1850 First Stamp of Victoria Pre-Federation

Victoria quickly followed the standard set in New South Wales and created their own stamp in 1850 and was released on 3 January, in anticipation of Victoria becoming a state separate from New South Wales, separated by the Murray River. The first post office opened in Victoria in april 1837 and then in Geelong and Portland.

All of Victoria’s stamps were published and created exclusively in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria which officially became its own state in 1851. The stamps were engraved and litho locally by Thomas Han

Following its namesake Victoria chose to honour Queen Victoria and released the Vermilion (orange) followed by an orange brown colouration because of the printing process rather than a change specifically to a different shade. An unused specimen of this state at the time of writing was worth $34,000. There were approximately 9600 of these stamps printed but inaccurate records were kept regarding this so it’s just an estimate. Used speciments can be sold from $5,000 – $3,500 depending on the variations, framing, cutting and shade. There were also some Red 1d printed.

Next came the dull chocolate brown.

The 2d Lilac for interstate postage, had only approximately 7200 stamps printed and an unused specimen worth around $3900 at time of writing. Over time the lilac has really faded to a very dull pink and if you’re a bit colour blind like me it is sometimes difficult to distinguise between the dull brown and the lilac.

The 3d Blue also became availalbe for overseas postage had approximately 9600 stamps printed with an unused specimen worth $1700 at time of writing.

Variations

There are numerous variations listed in online catalogues as there were many printing errors in all of these stamps. As they were imperforated, the way they were cut will also determine value and collectability.