Need Help: Australia International Post

I just love these Australia International Post stamps. Beautiful photos, excellent design. A friend just sent these to me this week and I'd like to know why the bottom $1.65 stamp does not have a map of Australia above the "A" as do the upper 3 stamps. The 50c also has the Olympic circles. Different issue, perhaps? What year were they issued? Thanks in advance.

Marty

Year 2000 majority,
Just a guess, but the golden map represents the centenary of the commonwealth of australia.

I'd suggest these International stamps are very collectable,
and will form part of the expensive stamps of the future.

(The $1.65 issue is from the fourth series 2002)

First series:

Are the International Post issues (which I have many used) also valid inside Australia on say heavy mail like parcels?

Thanks rod, I will certainly hang onto these, monetarily valuable or not. Of course, if they do become valuable, that would be a plus.

Marty

These international stamps don't have GST (goods and sevices tax) paid on them. So if we used them internally we would have to add an extra 10% to cover the tax. i.e. you could use a 50c international stamp and then add a 5c normal stamp to make up the 55c rate.

Similarly the going rates for postage overseas don't include GST, so if you post overseas with standard stamps you have to add an extra 10% in stamp value to the parcel.

Steve

Wow that is complicated Trig. I can imagine the Post Office trying to enforce it. In Canada, GST is added to all stamps bought in Canada for posting on mail, local or international. If you buy them from the Philatelic Centre in Nova Scotia by mail and live outside of Canada, there is no GST. So in theory, they could be sent back to Canada and used as postage, saving 7%.

I very rarely use them. I don't like being told which stamps I can use! I usually post overseas with "normal" stamps and add 10%. Most people who get deliveries from me won't be collecting International Post stamps I'm afraid.......

Thanks for helping out there Steve (Triggersmob)
I wasn't entirely confident about the process.
Now I know. I am informed

I am a "retro" stamp collector, that is I collect from the past,
but in the last few years, I have become aware of covers that
have unusual, but pertinent postage rates.
They are quite valuable.


If one were to create such a cover, and mail genuinely, that
cover I guess would become a nice item in 20-50 years,
unfortunately, I dont have that scope on my side

Which catalog is the source of the price information above and which currency are the prices in? In addition could you tell me the minimum value assigned to the cheapest stamp in whatever catalog it is.
Thanks in advance.
Lizardly,
halflizard

A spoonful of frogs will gather more snakes than a spoonful of vinegar.

SG SOTW catalogue.
(Stanley Gibbons Stamps Of The World) 2005
Prices in Great Britain Pounds.
Minimum Price is 10p
This is really not a value, but an accepted "handling fee"
for anyone dealing in the lower values.
Hope this helps.

This all quite interesting. I am somewhat astounded that Australia PO charges tax on stamps. And all this time I thought the US was the land of taxes.
Thanks Australia for taking that designation away from us. Guatemala does not tax postage stamps either.

BeeSee: would you be interested in selling (trading preferred) the stamps I don't have? I think I may have one more of these but I know I don't have the higher face values.

Marty

I love those Australia issues too. I do not have enough of them to suit me.


Bee See, Canada does not charge HST or GST when you are paying to ship internationally (outside of Canada) that the postage is over $5.00 on (which is all parcels and packets).

However, if you were to go in and just buy the stamps separately that added up to the parcel price you would be charged GST and HST or PST on them (13% in Nova Scotia going up to 15% July 1, Canada Day, woo hoo, wave the Flag day.) It's just when you actually ship to international, either online of in person, that you get the tax break.

So buying a $1.70 stamp to mail a letter internationally would cost $1.70 plus 13% tax right now (May 16, 2010). If I bought 3 of them ($5.10 + tax) I would still pay tax. Only if I wanted to buy and use them immediately (please ask, labels are used as default) to pay the postage on an international (or USA) shipment would I not pay tax.

So, using the stamps I have already, on a parcel I want to mail outside Canada is costing me money because I paid the tax on them when I bought them as just stamps years ago. But I get to make up some neat looking parcels though.