Amid the rivalry of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) France and Britain sponsored voyages of discovery to Australia, then New Holland. Led by naval captains Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders, both expeditions carried safe-conducts protecting them from seizure by ships of the opposing navies.
Between 1801 and 1803 Baudin and Flinders filled in most of the gaps on the map of what was then New Holland. The two crossed paths on 8 April 1802 at Encounter Bay, near the South Australian coast. The stamps of this joint issue commemorate this meeting.
The lives and adventures of these two great explorers are covered in more detail in the background notes for this issue…
Details
- Date of Issue: 4 April 2002
- Withdrawn Date:
- 2 May 2002 (FDC)
- 31 April 2003 (all other products)
- Designer: Brian Sadgrove, Melbourne
- Printer: SNP Ausprint
- Press:
- Process:
- Colours:
- Paper: De La Rue HS8
- Watermark: None
- Perf: 18.86 x 14.6 (comb)
- Sheet: 50 stamps in two panes of 25 stamps (R5 x 5) separated by horizontal gutter
- Quantity:
Subjects
First Day Covers
Stamp Packs
Maximum cards
Australia Post Publications
Australian Stamp Bulletin No.264 (March-May)
