FREAK STAMP

Hokitika Guardian, 29 October 1929, Page 7

FREAK STAMP

EXCITEMENT IN AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY,- October 17. The other day there was great excitement a[mong the philatelists of Australia. Not long ago, in order to mark the centenary of Western Australia, the Post Office issued a special stamp, featuring the swan, which has always been associated with that State,, the most prosperous, perhaps, of all the States to-day. The issue of this special created mild" interest in itself, for .it had been announced .that only a’. limited -number would be sold.

Of course, stamp collectors saw to it that they secured their supplies wjth as little delay as possible, and they acted with an eye more to the future than to the present. Some of them had visions of the time -when the swan stamp would be included among the • rareties of the age. For instance, the special Canberra stamp tluvt was issued in limited quantities a few years, ago is even to-day worth twice its face value. Yet it was once available in thousands.

It was after the - collectors had secured their supplies that the excitement set in. One of them discovered that he had in his possession a stamp with a distinguishing peculiarity, and hoping no doubt that it was the only stamp in the world so marked he rushed into print with l ews of his great find. Then another collector made a similar discovery, followed by another, and another, and another, and so on. It was then discovei eel that in one of every 960 of the liew stamps printed the same peculiarity occurred. Before that seme collectors were paying well - tip to 10s each for tffe freaks. - Imagine the slump in faces as well as .in the market vhen an expert announced, that■ the value placed on the freaks was -purely fictitious. The stamps, although-, strangely marked, had no special value. The distinguishing features of ihe 96Qtb stamp are what appears to be. a ring around the neck of the swan and a blur over the word Australia at the top. These it seems were caused by a duplication in the printing process, in which twelve plates were used. It happened that once in 960 tunes a duplication occurred.' giving the stamp a peculiar marking. As' the Post Office, for obvious reasons, refuses to disclose the volume of the issue, it is impossible to say how many rareties exist. A wMe field is open for the hunt bv philatelists. The stamps have been distributed all over the "Commonwealth, I ? w* <no of the. 87‘iO s po®t offices, im lud'iig twe smallest, ones' -m the umi-te corners of the Northern Territory, lew vie its quota, apportmV'cJ on the !•• rmal issues of the centres, vjmd ,t is Mile to say that “'freak” stamp* have now gone all over ibe w r l l. ( The pursuit of the ‘ freaks f titnl intense, though it certainly will ksc some Of its spirit now that an expert has made the ano Mi'.xeimnt that they are of no mone ary value. Still, thetf are some co!*e:-:ors who hope tha - time will prove that even the oxper was wrong.