Only one Rock Posters issue in September but plenty of variations and other poster paraphernalia. Then came the Dangerous Australians on 3rd October and the infamous $1 Red-back Spider stamp.
Under the heading “Why was she not released?” in the Special Edition stamp pack it says: “While the other five Dangerous Australians feature in a stamp issue of the same name, a Red-back Spider was not part of the issue.” “It will NOT be included in the 2006 Collection of Australian Stamps.” Who writes this stuff?! The $1 Red-back Spider stamp was released as part of the issue and there were six (not five) other Dangerous Australians stamps issued on the same day. If it wasn’t meant to be released, why has it got “$1 Australia” in the bottom left hand corner? Did you get one on a First Day Cover?
We are on track for a record number of variations this year. The previous record was 262 last year. We have had 297 so far this year to the end of September. (For an interesting observation about this increase, refer to John Ford’s letter in Editor’s Mailbag, September 2006 issue.)
Australian Rock Posters
These 10 stamps were only issued in a sheetlet, prestige booklet and self-adhesive booklet variations. The gummed sheetlet stamps were in a se-tenant block of 10. The prestige booklet contained 10 minisheets with two of the same gummed stamp in a vertical pair. The self-adhesive booklet had 1 of each stamp.
Dangerous Australians
We have a new philatelic term – “semi-imperforate”. The $1 Red-back Spider stamp was issued in a “Special Edition semi-imperforate miniature sheet” also containing the five 50c Dangerous Australians stamps. This sheet was only partially perforated creating stamps that were imperforate on two or more sides. The $1 stamp was imperforate on all four sides. (See the Imperforate summary, below.)
Another fully perforated minisheet was issued with the five 50c stamps and the $1 Sea Snake stamp in a se-tenant block of 6. There were six minisheets in the prestige booklet. One had a copy of the fully perforated block of 6. The others contained special pairs and se-tenant blocks of the 50c and $1 Sea Snake gummed stamps. The normal sheet of gummed 50c stamps featured a setenant strip of 5 and a gutter strip with ‘warning signs’ in the gutter.
The self-adhesive variations appeared in 3 formats: A roll of the 50c stamps, a sheetlet of the five 50c stamps and a sheetlet of five $1 Sea Snake stamps.
7 stamps and 31 variations – or was it 6 stamps + 1 “unreleased” stamp? In either case the $1 imperforate Red-back Spider stamp (costing $2.84 in the special pack) is going to become quite valuable.
Variations Summary
Totals: 2 issues, 17 stamps, 63 variations
(All stamps are gummed and perforated, unless otherwise specified.)
Blocks & Strips: 19
10 x 50c Rock Posters – se-tenant block of 10 from sheetlet (pictured)
2 x 50c Sunbury – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Magic Dirt – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Masters Apprentices – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Goanna – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Angels/Sports/Paul Kelly & the Dots – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Midnight Oil – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Big Day Out – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c Apollo Bay Music Festival – vertical pair from prestige booklet
2 x 50c The Rolling Stones – vertical pair from prestige booklet (pictured)
2 x 50c Mental As Anything – vertical pair from prestige booklet
5 x 50c, $1 Sea Snake – Dangerous Australians se-tenant block of 6 from the minisheet and prestige booklet
5 x 50c, $1 Spider – Dangerous Australians se-tenant block of 6 from the “Special Edition” minisheet
5 x 50c – Dangerous Australians se-tenant strip of 5
2 x 50c Snake, 2 x $1 Sea Snake – se-tenant block of 4 from the prestige booklet
2 x 50c Shark – se-tenant pair from the prestige booklet
2 x 50c Jellyfish – se-tenant pair from the prestige booklet
2 x 50c Crocodile – se-tenant pair from the prestige booklet
2 x 50c Octopus – se-tenant pair from the prestige booklet
Gutter Strips: 1 (With text and/or design in the gutter)
10 x 50c Dangerous Australians with ‘warning signs’ in the gutter
Imperforate: 6
50c Shark – imperforate top and bottom
50c Snake – imperforate top and bottom
50c Jellyfish – imperforate top and bottom
50c Crocodile – imperforate top, bottom and right
50c Octopus – imperforate top, bottom and left
$1 Spider – imperforate all 4 sides (pictured)
Minisheets: 18 (Including pages from prestige booklets)
2 x 50c Sunbury – Bigger than big (pictured)
2 x 50c Magic Dirt – City trash
2 x 50c Masters Apprentices – Real wild child
2 x 50c Goanna – Spirit of place
2 x 50c Angels/Sports/Paul Kelly & the Dots – Rock ‘n’ roll angels
2 x 50c Midnight Oil – The good oil
2 x 50c Big Day Out – Circus sideshow
2 x 50c Apollo Bay Music Festival – Surfin’ safari
2 x 50c The Rolling Stones – Sticky business
2 x 50c Mental As Anything – Going mental
5 x 50c, $1 Sea Snake – Dangerous Australians minisheet
5 x 50c, $1 Sea Snake – Dangerous Australians large minisheet
5 x 50c, $1 Spider – Dangerous Australians “Special Edition” minisheet (pictured)
2 x 50c Snake, 2 x $1 Sea Snake – Dangerous Australians (pictured)
2 x 50c Shark – Dangerous Australians
2 x 50c Jellyfish – Dangerous Australians
2 x 50c Crocodile – Dangerous Australians
2 x 50c Octopus – Dangerous Australians
Self-adhesive: 16
50c Sunbury
50c Magic Dirt
50c Masters Apprentices
50c Goanna
50c Angels/Sports/Paul Kelly & the Dots
50c Midnight Oil
50c Big Day Out
50c Apollo Bay Music Festival
50c The Rolling Stones
50c Mental As Anything
50c Shark
50c Snake
50c Jellyfish
50c Crocodile
50c Octopus
$1 Sea Snake
Sheetlet: 3
10 x 50c Rock Posters – se-tenant block of 10
5 x 50c Dangerous Australians – 5 different self-adhesive stamps (pictured)
5 x $1 Sea Snake – self-adhesive stamps
David Mallen is co-author of the Australian Stamp Variations catalogue. He may be contacted on david@asv.net.au
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