1852-1864 Queen On Throne Victoria State Stamp Pre-Federation Australia

Victoria continued with its regal depiction of Queen Victoria with an issue depicting her on the throne with columns, crowns and saber. It was initially issued in a brown which also became a reddish shade, Grey and Purple issues. What stands out in this issue is the unique combination of letters printed in the bottom right and left corners of the stamp.

Determining the value of these stamps comprises of assessing the size of the margin, how straight the stamp was cut as being an imperforate issue, it require staff to cut the stamps from the sheet. The rudimentary perforations would come later in Victorian stamps as with all of the state stamps. Also collectors hunt for the letters at the bottom of these stamps. Here is a larger picture of a rare pair of these stamps showing the letters more clearly.

This picture is also a great example of the basic production method and design. The Queen’s face is barely depicted and is more cartoonish. This made it quite easy to create forgeries of these stamps.

In later iterations of this series, the quality of the depiction of Queen Victoria improved markedly as shown below

At the time of writing mint versions of this stamp range from $850 to $2,350 and used (cancelled) versions $50-$225. This range does not take into consideration any examples on covers which are highly collectible and can put the stamp in a time and place.

There are great variations within this series which can also make the stamps more valuable as a sought after collectors item.