Catalogue Number & Cv Sought For Victoria 1/2-D Rose (C. 1900)

Cjd, Australian and Victorian stamps bore me to tears. I haven't collected them for 50 years, so this is unfamiliar territory.

However, I see from Dave Elsmore's site http://www.ozrevenues.com/Revenue-R...atalogue.htm that the first ½d stamp in the Victorian Numeral type (a surcharge at that) didn't appear until 1911. What did Victoria do for ½d Stamp Duty stamps from 1902 to 1911?

This is probably a long shot but in Kellow's 'Stamps of Victoria" there is a reference to trials in pink and mauve of the 1/2 stamp on 30 December 1886. This was in response to the grey colour of the earlier stamp often being difficult to see on the newsprint when they were affixed to newspapers. The trials were on unwatermarked paper but no perf information is given. The book also states that the trials have "apparently not survived". There was also later postal stationery that featured this stamp but these were on watermarked paper. Stephen

Tony, I see what you mean about the potential, at least, for a half-d gap.

I know absolutely nothing about Victoria revenues, so perhaps this listing is not at all related to the OP's stamp. To me, though, it looks like the same issue:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VICTORIA-St...em3aab082a22

(And if I'm all the way off-base here, please don't flame me too hard... )

This is one of those cases where you have to know about the color of the stamp,color of the paper,type of paper,measurement of the perforations,type of perforations(comb vs line types,etc.),watermark types if present or not),history of production,intended usages and a whole lot more. Fascinating and I await more discussion. Always learning.

Polimom, those four are the same issue, except the perforations. They are all line perforated with a finer gauge than the stamp in question.