Australian Stamps
Today every country has its own postal stamps. These postal stamps are to be put up on the mails or the letters that are posted by people and that are to be delivered to places within or outside the country. Each stamp is priced and depending on the distance where you want to send the mail, a suitable stamp has to be attached to it. These stamps are therefore a form of postal fees that one has to pay in order to get the mail delivered. Soon after the first stamp came into existence in the United Kingdom, each country started using stamps in its postal services. Even in Australia stamps were used in each and every state.
History of Australian Stamps
Prior to the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, each of six self governing colonies in Australian has their own postal services and as such had their own postal stamps. The first ever stamp to be issued in Australia was in 1850 in the state of New South Wales. Following this, every other state issued its own postal stamps. Victoria in 1850, Tasmania in 1853, Western Australia in 1854, South Australia in 1855 and Queensland in 1860. These stamps were continued to be used for some years till the Uniform Postage Stamp Series was issued in 1913 by the Commonwealth. This particular series saw the day lights until 1966 when decimal currency came into existence making the early currency bearing stamps invalid for use.
Stamps of Australia
There is a huge variety of Australian stamps. From the ones bearing animals to the ones with pictures of birds on them and the ones with famous and eminent personalities to the ones marking certain events and occasions there are many different types of stamps in Australia. Many of them are still in use while the others are only meant for the purpose of exhibitions and collection. Sorting out the various classes of Australian stamps is a difficult job to do. With number of different designs and styles Australian stamps are a collector's delight. You have some stamps showing the gardens on them while some showcasing Australian landmarks. Some have pictures of endangered species while some showcase the wildlife. There are lots and lots of stamps worth collecting from Australia.
Notable Australian Stamps
One of the most notable and probably the most popular Australian stamp is the Inverted Swan. Issued in 1855 by the state of Western Australia it is a 4 pence blue postage stamp. It is popular for being the first ever Inverted error stamp in the world. The inverted print on it was nothing but a technical error wherein the printing frame was placed invert.