The details addressed on this page are:

The 2d (2/-) emerald stamp features three members of the Victorian contingent which served in the Boer War campaign - an infantryman "on guard" with a mounted bayonet and two mounted troopers, each with rifles, scanning the Transvaal horizon (the rider on the right possibly using binoculars).

The postal denomination of 2d covered the inter-colonial rate.

 

Both stamps in the Patriotic Fund issue were printed from electrotype printing plates in sheets of 42 arranged in six rows of seven stamps.

Main details of printing.

Date of issue: 22 May 1900.
Watermark: V over Crown (V4) sideways.
Perforation: 12½ single line perf.
Number printed: Unknown but more than 20,034 stamps (477 sheets) plus some sheets which were sent to the Victorian Agent General in London for sale.
Supplied to Bern Bureau (UPU): Unknown.
Destroyed under Treasury Authority: Unknown.
Number issued: About 4,000 stamps.

Multiples.

There are only two recorded multiples - both pairs - of the 2d (2/-) stamp:

The only known pair of the 2d (2/-).

It is considered possible that one of these pairs had selvedge at the right and it was therefore sold at a Rodney Perry Auction in September 1993. That pair had come from the Stone Collection.

If this provenance assumption is incorrect (unlikely), then the pair shown here is the 3rd recorded pair.
   

 

A CTO horizontal pair with Melbourne 28 July 1902 cancellation across the join. It was sold by Status International in July 2002 as Lot 1472.


Used stamps off cover.

As noted elsewhere, used 2d (2/-) stamps in good condition with a clear date stamp are scarce. There are at least 15 but probably less than 25 examples recorded.
Some examples are:


Melbourne: 25 May 1900.
Three days after issue.

Prestige Philately June 2012 Lot 471.
Essendon: 18 June 1900.
Elsternwick: 22 September 1911
(Late cancellation - out of postal validity).

Status Auctions January 2013 Lot 1952.

 

Date stamps on 2d (2/-) stamps.

The list below records the clear date stamps on the 2d (2/-) 1900 Victorian Charity stamp.
Faint, smudged and incomplete date stamps are not included because of the difficulty in ascertaining their degree of genuineness;

CTO cancellations are discussed elsewhere.

Date on stamp From Notes Seller/Reference & Date (lot)
25 May 1900 Melbourne.   Prestige Philately June 2012 Lot 471.
28 May 1900 Melbourne 7. Double circle date stamp. Matthew Bennett April 2003 Lot 2831.
Abacus Auctions Dec 2019
Lot 536.
30 May 1900 Geelong 2. Duplex - rotated anti-clockwise.

Status February 2003 Lot 1587.
Spink May 2018, Lot 346 (part).
2 June 1900 Rosedale Unframed date stamp left of centre and
rotated about 200 degrees clockwise.		 Abacus Sale 227 Lot 450 (part)
5 June 1900 Spottiswoode Unframed - with 1d (1/-). Ebay April 2018.
16 June 1900 Illowa Unframed Phoenix Auctions, Jan 2015, Lot 776.
24 June 1900 Mildura.   Prestige Philately August 2005 Lot 436.
18 June 1900 Essendon.    
20 June 1900 Melbourne 7 Double circle with shading in lower section around the 7. Ebay April 2018.
Ebay Oct 2019.
2 August 1900 Port Melbourne 7?. Duplex. Status February 2012 Lot 1672.
16 September 1900 Rialto. Duplex. Matthew Bennett April 2003 Lot 2832.
Richard Juzwin July 2018.
8 January 1901 Rialto Telegraph Office.   Status May 2006 Lot 1476
Status December 2006 Lot 1641.
11 January 1901 Melbourne. Double circle date stamp. Ebay September 2013.
25 May 1901 Bendigo Registered. Has margin at left. Phoenix Dec 2012 Lot 842 and
July 2013 Lot 1144.
?5 July 1901 Melbourne ?7. Double circle (left side not present). Sandafayre October 2013 Lot 4170
and November 2013 Lot 5546.
5 January 1903 Maldon Incomplete and in lower right corner Ebay July 2018
12 January 1904 Down Train M.G. 17 Octagonal date stamp with VICTORIA at the base. Centered but toushes perfs at the left. Corinphila May 2018 Lot 3485.
22 September 1911 Elsternwick. Usual date stamp crossing right side perforations. Prestige August 2012 Lot 272;
Status March 2013 Lot 2010;
Status June 2013 Lot 1845.