Australian Lyrebird Stamp Help Required

Hello everyone!

This is my first post so I thought I would start with this stamp. I don't have a perforation gauge and the SG catalogue I borrowed from our local library is from 2004, which doesnt have the variations of this stamp that was issued. The stamp does have a watermark of CofA with crown. So some help would be great.

I'm thinking most of our Aussie friends are busy or on holiday. I don't have the SG book to help you however the search function will bring up a host of previous discussions. Give it a try and see if that helps while you are waiting.

August, 1937, grey-green perf 13.5x14, SG174, Sc175a
March, 1941, grey-green perf 15x14, SG192, Sc175 also listed in SG with watermark inverted (with a big premium)

Corrections welcome

Cjd, I'm glad you mentioned the inverted watermark. I was looking at another post that mentioned there is a reversed "C" in the watermark as well. I've been letting them pile up and it's about time to go through them.

Thanks for your help. ;)

unicorn14, if you have some damaged stamps that are only found with one known perf, you can use them as impromptu perf gauges. Write the perf number on them with a marker, and then you can hold them up to the stamp in question and see whether it is spot on, higher, or lower.

In this case, you can also i.d. your stamp without a perf gauge. Lay a piece of paper along the top of the stamp, right below the perfs. Make a mark on the paper at the bottom of each perf (at the bottom of the 'valley').

Turn the paper and lay it along the stamp's side. The marks from the top side can't line up with the bottoms of the valleys along the sides because the stamps have compound perfs. If the marks are closer together than the side valleys, you have SG192. If the marks are spread out more than the side valleys, you have SG174.

Just to lightly complement the excellent strategies put forward by CJD, keep in mind that the Perf rating of a stamp is actually a ratio of how many perfations per 2 centimeters. If a stamp is Perf 12, and measures two centimeters on the side, there will be 12 perforations on that side of the stamp.

To wit you could make a paper or cardboard straight-edge two centimeters long and count how many perforations fit within those two centimeters. For small stamps, you could of course scale it down to a single centimeter, then double your count to get the correct perf rating.


Edit - I have edited per Trainwreck's post. Thanks. I always had difficulty moving to metric.

Perforations per two centimeters.

Thanks for all the info guys, I asked for some help on another site and got some arrogant responses. Its good to see there is help around if you need it.

We have all been to the other site and got our arrogant comments. It seems to be ever present there.