1856 Diadem Issues (Small) New Design – New South Wales State Stamp Pre-Federation Australia

Introduction

The original diadem issues were decided to be too large to handle in the post offices compared to the amount of mail that was now being received to process. The amount of paper the original diadem issue used, was also a concern given the difficulty in obtaining enough paper for the printing of stamps. The amount of dye used in the production was also a concern around this time. There were four issues of differing colour all imperforate, needing to be cut in the post office. Later the perforation issues arose and were all widely distributed in the colony until 1908.

KEY STATISTICS

Date Released: The 2d was issued on 7 January 1856 (gazetted on the 12th January), The 1d was issued on 6 April 1856 (gazetted on the 28th March), The 3d was issued on 10 October 1856 (gazetted same day).

Artist Designer and Engraver: Plates made by Perkins Bacon & Co and shipped to New South Wales with an order of paper.

First Known Cover Dates: 1d – 5 May 1856, 2d – 16 May 1856, 3d – 27 October 1856

Printer : New South Wales Government Printing Department

Plate Information: There were two plates made for the 2d. Plate II stamps are printed wider apart and more regularly spaced than Plate 1.

Denominations and Colours

1d Red

1d Orange

2d Blue

3d Green

Collectability

These stamps are highly collected for their errors, variability in tones and colours, watermarks and perforations. They are one of the mostly widely used stamps of the New South Wales colony so although not rare as in number, the specific variations and errors sought after are harder to come by. Specimens on cover are also highly collected and harder to find out in the wild as most are already in collections.

Market Values

Market values for all of the diadem series beginning in 1856 fluctuate widely given the variations in condition, colours and perforations. The earlier in this series the more valuable. At the time of writing mint stamps from 1856 range from $475.00 for the 1d up to $1,750.00 for a mint 3d green specimen. Used or cancelled stamps fluctuated between $35.00 and $150.00. Catalogue values do not really reflect market value or collector perceived worth, but serve as a guide to overall historical value and availability.

Faults Errors and Watermarks

1856 January: Watermark 2 was used in 2d blue

1856 April: Watermark 1 was used in 1d orange and 1d Red

1856 October: Watermark 3 was used in the imperforate 3d green with an error using Watermark 2 a highly valued error.

Watermarks changed throughout the release of these stamps with new watermarks being introduced around 1862, always trying to stay ahead of the excellent forgers around the colony.

Perforation Series

Perforations began to appear, according to the catalogue around 1862 and continued through to 1908. Different sizes of perforations appeared throughout the years which aid in aging and identifying the stamps. In terms of catalogue value the 12 x 13 perforation is the highest value and the earliest example of perforation of these stamps.

Other sources suggest that very rough perforations began to appear in 1860 which are more likely to be routlette style perforations which were irregular and often ran into the design of the stamp rather than the border. This seemed to resolve once Plate II was used with wide margins for the perforations to be more uniform.

DISCUSSION

Colours and Tones

Stanley Gibbons catalogue has designated a number of tonal and colour variations for all stamps issued in this series. for the collector some of the tones are more easily identified with the help of differing watermarks as several watermarks were used across this series. This is just from their general catalogue and not from their more details Australian Colonies (State) Stamps Catalogue.

As mentioned above the poor perforations at the beginning of this series have frustrated collectors with the perforations encroaching into the image and leaving damage in their wake. It is not until later in the 1880s and onwards where perforations were more uniform in nature.

With so many tones and watermark differences throughout this series it is a highly collectible issue. It shows New South Wales as a colony come more into its own as an enterprise with the stamps being printed locally and a much more mature design compared to the first drawing that made it onto the first stamp of New South Wales.

Queen Victoria made an appearance on many of the state stamps of Australia but the New South Wales stamp was the most closely related, in my view, to those of the British issues.