Type variations of Australian Stamps - Pre decimal issues
Introduction
Most variations that occur in Australian stamps are the result of minor differences in the printing plates resulting in an easily overlooked difference between 2 seemingly identical stamps. This list is not an attempt to list all possible variations but merely a guide to the more common differences not listed in basic catalogues. I hope you find this information helpful.
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1934 - Centenary of Death of John Macarthur The first printing is known as "White Hills" the die was corrected for the second printing to give better definition and is known as "Dark Hills" as can be seen in the background hill |
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1936 - Opening of Tasmanian Telephone Cable Type A has a tiny line joining the frames adjacent the lower serif of the letter "d" - where I have placed the yellow arrow |
Type A |
Type B |
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1957 - Centenary of Responsible Government in South Australia Type A the scroll just bisects the hyphen between the dates whereas it extends through it on Type B |
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1959 - 64 - Definitive, 4d QE2 Type A has a break in the outer shading line of the numeral 4 as indicated by the arrow, Type B has no break at this point |
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1959 - 64 - Definitive, 5d QE2 Type A has 4 lines of shading inside the loop of the numeral 5, Type B has 5 lines of shading. |
Type A |
Type B |
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1959 - 64 - Definitive, 8d Tiger Cat No reference to this variety appears in catalogues that I have but there is definitely 2 types that seem to occur in similar numbers (2 master plates were used), easily distinguished by a small white spot in line with the lower part of the eye on the right face outline
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No spot on nose |
Spot on nose |
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1960 - Centenary of Northern Territory Exploration The easiest way to tell the types apart is by the "spur" on the horses mane on type 2 , there are other differences to the reins, forelock & ears. |
Type 1 |
Type 2 |