the postal usage into three periods:

  • Postally used in February 1895, that is, during the period when these stamps were on sale at the post offices. This usage is extremely rare and only two examples have been seen that fall within the three day window when this issue was definitely on sale (19 - 21 February 1895). To date only examples have been seen from Brisbane, suggesting that this issue may only have been sold at the Brisbane GPO
  • Postally used till the end of 1895. Some examples have been seen from this period used in towns other than Brisbane.
  • Philatelic use after 1895. This includes blocks from a sheet from Hughenden posted in 1898 which presumably was originally a mint sheet purchased for speculative purposes. This period also includes the only example known on cover
Cancelled to order (CTO) examples also exist and an example is shown below

February 1895 postal usage
1d. Burelé band postally used in Brisbane in February 1895. The first two are date stamped 21 February 1895 and the other two are date stamped 26 and 27 February 1895 respectively

1d. Burelé band postally used in Brisbane on 26 February 1895. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

March 1895 postal usage
1d. Burelé band postally used in Brisbane on 1 and 12 March 1895. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group

1d. Burelé band postally used in Brisbane on 4 March 1895. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group 

2 x 1d. Burelé band postally used in Rockhampton on 10 March 1895. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group 

April 1895 postal usage
1d. Burelé band postally used in Gympie in April 1895 and Ipswich on 21 March 1895

May 1895 postal usage
A mixed franking including a 1d. Burelé band postally used at South Brisbane on 10 May 1895

Philatelic usage
1898
1d. Burelé band dated Hughenden 21 September 1898. Positions 1-5, 11-15, 21-25, 31-35, 41-45 and 51-55

1d. Burelé band dated Hughenden 21 September 1898. Positions 6-10 and 16-20. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group. Ex Griffiths

1899
1d. Burelé band dated Toowong 18 April 1899. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group. Ex Griffiths

1902
1d. Burelé band dated Brisbane 24 February 1902, unknown post office dated 1902, Nelson (framed datestamp types were  issued 1914-15)

1910
1d. Burelé band dated Brisbane 24 February 1910

1934
1d. Burelé band dated Brisbane 1934

Cancelled to order (CTO)
1911
1d. Burelé band CTO with a Brisbane type 22 date stamp dated 12 July 1911. Positions 7-8 and 17-18

Friday, June 2, 2017

Queensland 2 shilling brown covers

A census of Queensland 2 shilling 2nd Sideface covers with details of the postal rates used. Most of these stamps, being of a high value, were used for fiscal purposes. When used for postal purposes, it was mainly for parcels, so covers are scarce

1888

FORGERY. Ipswich registered letter to London dated July 1888. Total postage is 2s 10d. The registration fee was 4d. As the standard rate was 6d. it appears that the 2s was not required and has been added on afterwards. Further evidence of this is that the illegible barred numeral cancellation is facing the wrong way and has been added to with some extra lines where it joins the envelope

1890
Cover from Brisbane to Melbourne dated 12 June 1890. Ex Francis Kiddle. Philatelic use as it is hard to see how an envelope could attract such a high rate of postage and the use of the large chalon is also highly unusual

1898
Brisbane to Baden, Germany dated 12 February 1898. The postage paid was 3s including a registration fee of 3d. The letter rate was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is either a 13 x rate (highly unlikely and a ha'penny too much) or, more likely, a philatelic cover. Seen at Abacus auction no 239

1899
Posted at Samurai, British New Guinea on 19 September 1899 to Townsville, Queensland. Seen at Prestige Philately auction no 149 lot no 2028

Unknown date
A registered cover with a Brisbane datestamp. Seen in a private collection and the only genuine non-philatelic postally used cover seen used in Queensland so far


1900
George Street, Brisbane to Salzburg, Austria dated 2 January 1900. The postage paid was 3s 6d including a registration fee of 3d. The letter rate was 2.5d per half ounce, so this is either a 14 x rate (highly unlikely and 2d left over anyway) or, more likely, especially as the 1 shilling 3rd Sideface issue went on sale in June 1899, a philatelic cover. Seen at auction

1909
A stunning pair on cover from Brisbane to Germany dated 11 June 1909 which would indicate that it was of philatelic origin as these stamps were certainly not available at the Brisbane post office after 1902

1912
Qld 2/- brown & SA 10d orange thin postage, cancelled with poor Sydney registered of 7MY12, on parcel wrapper piece to Birmingham, England, with Sydney red & black registration label & oval 'REGISTERED/21/7JU12/LONDON' (A2). Seen at Premier Postal auction no 69 lot no 1013. Obviously philatelic in nature given the location and the date

A philatelic cover (the date is 1912) from Brisbane to Apolda, Germany with 2 x 2 shilling stamps. Seen in Gartner auction no 49 lot no 3101

1913
Registered cover from Melbourne to Austria dated 17 November 1913. Obviously philatelic. Seen in the Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook Group