Australian Stamp Variations: Driving and Soccer in Australia (2006)

July 2006 began with a special ‘Soccer in Australia’ block of nine with tabs to supplement the stamps issued in May. The second issue in July – ‘Extreme Sports’ – had no variations! This is a rare occurrence these days. The last stamp to be issued as a gummed sheet stamp alone was the $1 lyrebird ‘Bush Wildlife’ stamp in 2005.

Australia Post made up for this with the August ‘Driving through the Years’ issue of five 50c stamps. This issue contained 28 variations.

I begin with some new Australia Post policies related to stamp variations.

Greetings from Australia – Revisited
In May two ‘Greeting from Australia’ stamps ($1.25 and $1.85) were issued. As mentioned last month, these are available as P-stamps from www.pstamps.auspost.com.au. This variation is a self-adhesive imperf stamp with a tab. (The tab may be removed to create a separate imperf stamp.) The stamp image has a printed simulated perforation on the right and the righthand edge of the stamp, with or without the tab, is imperf. You may order a photo of your choice to be printed on the tab. The tab cannot be blank.

I have been informed by Australia Post that the photo can no longer be the same as the stamp. (Refer to the image of the $1.25 Koala P-stamp variation pictured last month.) i.e. You cannot put an Australia Post photo on an Australia Post stamp!

First Day of Issue Cancellation of Variations
The following Australia Post policy statement was included in the July – September Stamp Bulletin.

This means that first day cancellations are not available for many of the variations that are released after the original issue. In most cases the variation is very different from the original stamp. Examples include:

• 1d green and 2d brown se-tenant pair of Victorian ‘Boer War Patriotic Fund’ stamps issued in April 2005 – originally issued as separate stamps in May 1900 as 1d brown and 2d green.

• 5d and 2/3 ‘British Empire & Commonwealth Games’ se-tenant pair issued in February 2006 – originally issued as separate stamps in November 1962. (See photo on Page 15, June 2006 Stamp News.)

• $5 ‘Treasures from the Archives’ imperforate stamp issued in January 2006 – originally issued in September 2005 with perforations. (See photo on Page 28, July 2006 Stamp News.)

• 50c ‘50th Anniversary of the 1954 Royal Tour’ issued in February 2006. This stamp had yellow flowers, while the original, issued in April 2004, had white flowers. (See photo on Page 30, August 2006 Stamp News.)

I wonder if this policy extends to concurrently released variations. Did you get a first day postmark on the 3 x 50c ‘Driving through the Years’ unique se-tenant strip of 3 stamps from the Cars souvenir stamp sheet (SSS) also issued in on 15th August? (See below.) And while I am on the topic of First Day Covers, why does Australia Post destroy se-tenant strips of 5 (by cutting them into 2 & 3 stamps) when they put them on a First Day Cover, in the Stamp Pack and in the Annual Collection?

Soccer in Australia – Another Block of 9
Another block of nine 50c ‘Goal’ stamps with tabs was issued on 3rd July in special sheetlet form (pictured on the front page of the August issue of Stamp News). The tabs featured scenes from the World Cup matches in Germany. (See Footnote 1.)

Extreme Sports
No variations included with this issue of 4 gummed sheet stamps.

Driving through the Years
Booklets and more booklets! 5 booklets of the same stamp, 1 booklet of mixed stamps, 5 cheque books of each stamp and a prestige booklet. The cheque books are a fancy name for a folder of 20 normal booklets of the same stamp. The mixed stamp booklet contained 2 of each of the 5 different self-adhesive stamps. The prestige booklet contained 5 minisheets with a block of 4 of the same gummed stamp. Each minisheet has the same background except for the page number. (The 50c Holden FE minisheet is pictured. See Footnote 2.) This was the only way to obtain these blocks, as the sheet stamps were issued in a se-tenant strip of the five different 50c stamps. The gutter strip on the gummed sheet contained a decorative design showing the 5 cars.

A special block of 9 stamps with tabs was also issued in a souvenir stamp sheet (SSS) to celebrate the theatrical release of ‘Cars’ from the studios of Disney Pixar. This unique block features 3 of the car stamps – Holden FE, Landcruiser and Holden Sandman – in a se-tenant strip of 3 with 3 different tabs each. The tabs feature 9 different car characters from the movie. (These nine 50c stamps with tabs cost $1.77 each.) The se-tenant strip (pictured) has the cars in a different order from the strip of 5 gummed stamps from the normal sheet.

Variations Summary
Totals: 3 issues, 10 stamps, 38 variations
(All stamps are gummed and perforated, unless otherwise specified.)

Blocks & Strips: 9

9 x 50c Soccer ‘Goal’ – block of 9 with tabs from special ‘2006 World Cup Dream’ sheetlet

9 x 50c Holden FE, Toyota Landcruiser, Holden Sandman – block of 9 with tabs from special ‘Cars’ sheetlet

5 x 50c Driving through the Years – se-tenant strip

3 x 50c Holden FE, Toyota Landcruiser, Holden Sandman – se-tenant strip of 3 from special ‘Cars’ sheetlet

4 x 50c Ford TT – block of 4

4 x 50c Morris 850 – block of 4

4 x 50c Holden Sandman – block of 4

4 x 50c Toyota Landcruiser – block of 4

4 x 50c Holden FE – block of 4

Gutter Strips: 1 (With design in the gutter)

10 x 50c Driving through the Years

Minisheets: 5 (Includes separate sheets and pages from prestige booklets)

4 x 50c Ford TT – block of 4

4 x 50c Morris 850 – block of 4

4 x 50c Holden Sandman – block of 4

4 x 50c Toyota Landcruiser – block of 4

4 x 50c Holden FE – block of 4

Self-adhesive: 5

50c Ford TT

50c Morris 850

50c Holden Sandman

50c Toyota Landcruiser

50c Holden FE

Tabs: 18

9 x 50c Soccer ‘Goal’ – from special ‘2006 World Cup Dream’ sheetlet

9 x 50c Holden FE, Toyota Landcruiser, Holden Sandman – from special ‘Cars’ sheetlet

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David Mallen is co-author of the Australian Stamp Variations catalogue. He may be contacted on david@asv.net.au
If you know of any other varieties, please let me know!