The Australia Post Office’s definitive series depicting Australian gem stones and marine life replaces lower value one-colour Queen Elizabeth II stamps, the design of which has been in use since 1966.
Gem hunting, polishing and cutting are increasingly popular hobbies. The name gem stone is applied to stones possessing the attributes of beauty, durability and rarity and Australia is fortunate in being richly endowed with quality stones of this nature. Ninety-five percent of the world’s opal production originates in Australia and its sapphire fields are probably the most extensive in the world. The four stones on the stamps – chrysoprase, agate, opal and rhodonite – typify the natural beauty and fascinating formation of the wealth of gems throughout the continent.
Australia’s 20,000 kilometres coastline has an extraordinary variety of marine life, the most colourful being concentrated along the Great Barrier Reef. The animals chosen for marine life subjects – the Fiddler Crab, Reticulated Coral Crab, Mauve Stinger and Banded Coral Shrimp – are widely distributed in Australian waters but are particularly prolific in tropical waters.
Details
- Date of Issue: 11 July 1973
- Withdrawn Date: Philatelic Sales Centres:
- 17 September 1979 (1c, 2c)
- 14 March 1980 (3c, 4c, 6c, 8c, 9c)
- Invalidated:
- Designer:
- Note Printing Branch artists (1c, 2c, 3c, 4c)
- John Mason (6c, 7c, 8c, 9c)
- Printer: Note Printing Branch, Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne
- Process: Multicolour photogravure
- Cylinders: In printing order
- Yellow – Red – Grey – Black (1c)
- Yellow – Mauve – Green – Red (2c)
- Yellow – Red-Brown – Green – Black (3c)
- Mauve – Blue – Black (4c)
- Yellow – Blue-Green – Black (6c)
- Yellow – Blue – Red – Black (7c)
- Yellow – Blue – Ultramarine – Red – Black (8c)
- Yellow – Red – Pink – Blue – Black (9c)
- Paper:
- Shoalhaven KP5D unwatermarked coated paper incorporating helecon
- KPT6 gravure paper (3c reprint 20 September 1974)
- Watermark: None
- Perf: Comb
- 14 x 14.75 (1c, 2c, 3c, 4c)
- 14.75 x 14 (6c, 7c, 8c, 9c)
- Sheet:
- Quantity:
- 119,836,500 (2c)
- 9,904,000 (4c)
- 15,429,000 (6c)
- 688,541,500 (7c)
- 154,721,500 (8c)
- 15,804,000 (9c)
Subjects
- 1c Banded Coral Shrimp
- 2c Fiddler Crab
- 3c Coral Crab
- 4c Mauve Stinger
- 6c Chrysoprase
- 7c Agate
- 8c Opal
- 9c Rhodonite
First Day Covers No.51 & No.52 (Official)
Two first day covers were available, numbers No.50 and No.51. No.51 was designed by John Mason.
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE POSTMARKER OFFICES
Philatelic Bulletin
Australia Post Philatelic Bulletin No.116 (June 1973)
