Help Please - 'Os' Perfin On Victoria Stamp

I am confident some of you can share some light on this one. My Scott catalog tells me nothing....



The original stamp is from Victoria, 1905 (wmk Crown and A), scott no. 219, perf 12x12,5.

I do have a smiliar OS perfin on a stamp from western Australia https://goscf.com/t/43946 - so I would presume this one is also an official issue for some special purpose. Can anyone tell me more? Appreciate any help

-Jon-

Yes, you are correct, it is an official stamp from the state of Victoria.

Peter

Thanks Peter - do you have a catalog number for my write-up? Do you know if this was also issued for commemorating any special event, as was the case in Western Australia?

If it is simply a 'plain' official stamp I struggle to comprehend why it's not listed in Scott. This seems for me very inconsistent as similar OS perfins are listed for Australia, OHMS for Canada etc.

I presume that catalogue producers are reluctant to list official stamps where they are simply perfins because of the ease with which anyone could create the perfin.

You might find this booklet of some interest. The OS perfins on state stamps start on page 8 of the booklet.

http://www.angelfire.com/pr/perfins...fficials.pdf

Geoffa - a valid point, thanks!

22crows - That's an excellent presentation of official Aussie perfins, thanks for sharing

The Victorian stamp you have is the commonest Victorian stamp with 930,000,000 being issued between the years 1901-1912. The issue date of your stamp was 16th July 1905 and printings continued up to 1912. All printings were made using Die III plates, the plate numbers being 13-24.
The total printing of your stamp (1905-1912) with the Crown over A watermark was 620,000,000 of which 15,500,000 were punctured OS.
The number 9 on the stamp refers to the township of Beechworth in Victoria. The stamp is best regarded a a definitive and isn't a commemorative in any way.
Hope this helps.

22crows - thanks for the post! I haven't seen this publication before. I have a large collection of pre-decimal perfins so this should help me identify some additional items I haven't yet determined.

Paul

StevieG - That's very informative, thanks! The ratio 600/15 seems to be quite well reflected in my selection as I found only one perfin among 40 1d's

One question still remains: Does anybody have catalog number for this offficial, eg SG cat#?

Not included in Stanley Gibbons.
The note under Official Stamps says:
From 1902 the departments of the Commonwealth government were issued with stamps of the various Australian States perforated "OS" to denote official use. These were replaced in 1913 by Commonwealth of Australia issues with similar perforated initials as listed below [3 sizes shown].
During the same period the administrations of the Commonwealth States used their own stamps and those of the Commonwealth perforated with other initials for the same purpose. These States issues are outside the scope of this catalogue.

22crows - thanks a lot. Seems like I'll have to manage without then. For once it seems SG and Scott have taken more or less the same approach in their listings!