Press Release May 2003

Australia and Pacific Islands - 4 June 2003

Spink’s 4 June auction sees stamps from Australia, New Zealand and their dependencies come under the hammer in London. This is the third in a series of sales dedicated to the remarkable collection formed by the late William Frazer.

The sale commences with stamps from the Australian Commonwealth. The famous Kangaroo design is well represented with values to £2 and features two very unusual items. The first is a used example of the 1915-28 2½d. value with ‘1’ of fraction omitted, one of only ten used examples recorded. The second is an example of the 1915-28 £1 value used on a 1922 envelope registered to Australia – a philatelic franking of great rarity. Rare Postage Dues are also represented. This section concludes with a few Airmail items including the 1919 Ross Smith vignette, mint and on cover, prepared for the legendary first direct flight from England to Australia, a feat completed well within the 30 days allowed in the regulations of the race.

British Solomon Islands has several examples of the 1907 Large Canoe issue with imperforate between varieties, most notable being the very rare 2½d. indigo. Cook Islands also offers an imperforate between variety represented by an 1892 1d. black vertical pair, the first stamp issued by these islands.

Fiji commences with a good range of the famous Fiji Times Express stamps printed at the newspaper offices in Levuka. These include a 1d. and 9d. unused vertical pair – one of the few se-tenant multiples recorded. Subsequent issues are well represented including the many varieties found on the 1874 and 1875 surcharge issues.

New Guinea offers a fine array if the “G.R.I” surcharges applied to stocks of German stamps captured when British forces occupied the islands in 1914. These include the rare shilling values both mint and used and a selection of the registration stamps, which were also surcharged.

The Postmaster at the time, 2nd Lieutenant Moore was sent for trial on charges of selling over the allowable limit of 10/- worth of each denomination issued and was court martialled. He was found guilty, reduced to the ranks and dismissed from the defence forces. Issues overprinted North West Pacific Islands on stamps of Australia, and the subsequent Mandated Territory issues are also represented.

New Zealand commences with a fine section of the ‘Chalon Head’ issues. This design shows Queen Victoria’s head and shoulders as taken from the original painting by Alfred Edward Chalon on the Queens first visit to the House of Lords in 1837.

The delightful Pictorial sets printed by Waterlow’s and locally include a number of imperforate between varieties, mixed and compound perforations.

The 1906 Christchurch Exhibition saw a set of four values issued. Of these the 1d. value was also printed in claret and an example from the sole sheet printed on the colour is offered in fine mint condition.

New Zealand concludes with a fine and rare set of the so-called ‘Reefton Provisionals’ prepared at Greymouth Post Office and sent to the Police at Reefton for use on official letters and telegrams.

The tiny New Zealand Dependency island of Niue has issued its own stamps since 1902 and a range of these interesting stamps features in this sale. One of the most interesting of these is the 1/- brown-red value printed in 1903. This shade was printed with the words “Taha” and “e” accidentally joined together which when translated spells “thief” instead of the “One”.

The island of British New Guinea or Papua has issued stamps from 1901. The same basic design showing a Lakatoi (trading canoe) was used until 1932 and saw a number of changes of printer, overprint and surcharge resulting in a range of notable errors and varieties. These are well represented in The Frazer Collection and include the 1907 “Papua” overprint ½d. and 6d. values with overprint double, a unique 1/- lower left corner block of four with overprint double, one diagonal and a complete sheet of the 2d. value with overprint double, closely spaced – a previously un-chronicled error. One of the most famous errors to occur on these stamps is the 1930 Air 1/- Harrison printing with the plane overprint inverted. A fine mint example of this rare and popular stamp, together with other Airmail varieties are included.

Samoa offers a variety of issues including a selection of the 1877-80 Express stamps featuring a 3rd state 3d. complete unused sheet of ten. Also present are a fine range of the “G.R.I.” overprints applied on stocks confiscated from the German’s after they surrendered without resistance to a New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 29 August 1914. These include the very rare “1 Shilling” on 1Mark carmine, corrected from the earlier printing incorrectly inscribed “1 Shillings”, of which only 35 were printed.

The sale concludes with some forty lots of Tonga including a wonderful array of the 1896 locally produced type-written “Half Penny” surcharges with a wealth of varieties and the famous 1897 7½d. value showing King George II’s head inverted, a rare and popular stamp.

With the current strength in the Australian market we feel sure that prices will remain buoyant throughout this interesting sale.

The next auction devoted to the William Frazer Estate sees further interest in Australia when his collections of the Australian States are offered in London on 18 September.