1888 New South Wales One Hundred Years Brown Kangaroo Issue
The one shilling brown kangaroo issue celebrated the 100 year milestone of settlement in New South Wales. It is a highly collected stamp for its variance in colours, errors and high postage value.
An excerpt from the catalogue shows the different issues to celebrate the 100 year settlement and also includes some of the watermarks that appear throughout this issue.
| Value of the stamps | |||
| vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon | *** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare | ||
| Value | Unused | Used | Remarks |
| With watermark ‘NSW Crown | |||
| 1 p | * | c | |
| 2 p | * | c | |
| 4 p | *** | * | |
| 6 p red | *** | * | |
| 6 p green | R | *** | |
| 6 p orange | *** | * | |
| 8 p | *** | *** | |
| 1 Sh | *** | * | |
| 2 Sh 6 p | R | *** | |
| With watermark ‘5/- NSW’ in a rectangle | |||
| 5 Sh | RR | R | |
| With watermark ‘5/-‘ | |||
| 5 Sh | RR | RR | |
| With watermark ’20/- NSW’ in a circle | |||
| 20 Sh | RR | RR | |
| With watermark ’20/-‘ | |||
| 20 Sh | RRR | RR | |
| Watermark ‘A Crown’ (with ‘A’ in single lines, 1906) | |||
| 4 p | ** | * | |
| 6 p orange | ** | * | |
| 8 p | *** | *** | |
| 1 Sh | *** | * | |
| 2 Sh 6 p | R | *** | |
| 20 Sh | RR | RR | |
| Watermark ‘A Crown’ (with right hand side of ‘A’ in a double line, 1907) | |||
| 4 p | *** | *** | |
| 6 p orange | R | *** | |
| 8 p | *** | *** | |
| 1 Sh | *** | *** | |
| 2 Sh 6 p | RR | R |
Eight different designs were created for the centenary through a competition undertaken in November and December 1887 by the New South Wales post office. The 1 Shilling Brown Kangaroo is highly collected because of its face value.
Competition for Design and History of Development
The competition generated 956 submissions from 250 entrants. The images were executed in pencil and were displayed publicly. The New South Wales postmaster general was the judge of the competition.
The competition first-prize winners were Maximilian Tannenberg (three winning designs), Mary Devine (one winner), H.A. Barraclough (one), Charles Turner (two), and Mrs. F.W. Stoddard (one).
As an interesting aside, Mrs. F.W. Stoddard appears to be the same Mary Devine who submitted a winning 2-penny design that wasn’t used on a stamp.
Mary Devine was the daughter of a Scottish painter, Peter Devine, studied art herself, married Frederick W. Stoddard in 1875 in Edinburgh, and moved with him to New Zealand in 1878 and to Australia in 1880.
Mary Devine Stoddard, 1852-1901, became a well-known and prolific painter in New South Wales.
Only five of the eight stamps show winning designs, however. Two others used nonwinning designs by Devine, and one was developed independent of the competition.
The lower-denomination designs, as listed in The American Journal of Philately, Jan. 1, 1903, are the 1-penny City of Sydney (Scott 77) designed by Tannenberg; 2d emu (78) by Devine (not a competition winner); 4d Captain Cook with Coat of Arms (79) by Barraclough; 6d Queen Victoria and Coat of Arms (80) also by Tannenberg; 8d lyrebird (81) by Devine (not a competition winner); and the 1-shilling kangaroo (82) described as “made up by the authorities.”
Two high-denomination stamps, 5 shillings and 20 shillings, were issued. The 5sh stamp (Scott 85) features a map of Australia, designed by Turner, and the 20sh stamp (86) depicts two New South Wales governors, Arthur Phillip and Lord Carrington, by Mrs. Stoddard.
Variations
There are 8 different watermarks which may appear across this issue. There are many listings across different catalogues with some having 67 and others up to 114. There are many errors including perforations, position on the printing plate and errors in the design itself.
Below are a series of photos of stamps I have recently listed for sale.
