How to Identify an Australian Postage Stamp
Stamp collecting can take you far and away into the world, especially if you choose a foreign country as your collecting focus. Australia has stamps that bring attention to the animals, plants and historical people of the continent. You can find stamps that highlight native people, historical dates and celebrities. Australia's postal system also has an interesting history in which each state would print its own stamps before the states came together. And there is the currency change that makes the collecting of stamps before a certain date that much more fun, as well.
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Things You'll Need
- Magnifying glass
- Tweezers or stamp tongs
- Stamp catalogue or foreign stamp identifier
Instructions
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Identifying the Stamp by Country, Currency and Mint
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1
Locate the name of the country. The name may be placed on the bottom, side or in an oval in the design of the stamp. Use the magnifying glass if it is hard for you to see the lettering.
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2
The value of the stamp can be placed anywhere, but look in the corners first. Look for the currency amount that may be located in any of the corners or in all of the corners. Stamps made after 1966 have a lowercase 'c' for cents or a dollar symbol for amounts over 99 cents. Before this, stamps sold for pounds or pence, symbolized by the British pound symbol or a lowercase 'p.' Lift the stamp with tweezers or stamp tongs and use the magnifying glass if you need a closer look.
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3
Using your magnifying glass and look for the mint of issue designation. It may be a letter or a dot or a collection of dots following the numeral denomination, depending on the mint used at the time of printing. Consult the stamp catalog about appropriate markings.
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Tips & Warnings
Most stamps from Australia will have the word "Australia" on the stamp if it is a modern era stamp. Stamps that were used in the middle 1800s until 1913 might say "Queensland" or "South Wales," as stamps were initially distributed by the separate states of Australia.
In February, 1966, Australia officially changed from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents as their monetary system. This change affected stamps as well. After this date, the numeral value of the stamp is followed by a lower case 'c' if the price of a stamp was under $1.00. Before 1966, a stamp might display the appropriate numeral in the corners, but state the amount in another portion of the stamp, such as one and a half pence.
Australian stamps during the years from 1911 to 1964 were minted in a variety of locations including: London, England; Bombay, India; and Perth, Australia.
Australia came together as a country in 1901, but the post offices would not work together collectively until 1913. Some stamps from this period retain the states' names.
Using tongs or tweezers to lift and hold stamps prevents possible damage from too much handling.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit australian stamps image by Edsweb from Fotolia.com Post stamp image by Svetlana Kashkina from Fotolia.com
