Australia Philately: 1972 Christmas

The 1972 Christmas stamps were issued on 29th November, 1972. The denominations are 7c and 35c. This year, the scope of the stamps designs has been extended to include wider reference to the meaning of the birth of Christ, as indicated by the Postmaster-General at ANPEX.

The 1972 designs have been based on texts from the New Testament; the passages illustrated are “Suffer the little children to come unto me” (St. Mark 10: 13-16) and “I am the light of the world” (St. John 8:12).

The 7c stamp pictures Christ with a group of children. Final artwork for this stamps was prepared by Australian Post Office artists incorporating an original pastel drawing by Miss Wendy Tamlyn, of Sydney.

Mr. Lance Stirling of Melbourne prepared the 35c stamp design, which shows a dove of peace and colours radiating from darkness to light.

The stamps, souvenir pack and aerogramme will be sold at post offices until the end of December, and from philatelic sales centres for up to six months from the date of issue.

Each value was issued in sheets of 100, printed by five-colour photogravure by the Note Printing Branch of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne. The 35c stamp measures 25 mm x 37.5 mm, including perforations, and was printed on the Chambon press. The 7c stamp measures 37.5 mm x 24.05 mm including perforations, and was the first stamp to be issued from the new Rembrandt photogravure press recently acquired by the Note Printing Branch.

Details

Date of Issue: 29 November 1972
Withdrawn Date: 31 December 1972
Invalidated:
Designer:
- Wendy Tamlyn, Sydney (7c)
- Lance Stirling, Melbourne (35c)
Printer: Note Printing Branch, Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne
Press:
- Rembrandt (7c)
- Chambon (35c)
Process: Photogravure
Cylinders:
- Grey (I) – Yellow – Red – Blue – Brown (7c)
- Grey (II) – Yellow – Red – Blue – Brown (7c replacement grey cylinder used for appx. 50% of printing)
- Yellow – Magenta – Dark Blue – Black – Cyan (35c)
Paper:
- KP5D paper – chalk coated with Helecon (7c)
- Wiggins Teape – chalk coated with Helecon (35c)
Watermark: None
Perf: Comb
- 14.75 x 14 (5c)
- 13.5 x 13.75 (35c – perforated on a Gover perforating machines)
Sheet:
- Printed in six panes of 50 stamps (R10 x 5), Guillotined through vertical gutter into two panes, separated by a horizontal gutter, for distribution. (7c)
- Printed in two panes of 50 stamps (R5 x 10) divided by horizontal gutter. (35c)
Quantity:
- 94,537,900 (7c)