New stamps from Australia..

 

 

Centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition

Date of Issue : 2 August 2011

This is the first in a four-year program of stamps celebrating the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE). The series will be made up of five stamps issued each year until 2014 using the overall themes of departure and journey, arrival and exploration, science and triumphant return.

The initial five stamp strip shows the key moments in the departure of the AAE from Hobart and the journey to the Antarctic.

The SY Aurora carried the AAE to and from Hobart. The stamp photograph was taken by expeditioner Xavier Mertz and the map in the stamp shows the AAE's route.

Captain John King Davis, Captain of the SY Aurora, and second-in-command of the expedition.

The SY Aurora on Antarctic voyage. The stamp photograph was taken by expeditioner Andrew Watson and the postmark image is taken from a message sent by Bob Hodger on the SY Aurora.

Landing at Macquarie Island. The main photograph was taken by the Aurora's Second Officer, Percy Gray.. The background image, shows the Aurora off Macquarie Island and was taken by expeditioner Frank Hurley.

Birdlife on Macquarie Island. The main photograph was taken by expeditioner Harold Hamilton.

 

 Maxim Cards

 

Colonial Heritage - Emerging Identity

 

Date of Issue : 28 July 2011

This stamp issue is the second in a four-year series titled Colonial Heritage, developed to commemorate Australia's philatelic history. This stamp issue focuses on emerging colonial identity, representing the shift in colonial thinking, reflecting a greater sense of belonging in the "new" homeland.

Miniature Sheet

Kangaroo and Lyrebird
The kangaroo and the lyrebird originally featured in stamps marking the 1888 centenary of New South Wales, the first adhesive commemorative stamp issue to be released worldwide. The kangaroo, flanked by the Sydney flannel flower, was in a one shilling (1/-) brown design; the lyrebird, bordered with waratahs and honeysuckle, was in an eight pence (8d) magenta design. The other Australian colony to feature a kangaroo was South Australia, using it in a blue two-and-a-half (2½d) stamp design released in 1894.

Black Swan and Southern Cross
The Black Swan has a strong place in Western Australia's philatelic heritage. It remained the central motif of the colony's stamps from its first issue, in 1854, until stamp production was transferred to the Commonwealth in 1902. The Southern Cross featured on many Australian colonial stamps, the first of which was the five shilling (5s) New South Wales medallion stamp of 1861. This resonant symbol of the south also appeared in the designs of one Western Australian stamp, six Victorian stamps and four New South Wales designs, including stamp duty and charity designs.

Like the first in the series, this issue comprises stamps in double-definitive size, on paper featuring a simulated watermark.

Maxi Cards

: Australia Post