Australia Philately: 1976 75th Anniversary of Nationhood

On 1st Janaury, 1901, the six colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmainia and Western Australia joined in a federation under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. To mark the 75th anniversary of Australia’s nationhood, the Australian Postal Commission issued an 18c stamp on 5th January, 1976, for approximately two weeks sale at post offices and up to twelve months sale at philatelic sales centres, providing stocks last.

The stamp depicts a presentation of the Australian coat of arms. The design is the work of Mr John Spatchurst of Sydney who also design the two first day covers associated with the issue. One cover reproduces, in part, the proclamation concerning Federation, by Her Majesty Queen Victoria; the other cover shows portraits of the nine cabinet ministers of Australia’s first Federal Parliament.

The stamp measures 37.75 mm x 24.15 mm and was printed by photogravure on the Rembrandt machine on unwatermarked paper containing luminescence, by the Note Issue Department of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne, and issued in sheets of 100.

Details

Date of Issue: 5 January 1976
Withdrawn Date:
Invalidated:
Designer: John Spatchurst, Sydney
Printer: Note Issue Department, Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne
Press: Rembrandt
Process: Multicolour photogravure
Cylinders: Printing order
- Stone Tint – Yellow Ochre – Deep Violet I (56.5% of printing) – Gold
- Stone Tint – Yellow Ochre – Deep Violet II (43.5% of printing) – Gold
Paper: Shoalhaven KP6T unwatermarked coated stamp paper incorporating helecon
Watermark: None
Perf: 14.75 x 14 (comb)
Sheet: Printed in two panes of 50 stamps (R10 x 5) divided by vertical gutter.
Quantity: