New South Wales 5d & 8d Imperf Diadems

I don't know if they intend to upload those districts or whether they are available.

The current display has been there for a while.

Maybe try the email on the display page or contact Philas House.

Thanks for that, I'll drop them a line and let you know what they advise.

Wonderful write up Bobby !

I will be using it for future reference for my NSW collection very informative .

Well Done

This thread, in particular the first 5d diadem scan on page 1, has caught the attention of the Australian board.

It has been mentioned that the 5d diadem on piece is a forgery and on closer inspection it is. This forgeries site gives every indication that this one is by Oneglia:

https://stampforgeries.com/new-sout...en-victoria/

I found the image on stampauctionnetwork. It was part of the Neal Allen collection (Shreves #61 April 3, 2004, lot 478) and was again auctioned by Dutch Country Auctions last year (sale #316, lot 782). The description in both auctions stated that the stamp came with a 1988 PF certificate! Caveat emptor indeed.....

Robson Lowe (Australasia p.40) lists the two shades: dull green - slightly bluish & dull green. He offered no price for the former in used condition. He states the former "is usually found with the watermark inverted and reversed, but there is little difference in the two shades when in unused condition."

The scans below are from the Alvorado collection, auctioned by Spink in 2010. They hopefully will offer some indication of the shade difference.

Here's another imperf that's been faked. Hopefully the purchaser will see this thread.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/352821916460



Cross reference with Lot 2 of the McCredie collection, auctioned by Millennium:

https://millenniumauctions.com.au/s...t_auction=50

The stamps on that page are incorrectly labelled as 'De La Rue' diadems.

The diadem stamps were designed by Levinge and re-drawn by Corbould. The dies were engraved by Humphrys so that plates could be manufactured by the printers, Perkins, Bacon & Company.

Interestingly, in Bassett Hull's famous 1911 work on the stamps of New South Wales, R.B.Yardley notes that the 24 mm diagonal sans-serif SPECIMEN overprint "occurs on certain imperforate specimens of the 5d., 6d., and 1s., watermarked double-line numerals, in the collection of Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, Ltd.".

Here is a slideshow I just posted that contains some of the background to the NSW five pence diadem, extracted from Basset Hull's book. It also has some nice scans of the five pence diadem engraving detail. It's fairly lengthy - enjoy 'The Blue Danube' (composed 1866) twice! :)

Brilliant!

Elegant music for an elegant stamp.

Well done FDS!

Thanks Bobby De La Rue :) . Youtube only has limited copyright free music in their library but a classic waltz composed in 1866 seemed to accompany that beautiful stamp nicely.

Here's another trimmed down 8d that's come to my attention, via the Australian board.



An upper right corner example with four margins.

The cancellation is White D16, introduced in 1885, thus making it all but impossible to be a genuine imperf.

At any rate, the shade looks incorrect too.

Happy to find this super informative thread! This is a recent acquisition, before adding it to my album I'd like to seek some comments - Is it genuine? The top part of the '5' wm seems sharper than most others I've seen. Is it normal? Thanks for any advice!

How many have you seen?

Why did you not scan the stamp yourself?

I eagerly await your reply.

I have seen two other examples, but unsure whether their perf was trimmed as the margins are quite narrow. But the top-right tip of the watermark '5' looks less sharp than my copy.
Sorry I don't have a scanner, but took the photo hopefully they look better. Any comment is most welcome!

This stamp has already been the subject of a discussion on the Australian board. Have a look there

Thanks for your reply — I really appreciate it. If you could kindly point me to the relevant discussion topic, that would be great, as this is the closest one I've been able to find so far. I'd also be very grateful if you could share your thoughts on whether the stamp is a genuine imperf 5d.