1855-68 Tasmania in Bud's Big Blue
Bud's Big Blue
Bud's Observations
(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)
Jim's Observations
Tasmania, an island just off south-eastern Australia, was one of the six British colonies that merged to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
The capital was Hobart, and the population was 172,000 in 1901.
But Tasmania, as the other Australian colonies, has a prior rich philatelic history, with stamp issues from 1853-1912.
Van Diemen's Land, the second British colony after 1788 New South Wales, was established in 1803.
In 1812, British convicts were sent to the island as a "prison without walls".
The first settlements include Hobart Town, Launceston, and George
The capital was Hobart, and the population was 172,000 in 1901.
But Tasmania, as the other Australian colonies, has a prior rich philatelic history, with stamp issues from 1853-1912.
Van Diemen's Land, the second British colony after 1788 New South Wales, was established in 1803.
In 1812, British convicts were sent to the island as a "prison without walls".
The first settlements include Hobart Town, Launceston, and George
The engraved Chalon Heads (portrait by Edward Chalon 1838) were issued in 1855, and used for the next 25 years. They are the "meat and potatoes" of Tasmania specialty stamp collecting: I count some 132 major/minor varieties in the Scott catalogue. They are also generally expensive for the WW collector, and, except for a representative collection, may need to be left alone.
Van Diemen's Land was changed to Tasmania in 1856, which appears on the Chalon Heads in 1858.
The 2014 Scott Classic 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Tasmania 1853-1912, 123 major number descriptions. There are also many minor numbers because of perforation changes and color shade variations. For the major number count, I did not include the 35 "AR" postal fiscal stamps stamps in the catalogue.
Of the major number count, only 5 (4%) can be found @ CV $1+. Raising the bar to CV $10, yields 35 stamps, or 28%. Clearly, the early classical era Tasmania issues are somewhat expensive for the WW collector who wishes to obtain a representative collection. The very early 1853-1868 issues (50 major numbers) are expensive ( $27-$60+) to very expensive ($ Hundreds- $ Thousands). But those early listings are specialty territory anyway.
Be aware that some eleven different watermarks were used, and there can be many different perforation varieties. All in all, a pretty complicated and expensive country.
Of the major number count, only 5 (4%) can be found @ CV $1+. Raising the bar to CV $10, yields 35 stamps, or 28%. Clearly, the early classical era Tasmania issues are somewhat expensive for the WW collector who wishes to obtain a representative collection. The very early 1853-1868 issues (50 major numbers) are expensive ( $27-$60+) to very expensive ($ Hundreds- $ Thousands). But those early listings are specialty territory anyway.
Be aware that some eleven different watermarks were used, and there can be many different perforation varieties. All in all, a pretty complicated and expensive country.
Big Blue '69, on one page, located between Tannu Tuva and Thrace, has 27 spaces.
Coverage is 22%.
The 40s editions offer two less spaces for the 1870-96 issue, and three less spaces for the 1892-99 issue, compared to the '69 and later editions.
There are eight "expensive" (CV $10+-$20+) stamp spaces, and one "most expensive" (CV $35) stamp space. See the specific listing under the "comments" section after the checklist.
The "1892-1911" BB section have up to three issue choices for one space.
The "1865-68" one penny (illustrated) space has ten choices!
The "1870-96" one penny (illustrated) space has six choices.
Coverage is 22%.
The 40s editions offer two less spaces for the 1870-96 issue, and three less spaces for the 1892-99 issue, compared to the '69 and later editions.
There are eight "expensive" (CV $10+-$20+) stamp spaces, and one "most expensive" (CV $35) stamp space. See the specific listing under the "comments" section after the checklist.
The "1892-1911" BB section have up to three issue choices for one space.
The "1865-68" one penny (illustrated) space has ten choices!
The "1870-96" one penny (illustrated) space has six choices.
For more on the stamps themselves, see the link below.
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