Australia Philately: 1973 Christmas

The Australian 1973 Christmas stamps of 7c and 30c denominations were issued on 3rd October, 1973. The stamps are visual adaptions of texts from the Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. John; they relate to the Baptism of Jesus and the Parable of the Good Shepherd, and follow the concept initiated by the Australia Post Office in 1972.

The texts are “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew, 3:16-17) and “I am the Good Shepherd” (John, 10:14). Mr. George Hamori of Sydney, the artist for the two stamps, prepared his designs in the early style of medieval woodcuts, a type of illustration traditionally associated with Biblical pictures.

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

Each stamp value was issued in sheets of 100, printed by multicolour photogravure by the Note Printing Branch of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne, on unwatermarked paper containing luminescence. The 7c was printed on the Rembrandt press and measures 24.15 mm x 37.5 mm. The 30c stamp was printed on the Chambon press and measures 25mm x 37.5 mm.

Details

Date of Issue: 3 October 1973
Withdrawn Date: 31 December 1973
Invalidated:
Designer: George Hamori, Sydney
Printer: Note Printing Branch, Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne
Press:
- Rembrandt (7c)
- Chambon (30c)
Process: Multicolour photogravure
Cylinders:
- Grey I (5%) – Blue – Green – Gold – Black (7c)
- Grey II (95%) – Blue – Green – Gold – Black (7c)
- Red – Brown – Purple – Gold – Black (30c)
Paper: KP5D unwatermarked coated stamp paper incorporating helecon
Watermark: None
Perf: Comb
- 14 x 14.5 (7c)
- 13.5 x 13.25 (25c)
Sheet: Printed in two panes of 50 stamps (R10 x 5) divided by vertical gutter.
Quantity:
- 2,554,000 (25c)