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

Queensland 1 shilling mauve / lilac / violet types

The second sideface issues were based upon a single 2d. die stamp known as the Ridgway head of Queen Victoria on a lined oval background, made by Bradbury Wilkinson in 1882. Groups of 4 electrodes (moulds / clichés), taken from the die itself, repeated 30 times, were used to make up the two pence plate. It was issued on 6 February 1883.

There were 4 types of this value:

Type 1: The top prong of the right ornament / arabesque joins the curl and if prolonged would run immediately into the oval line. The top of the “S’ in Shilling points to the top of the ‘H” and the top of the “S” parallel to the oval line above it is flatter than in the other types where they are more  rounded.

Type 2: The upper end of the left ornament is compressed and this is the only type in which the prong is securely joined to the curl. The prong at the top of the right ornament /arabesque is slightly detached. The space between “N” and “E” is wider than in the other types especially at the bottom; the upper part of the letter “S’ is heavy and the lower part short; there is much less space between the “G” and the right-hand ornament than in the others.

Type 3: The top prong of the left ornament / arabesque is quite separate from the curl. The prong at the top of the right ornament /arabesque is detached. The space between “N” and “E” is very narrow; the first “L” almost touches the oval line below it; there is greater space between the “G” and the ornament than in the others. This type has the hook, a little loop on the right-hand side of the upper branch of the foliate ornament in the right lower spandrel and so named by Bornefeld in 1907.

Here is the "hook" at high magnification.

Type 4: The top prong of the left ornament / arabesque, though still not touching the curl, is longer than types 1 or 3 and the top prong of the right ornament / arabesque if prolonged would touch the oval line much lower down than type 1, although in its shape and nearness to the curl it resembles that type. The space between the letters “N” and “E” is similar to type 1 but rather wider at the bottom; the top of the “S” of Shilling is more round than type 1.

Here are tables showing the relationships of the prongs to the curls on the ornament / arabesque:

Top prongs

Type        Left Prong                                                        Right Prong

1              Detached - short                                              Attached - long

2              Attached - long                                                Slightly detached – short

3              Detached – short                                              Detached – short

4              Detached – long                                               Slightly detached – long

Bottom prongs

Type        Left Prong                                                        Right Prong

1              Detached - short                                               Attached - long

2              Attached - short                                               Attached / Detached – both short

3              Detached – shortish                                          Attached - long

4              Detached – short                                              Attached - long

2 shilling brown block fake

I have this 2 shilling brown block in my possession. It doesn't look right. Closer examination showed that the types were arranged as


1 2
3 3    
whereas they should be
1 2
3 4


The top left hand stamp is perf line 12 and the other 3 are perf 12.76 comb. In addition one is on Cowan paper and three are on De La Rue paper. And the 4 postmarks are all different. These 4 single stamps have at some time in the past been joined together! A reassembled block. Something to watch out for! They are now singles again :-).

4 single stamps stuck together. Note how the bottom 2 are both type 3!

There is a Georgetown 166, another 1 something, what looks like a registered mark and then a circular datestamp.

This scan shows how the perforations have been glued back together, despite the bottom left hand stamp being a different perforation!

Queensland 2 shilling brown types

The second sideface issues were based upon a single 2d. die stamp known as the Ridgway head of Queen Victoria on a lined oval background, made by Bradbury Wilkinson in 1882. Groups of 4 electrodes (moulds / clichés), taken from the die itself, repeated 30 times, were used to make up the two pence plate.

By 1887 this plate was worn out and new plates were constructed starting with a block of 4 electrodes of the 2d. The Queen's profile was modified by a white line down the front of the neck and the point of the bust. Transfers were taken from this mould to form the new 2 shilling value which was first issued on 19 March 1889.

There were 4 types of this value:

Type 1: The shading of the 3 lines in the oval in front of the diadem is much thickened. Dots 8 and 9 in the lower frame run together.

Type 2: 'LA' in Queensland in joined. The 9th frame dot up from the bottom left corner runs into a spandrel.

Type 3: The dot over the 'L' of Queensland breaks through the frame. There is a projection at the top left corner of the frame.

Type 4: The frame dots are more irregular than in any other type particularly the lower left side. The first shading line in the left top spandrel does not impinge on the vertical coloured line at left and is broken over the second 'E' of Queensland. There is a broken oval shading line in front of the throat opposite the 'T' of two that looks like a white line.