Australian Stamp Issue Numbers

Hi there stamp collectors..I have a 1954 71/2d Queens visit stamp..In the Seven Seas catalog and on others they both say 1,908,640 issued..would this be individual stamps or sheets of stamps printed..cheers

I'd think that number would be individual stamps because the number you cited ended 640. If sheets the number would end with 000.

littleriverphil, I agree with your conclusion that the number of stamps sold is 1,908,640, but I do not agree with your explanation.

1,908,640 individual stamps is equal to exactly 23,858 full sheets of 80. Clearly 23,858 does not end in 000.

Regardless, yes the published number of stamps sold is often a round number, based on how many stamps are in a sheet, but not necessarily,

The number of stamps sold sometimes accounts for the number of individual stamps returned from the PO to the government unsold. For example Philippines Scott #225 is listed as just 782 stamps sold which is not a round number multiple of 100, because many unsold copies were returned to the government unused. The exact number of sheets printed and distributed is unknown, but the sales records recorded exactly how many individual stamps were sold.