MOSTLY USED RANGE on stock sheets with 2nd State 1d & 3d (2) Half-lengths all cut into, 3rd state 2d & 3d (5 - one with four margins), White Veils 1d (2) & 3d (2) all with small defects, 4th state 2d (2 - one with butterfly "1" cancel) & 3d, 1851 2d (2) plus a range of 1852/52 2d Q-on-T, 1854 1d Half-length (5 - varying from four margins to cut into - one with Castlemaine d.s.), 1854/57 1d Half-length (6) & 3d (7) range of Woodblocks to 2/- inc. 6d 'TOO LATE' 1855/56 2d Q-on-T (6 inc. a pair), plus later issues inc. 1859 3d Half-length severely misperforated, 1865 8d Orange used (2 - one possibly reperfed), Laureated to 5/- used, 1873 ½d on 1d Perf 12 mint, 1884 Postal Fiscals to 5/- postally used and to £2 fiscally, 1885 2/6d Yellow mint Naish mint to 2/-, 1888 1/6d Blue used, 1897 Charity used set, 1900 Charity mint set, 1901 'POSTAGE' ISSUED used to £1 and mint to 2/- inc. 1d Pair with experimental vendor machine opt, punctured OS used to 2/-, p.dues to 1/-, range of barred numeral pmks etc. (few hundred) (Image)

1854 6d WOODBLOCK, the three shades unused; Reddish-Brown, three margins, close at top, small nick in top margin and thinned, Dull Orange four margins and thinned & Orange Yellow from the right of the sheet and just touching at upper left. Scarce. SG £2600. (3) (Image)

SCARCE 1/- REGISTERED FRANKING; May 1857 env. (rear flap missing; small faults) to Lancaster franked 6d Woodblock three margins, just touching at base & 1/- bi-coloured 'REGISTERED' Woodblock, four margins and tied or cancelled by indistinct barred numeral cancels. Front with London "[Crown]/REGISTERED" h.s. and "d6" internal reg. rate due. Rear with a framed "LIVERPOOL/SHIP" d.s. and part of a Victoria oval town d.s. Cross Reference: REGISTERED MAIL (Image)

CRIMEAN WAR PERIOD - CLIPPER SHIP MAIL TO G.B. - 'LIGHTNING', 'MARCO POLO', 'BALLARAT', ETC.: 1854-56 covers mainly with Imperf. 6d Orange or 1/- Octagon frankings inc. Dec. 1855/Aug. 1856 pair (latter toned) ex Portland (endorsed "Per Lightning" with 6d single (just 4m tied by fine oval "18/V"; unusual Manuscript "portland/[date]" on flap) or pair (tied by fine "8" Numeral with v. fine new oval "PORTLAND" d.s. on reverse), Mar. 1855 with poor 1/- Blue endorsed "Registered" and so charged "6" - per 'Shalimar'), 1856/57 Liverpool "AUSTRALIAN/PACKET" c.d.s. pair with fine red h.s. "1d" Accountancy marks, and several Melbourne 6d covers by Clipper/names ships. (11 covers) Cross Reference: LANCASHIRE - LIVERPOOL, MARITIME MAIL, MILITARY - CRIMEAN WAR, AUSTRALIA (Image)

1854/59 2/- WOODBLOCK QUARTET with imperf (2 - one v.fine used with four margins, other touching on two sides, cleaned & thinned), Rouletted - on all four sides and very unusual thus (ex Pack with Wilson [Birmingham] expertising mark on rear) and superb used and Perf 12 unused (no gum) and with small thin only visible from rear. (Image)

6d 'TOO LATE' four-margined, unused example, possibly regummed and with two creases visible from rear. Rare. SG £3500 Cross Reference: LATE FEE MAIL (Image)

1854 Bi-Coloured 1/- 'REGISTERED' Woodblock imperf used (2 - with "42/V" [Gisborne - scarce] or an unidentified Butterfly cancel) and both with four margins plus an 1857 rouletted example (slight crease) tied to a piece at top by a bar cancel and showing discernible roulettes at base & left. SG £800 (3) Cross Reference: REGISTERED MAIL (Image)

1855 Campbell & Fergusson print 1d Rose Half-length, unused with four v. large margins and of fine appearance. Scarce. SG £1700 (Image)

QV FRANKINGS GROUP; Range with 5 Nov. 1855 env. to Castlemaine franked 1d & 3d Half-lengths tied by "1/V" cancels and redirected to Fiery Creek, 1861 envs to Avoca, Red Bank, East Melbourne or Bendigo franked 4d Beaded Oval ex Melbourne, Broadmeadows or Ararat, 1867 env. to Back Creek franked 2d Laureate with Talbot, Sebastopol, Majorca and Ballaarat cds on rear, 1872 env. to Scotland franked 6d with Colac duplex and 9 June 1910 printed fragment addressed to Coburg franked 1d QV vertically bisected and tied by Melbourne cds. (8 items) Cross Reference: BISECTS (Image)

REGISTERED FRANKING ON OFFICIAL MAIL; 26 Aug. 1856 OHMS printed front (few peripheral faults) to England endorsed 'Registered' and franked 2/- Woodblock (three margins) and 1/- 'REGISTERED' Woodblock both tied by "1" b/n cancel of Melbourne and with London "REGISTERED/G.P.O" double-arc d.s. with "d6" h.s. for the British internal registration fee. Uncommon combination franking, particularly on official mail. Cross Reference: REGISTERED MAIL, OFFICIAL MAIL (Image)

6d WOODBLOCK GROUP; Range with imperf singles (2 - one from the right of the sheet with roulettes at left ) on 1856/58 fragments and tied by "1" or "2" b/n or pairs (3 - one from right of the sheet and on a fragment) with "93) b/n cancel or "1" or "15" butterfly cancels - one with Engel [Hamburg] expertising mark on rear plus singles on Aug. 1855 EL or July 1857 env. to England tied by "1/V" or "1" b/n cancels, former endorsed 'per White Star' with Liverpool transit d.s. on front. (6 stamps + 2 covers) (Image)

1857 6d WOODBLOCK serrated perf 18-19 unused, defects at base inc. slight thinning, stains and creasing, none the less an exceptional rarity unused with perhaps five examples in private hands believed to exist. Seldom seen or offered. SG £4750 (Image)

1857 6d WOODBLOCK DULL ORANGE & ORANGE YELLOW both showing distinct roulettes on two or three sides unused (one regummed and other with corner fault, small thin & closed tear) & used with "1" b/n cancels. The unused are exceedingly rare and unpriced by SG. (4) (Image)

1857 6d WOODBLOCK CALVERT SEPARATIONS with 6d orange-yellow serpentine roulettes 10-10½ and 6d orange-yellow with combination of serrated 18-19 & serpentine 10-10½ both used and with indistinct bar cancels. SG £780 (2) (Image)

WRECK OF THE EMEU; 15 Sep. 1857 EL 'per Emeu' to Marshfield near Bath franked 6d Woodblock, rouletted at left and right and tied by b/n '1' with Melbourne, London, Bath, Chippenham and Marshfield d.s. on rear or front. "Mis-directed/Bath" h.s. also on front. The Emeu ran aground in the Red Sea near Jeddah with her mails eventually picked up by the Madras nearly a month later. Cross Reference: CRASH/WRECK MAIL, MISSENT MAIL (Image)