Australia : 1937 Kg6 Seek Opinions.

I have this as SG167a
(preliminary printing with unsuitable ink)

I have nothing to compare it with
and at the moment just a guess.
Impression is poor, wattles are blank (ish)

Your opinions please?

Rod, I don't have many Australia but I found one like yours and I think mine is Die II. My color might be the bright blue shade. I see that the 167a is noteworthy by the absence of finer details in the King's face. The face on yours and mine look the same.

Rod, after straining at an enlargement of your stamp and looking with a 10 power loupe at mine, it appears that the contour lines below the eyes aren't as detailed on yours.

Rod, thanks for the additional scans. Below is my stamp and to me it appears that the contour lines below the eyes on mine are more detailed than yours.

By the way Rod, I am a novice with Australian stamps but am interested in learning more so I thought I would offer my 2¢ worth. Hope I'm on the right track.

From the illustrations in Gibbons, yours looks like a Die II, Rod. The diagnostics are right T and A separate (which rules out SG 168 and 168a) and the line of shading of the king's chin is continuous, not broken (if the T and A are separate, but the shading to the left side of the king's chin is not continuous, it's a Die 1a). I think I have, somewhere in the box of tricks, an FDC with SG 168a, the 'white wattles'. From memory, the wattle leaves are pretty blank - much whiter than in your specimen.

Ah! Right. Thanks Tony,
I'll revisit Gibbons and go through your eliminations.

Mhc99 : absolutely! join in.
There is no "right" or "wrong" in our studies.
Roll your sleeves up, and jump in,
by participating you learn faster.

BTW Tony, an SG168a should be worth over $100 on cover?

Rodney, at great personal cost and after considerable hardship, I dug out the FDC of the possible/probably White Wattles:







I remember being quoted a buying price of around $A70 for it a couple of years ago.

I sincerely appreciate your efforts Tony.
Thanks very much.

Update: Differing engraving noted.

If new collectors wish to see the difference
download my image, and Tony's image
and name them 001 and 002

Then using your wheel mouse, toggle between the two images

Immediately you can spot the difference in the breast medals
and a different epaulette I think.
The difference is stark.

Oooops!
I just made a clanger.
I was toggling with a different stamp.

Tony, I still think mine is SG167a
seems identical to yours in design, just
yours is more washed in the wattle.

Readers:
Try toggling Tony's with this one.......

tons more detail in the forehead on yours, Rod

rod, thanks for the encouragement to participate in this process.

tonymacg, nice scans of SG167a. Now I can clearly see that yours is Die 1.

Rod, the 3ds are SG 168 etc these days; SG 167 is the 2d red.

Yours can't be the Die 1, Rod, because the T and A of POSTAGE are clearly cut apart in your copy. This is one of the two basic diagnostics Gibbons give for separating Die I and Die Ia.

Here are the Gibbons notes on the dies, and the listing (from the 2011 Part 1):

Many thanks!
need a few hours to digest this and play around.

White wattles shown on stamp in this thread:
https://goscf.com/t/14018
by Moldman