Australia Tasmania 1857 (JY 25) entire letter from Hobart to 'Campbell Town', franked at 4d inland rate by 1856-57 2d dull emerald-green on thin white paper (no watermark), SG20.
The two examples have lovely fresh colour with mostly good margins, tied by very fine '62' numeral, with red 'PRE-PAID' despatch circular date stamp below.
Light filing fold at foot, the stamps lifted for inspection (by Purves) and replaced, and the left stamp with unobtrusive vertical crease, nevertheless a choice and very rare cover, one of only five recorded with this stamp - unique with this franking and the earliest known usage.
A very important piece of early Australian postal history.
The island of Tasmania just off south-eastern Australia was one of the six British colonies that merged to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Originally called Van Diemen’s Land, in 1812, British convicts were sent to the island as a “prison without walls”.
Van Diemen’s Land changed its name to Tasmania in 1856.
Accompanied with a British Philatelic Association (BPA) certificate of authenticity (2014), not mentioning the crease.
Other points worthy of note:
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Tasmania was among the first Australian colonies to issue its own stamps, beginning in 1853.
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The lack of a watermark made early Tasmanian issues more vulnerable to counterfeiting, hence why watermarking was soon introduced. Very few unwatermarked examples remain.
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The fact that this item travelled from Hobart to Campbell Town reflects the growing infrastructure in mid-19th century Tasmania.
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Items inspected and endorsed by J.R.W. Purves, one of Australia's foremost philatelic scholars, creates additional prestige and validation of authenticity.
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