Australian Fine Art stamp series high values – color variation and specimen overprint
I assume most stamp collectors struggle with color variations. And I’m no exception. The other night I worked with some Australian stamps, and soon stumbled with minor color/hue changeling with one the Fine Art stamp series high values. How is a non-specialized stamp collector supposed to know what the stamp is supposed to really look like when you have several slightly different looking color variations side by side?
1981 Australia $2, multicolored. Frederick McCubbin: On the Wallaby Track.
I did some googling for the stamp (and original painting), and it seems there are plenty of copies between these two ends.
Sadly catalog are of not much help with this issue: the images are usually too small or inaccurate to be of any real use, and the written statement “multicolored” matches pretty much anything below sun & earth 
Which of the below examples displays the real color of this particular stamp; or are they both off?
My hunch is that the first (more red) stamp is the real shade, and the latter stamp is simply faded (due to sun, soaking etc). But I could very well be totally mistaken, as this was a definitive stamp and likely there were several prints (with slightly different shades). Maybe someone with Australian specialized catalog (Brusden-White or similar) could chime in, and share some solid information.
A less is enough to get a collector confused.
Moving on with same series, here’s another peculiar item I’ve had for several years: a SPECIMEN stamp. Specimens are normally examples of stamp that are sent to the UPU, Foreign PO’s, Media, etc. for review purposes, and as such they can exist only in mint and have no postal value.
1984 Australia $5, multicolord. Charles Conder: A Holiday at Mentone. Notice the SPECIMEN overprint on lower stamp.
As far as I know, Australian post issued this specific SPECIMEN overprint (as well as two others from same Fine Art-series) to provide collectors a change to get “real” Specimen stamp at “cheap” (half face) price. Of course these were never supposed to get used, but apparently some of them did.
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My Brusden-White catalogue (getting a bit old, this section was printed in 1988) lists two major numbers for the $2 definitive, 694 and 694A. 694A is notated “new Clark paper”. No information is given about how to tell which variety is which, however. Both are given the same value mint & used. There is no info about different shades.
Thanks Ryan… I’ll see if some Googling brings up anything newsworthy.
I live in the US, and today received an envelope that had the Wallaby $2 stamp on it.
In one corner, in bright red, is the word SPECIMEN.
Can anyone explain why this stamp would have that word on it? Is it something the US makes other countries do if they’re sending a stamp with a piece of artwork on it into the US?
Or what?
Thanks for any help.
@Barbara… The answer is already in the above article, but here’s the essential tidbit:
So likely the sender of Your envelope had found on old stamp somewhere and made a decision to use it. Interestingly it just happened to be one of these specimen issues.
Keijo…I have a pair of those (Fred McCubbin) and they are in between yours…so that means that the colour saturation was going up and down with each printing… that’s why the catalogue editors don’t give a dam!!!…nothing serious, thou…
Oh! Thanks! Guess that’s what I get for only reading the first para!
Thanks for the info!
Looking again at the second stamp (Fred McCubbin)…I notice there is some marks (scratches?) on the left side…but you didn’t mention at all, which is very rare on you…hmmm…
@Fred… Good catch, Fred. I checked the original, and there they are. Would appear like a minor surface damage.
hi Guy’s, I have a sheet of 50 $5 specimen Mentone stamps. So are they worth anthing?
@Jack… Considering these were sold half-price by the Australian Post, then AU$25 might be pretty close.
Hold on…a sheet of 50 stamps, face value AU$ 5.00…make a total amount of AU$ 250.00…if they were sold at 1/2 price, then it would be AU$ 125.00…so how come you say it’s AU$ 25.00…??? ^_^
@Fred…you are correct. For some reason i was thinking a sheet of 10 stamps. Not sure what was I thinking x-(
It’s OK Keijo…it happens all the time, when the mind is somewhere else…we make these errors …Cheers!!! & ^_^