First Australian State Stamp – New South Wales

Contrary to what Google refers to as the first Australian stamp, there were hundreds issued prior to Federation of Australia in the Australian States. The first was in New South Wales, released 1 January 1850 and other states soon followed as they grew. Sydney was the largest colony and is most need of a stamp following along from Britain’s example of the Penny Black.

In comparison to stamps that followed, it is a crude drawing representing industry as a female, directing convicts to honourable labour in the colonies such as ploughing and farming. It also depicts the seal of colony derived in 1792. Above shows the 1d (penny) stamp which was for postage that was within the colony.

There were two other releases, 2d Blue which was for postage anywhere in the country and 3d Green for postage oversease via ship.

As this is the first stamp from the country before it was federated it is highly collected and very hard to come by. Catalogue guide is $17,000 for unused and $475 for used specimen of the 1d Red/Orange. Catalogue prices vary wildly so use these as a guide only. As always the market is the market and will always decided what the value is.

Elements

The shading of the stamp is highly collectible with examples from orange to deep red and everything in between. It is the shading and cancels of the stamps, particularly on colony covers, that make this stamp more valuable to collectors.

The second printing depicted clouds into the image and is far more red than the initial orange/red issue. There is also a version without trees is regarded as the most collectable and valuable of the series. There aren’t any numbers regarding the amount of these printed so no-one really knows how many are available.

None of these stamps were perforated and as with all stamps of this type, the way it has been cut and centered also plays into the value of the stamp.

The 2d Blue has many variations in colour and printing quality is very inconsistent.

The 3d is lighter green and crude in its printing quality and from the examples I have seen may not have gone through a second printing run.

My Opinion

This is still a great example of ingenuity in the colonies. Although the design began as a crude drawing, there was no telling at that point in time, how valuable and sought after stamps would become. It was to serve a purpose in administration and it wasn’t until a few years later that much more effort was begun to be put into the state stamps, many of them taking pride in elements inherent to their territory.