The Charity stamps of Colonial Australia.

NSW - 1897 Consumptives Home
1d (1/-) stamp.

A guide to plating the 1d (1/-) stamp is provided elsewhere.

The announcement of the issue.

The NSW Government Gazette, dated 26th June 1897, described [#11,859] the design of the 1d (1/-) stamp as follows:

"The design has, for a central vignette, an angelic figure supporting in her arms an exhausted being, helpless and in need of sympathy. The vignette is surrounded by an ornamental frame, from the left upper corner of which springs the initial letter 'C' of the title 'Consumptives Home', which occupies the top of the frame; and in the right upper corner is shown a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen. At the sides the figures '1837-1897' are enclosed in diamond outlines. In the two lower corners the value 1/- is shown, while the space between is occupied by the inscription 'N.S.W. Postage, One Penny' ".

The motto under the picture was drawn from Corinthians I, Chapter 13, Verse 12:

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

Design of the 1d (1/-) stamp.

The standard 1d. stamps.

There were already two 1d NSW stamps on standard issue in 1897. These 1d stamps therefore complemented the 1d (1/-) Consumptives Home Charity issue.

 

Details of the printing and issue.

Both of the N.S.W. Charity stamps were designed by C. Taylor.

The 1d (1/-) stamp was printed by the Government Printing Office, Sydney, using chromolithography, in sheets of 30 arranged in six rows of five stamps. Separate 30-on plates were prepared for each printing colour - dark grey-green, pale grey-green, brown and fawn.

After the printing, the lithographic stones had to be erased:

To Deputy Postmaster-General:
I have attached a certificate from my officers who, under my instructions, erased the transferred, or working stones,
from which the Hospital stamps were printed.
I regret my inability to have retained the transfers on these stones – as owing to current requirements of the Department,
the stock does not admit of the retention of work on a stone after the required number of copies have been struck off.
In the case under review there were eleven (11) extra, or working stones required ...”

3 September 1897 vol. 1 157, p. 315 of Government Printing Office:
Copies of Letters Sent (Departmental), State Records at Kingswood.

Norm Sheppard analysed the 1d (1/-) stamps in detail and prepared a list, in 1979, of each stamp with its unique flaws. Positions of any given stamp on the printing plate can therefore be identified. Sheppard's list has been modified in several places and a updated guide to the plating is included in this site.

A full analysis of each stamp in each row is also provided and can be referenced directly:

Large multiples

There is one complete sheet of 30 still in existence. It is in excellent condition and has selvedge on all four sides.

The left selvedge has the top half of the letters from the watermark NEW SOUTH WALES POSTAGE while the right selvedge has the lower half.
The watermark, with the Crown to the right, is visible as too are the frame lines delineating the boundaries of the panes for when the paper had been used to print the 1d Centennial stamps (see also Sheppard, 1979).

There are many multiples (in addition to the sheet) which can be collected for the 1d stamp although the larger multiples are unique items. The multiples can be summarised as follows:

• a block of 20 being the lowest 4 rows of a sheet. It has selvedge on three sides.
  The third and fourth stamps in the top row have lost perforations to varying degrees (down to zero)
  and the top three rows of perforations on the left side show varying degrees of separation. (Status February 2007 Lot 1458).
• a corner marginal block of 12 (4 rows by 3 columns) with three stamps never hinged (Harmers of London Sale 4423/4 September 1984 Lot 1175; Matthew Bennett Int, February 2003 Lot 563);
• two blocks of 10 (see below) - one block of 10 (2 rows) with selvedge at the top and on the sides and a second block of 10 with selvedge at the bottom and on the sides;
• unused blocks of nine (H.R. Harmer Australia October 1949) and of six and a used block of six;
• at least 14 unused blocks of four (distinguishable by their differences in perforation characteristics) and an unused strip of four;
• one strip of three (see, for example, Prestige Philately August 2004 Lot 603).

Blocks of 6 and 4.

There are at least 3 blocks of 6 recorded including that below.

There are at least 14 blocks of 4 recorded. Two of these are nice marginal blocks:

Three of the other 1d (1/-) blocks of four can be easily distinguished from each other:

• selvedge on top and right side and MUH (Millennium April 2004, Lot 42);
• selvedge on top (Millennium November 2003, Lot 777);
• selvedge underneath (Millennium Rarities October 2004, Lot 12);

Listing of known date stamps on the NSW 1d (1/-) Charity stamps.

There are a moderate number of used NSW Charity stamps off cover - see below for a reasonably complete list of stamps used within the period of postal validity and for examples of use after the date of postal validity.

Almost all are singles although there are also a small number of unused pairs. Most used singles come in matched dates for the two denominations - possibly used on a cover and later removed. Some of the date stamps are very faint indecipherable.

A block of four with a Parkes cds of 2 December 1897 - with a matching 2½d (2/6) block - is known (Status Auctions July 2002 Lot 1248).

There are certainly more than 30 good used examples for the 1d (1/-) with distinguishable dates - but there are probably less than 40 examples of good collectable items. Included in this total are three good examples on piece (for Sydney, Parliament House and Broke). That would make good used examples less common than unused or mint examples. Partial or indistinct cancellations have been ignored on account of a doubt over their validity.

Most other dates are in 1897 (even to December) although some are known with date stamps a long time out of the validity of the stamp - 17 March 1909 at Sydney (Status Auctions December 2002 Lot 1005), Sydney 29 July 1911 and 27 September 1937 at Melbourne!! (Sandafayre October 2913 Lot 5341).

As noted elsewhere, the stamps were only valid for postage up to 31 August 1897. Partial or indistinct cancellations have been ignored on account of a doubt over their validity.

Stamps known within period of postal validity (before 31 August 1897).

• 22 June 1897 at Cobargo (First Day of Issue) - Premier Auctions December 2010.
• 22 June 1897 at Tenterfield (First Day of Issue) - Duncan Manins June 2014 (full gum).
• 22 June 1897 at Breeza (First Day of Issue) - Ebay Nov 2022, Status Auctions September 2022 (Lot 2779) and January 2203 (Lot 2617) and Ebay May 2023.
• 22 June 1897 at Lithgow (First Day of Issue) - Abacus Auction August 2024 Lot 775.
• 23 June 1897 at Haymarket with a Haymarket 65 duplex (1.5) with date stamp centered - Ebay December 2019.
• 25 June 1897 at Sydney 43 (4:00 pm) with a NSW duplex on piece. RH of the date stamp passes through the 8 of 1837. Has red A and R letters in lower corners - Ebay (techgifts) March 2018.
• 28 June 1897 at Sydney 36 (4:30 pm) on RHS and rotated anti-clockwise about 45 degrees - Ebay June 2017.
• 30 June 1897 at Enmore sent to To Hairdresser in King Street Newtown - Nutmeg September 2006 Lot 4866.
• 30 June 1897 at Glen Innes with a Glen Innes duplex incorporating a 132 barred numeral - Status September 2016 Lot 1650.
• 1 July 1897 at Parramatta - Status March 2013 Lot 1741 (also several other auctions).
• 2 July 1897 at Sydney Registered with date stamp across central area and rotated 80 degrees anti-clockwise - Blue Owl October 2013 Lot STK-18808.
• 2 July 1897 at Parliament House on piece. Has the date stamp of the duplex almost upside down and inside the top left corner and extends beyond to the left. The 1741 duplex is across the design and extends to the 2nd last vertical line - Prestige Philately August 2012 Lot 263 and August 2013 Lot 358;
• 2 July 1897 at Parliament House on piece. Has the date stamp of the duplex almost upside down and well inside the top left corner. It extends beyond the top perforations. The 1741 duplex is across the design and finishes on the vertical perforations on the right side - Status November 2013 Lot 1641.
• 2 July 1897 at Bungonia with selvedge at the right with the cds in the selvedge and extending to the '1897' diamond at the right - Ebay March 2015 and March 2017.
• 3 July 1897 at North Sydney - Ebay November 2022 and February 2023.
• 3 July 1897 at Newcastle with a duplex.
• 5 July 1897 at Darlington - Status July 2023 Lot 1246.
• 5 July 1897 at Delegate with 202 rays - Prestige January 2005 Lot 394.
• 5 July 1897 at Sydney Registered with selvedge at the right and the cds in the selvedge extending to the '1897' diamond at the right - Spink May 2018 Lot 62.
• 5 July 1897 at Sydney 45 with Sydney duplex twice on piece - posted at noon - Ebay August 2019.
• 16 July 1897 at Cooma - Phoenix December 2013 Lot 529.
• 19 July 1897 at Sydney marginal example - Matthew Bennett Sale 256 Lot 560.
• 19 July 1897 at Newcastle with a complete date stamp in lower right corner - Ebay March 2015.
• 28 July 1897 at Gadesville wth date stamp across the right side of the vignette - Ebay September 2013.
• 28 July 1897 at Parramatta 0n piece (lovely item) - Status February 2012 Lot 1499.
• 29 July 1897 at Sydney 36 with complete cds to right of centre - Ebay April 2023.
• 31 July 1897 at Oxley with date stamp across the central area and rotated 30 degrees anti-clockwise. Lower arc is on the lines between POSTAGE and PENNY - Status July 2013 Lot 171 and Ebay August 2019.
• 3 August 1897 at Sydney with NSW duplex moved left and struck at 1 pm - Ebay (techgifts) December 2017.
• 6 August 1897 at Sydney Registered having the date stamp just crosses lower perforations and rotated 45 degrees anti-clockwise - Ebay October 2013 and Feb 2019.
• 18 August 1897 at The Exchange and rotated anti-clockwise 45°. Nearly touches the RH frame - Ebay August 2019 and Ebay May 2023.
• 21 August 1897 at Parramatta with a single type 2 steel date stamp - Ebay October 2016.

The above image shows the backs of a NSW 1d (right) and 2½d Consumptive Homes stamps showing badly disturbed gum and thins.

Listing of NSW 1d (1/-) Charity stamps posted after the validity of the stamps for postage had ended
(31 August 1897).