Tasmania
FIRST STAMPS
ISSUED January 1858.
CURRENCY
1853, sterling.
Island state of the
Commonwealth originally known as Van Diemens Land (q.v.). Renamed in August
1853, it became a self-governing colony in 1856, and was federated with the
other colonies as the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Postal History
Stamps
of Van Diemens Land had been issued in 1853, after the name of the colony had
already been changed. A second issue was made in a new design in August 1855
and the first issue with the corrected name was only released at the start of
1858.
In 1853 to coincide with the issue
of stamps, a series of barred numeral cancellations was issued to the most
important POs. These were similar in style to the New South Wales type and both
were based on the British design which had been introduced in 1844. Numerals
from 10 to 75 are recorded.
In 1861 a second series of numbers
was issued and the first series was withdrawn. Generally, the numbers in the
second series were shorter by 2mm. As the need grew for new POs, each was
provided with the new type of cancellation. By 1899, 382 numbers had been
issued.
Tasmania joined the UPU in 1891.
It continued to issue its own stamps until 1913. |
