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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. ONLY THE SECOND RECORDED USED EXAMPLE OF THE AUSTRALIA 20-SHILLING POSTAGE DUE WITH STROKE AFTER DENOMINATION. A GREAT RARITY OF AUSTRALIA, BUT ALSO A HIGHLY IMPORTANT STAMP FOR THE COLLECTOR OF USED BRITISH COMMONWEALTH.
The extreme rarity of this 20sh Postage Due stamp is due to the circumstances of when it was printed and how it was used. The previous Postage Due series was uniformly printed in green with values from -1/2d to 20sh. The only way to distinguish the Pence stamp and Shilling stamp of the same denomination was the print in the oval. This made it difficult to readily tell a pence stamp from a shilling. It was decided to change the design of all the Shilling values and put a stroke after the denomination. This was done in late 1908 or early 1909. These early Postage Dues were only distributed to New South Wales, and no official announcement was made of their availability. These were never sold at the post office, and only obtainable by application to the Deputy Postmaster General at the G.P.O. in Sydney. Because of these factors, very few unused stamps were ever sold to collectors. In July 1909, a new series of Postage Due stamps were issued for all of Australia, making these Shilling stamps obsolete only a few months after issue.
Some students believe only two sheets of 120 stamps were issued, and that only one sheet was on hand at the Sydney Parcel Post Branch. The shilling values were not used on ordinary mail, but limited to payment of bulk postage or for internal post office accounting. It is no wonder that what few where actually used were almost never saved.
Only one other used example of the 20-shilling Postage Due with stroke has been recorded. It has a similar cancel to this stamp and is dated February 1910. The date of this stamp is faint and only partial. It was purchased around 1910 by Paul Simonsen and was not seen on the market again for nearly 80 years. During that time, many Australian collectors and dealers assumed it no longer existed and was never priced used in any catalogue. It then made it's first re-appearance in 1990 and was last offered in a 2005 Australian auction.
We discovered this copy in a large consignment of Worldwide stamps. We sent it to the British Philatelic Association for an expertizing certificate, and after consulting with the leading Australian experts, they issued a certificate as genuine.
Offered to the market for the first time. With 2013 B.P.A. certificate. Stanley Gibbons value (Image)
Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com
FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE MULTIPLE OF THE 4K PARLIAMENT INVERTED CENTER.
Ex Houser. Signed Sietz. Catalogued as a hinged and never hinged single. Michel €4,200 (Image)
FINE. A STRKING AND RARE USE.
Ex Houser (Image)