Australia-Victoria-1901-6 Pence Queen Victoria Definitive-2 Shades-Illustrated

Shown below are the two shades of the Queen Victoria definitive issued from 1901 to 1910.Originally issued in 1901 in emerald-green (illustration 1) in 1904 the stamp was re-issued in a dull-green. The 1904 issued is valued slightly higher than the original issue.

Australia-Victoria-1901-10-4 Shade Variations of the 1 Penny QV Definitive-Illustrated

Shown below are some of the shade varitions of the 1901-1910 Queen Victoria definitives issued in the Australian state of Victoria. Originally issued in rose (extreme right) shades of red and dull-red are known.
A detail of each stamp is shown below the first illustration.

Australia-Victoria-3 1880's Stamp Duty Stamps-Hand Cancelled-Illustrated

Shown below are three types of stamp duty stamps issued in the Australian state of Victoria in the 1880's. All are hand-cancelled with the date of cancellation.

Australia-Western Australia-1912-A 2 Pence "Swan" Postage Stamp Surcharged "One Penny"-Illustrated

Shown below is the 1912 issue of the Western Australia stamp issued in 1912 with an value altered from 2 Pence to 1 Penny. The stamp was originally issued in 1903 and surcharged in 1912. The CDS shows it was used postally in November of that year.

Australia-The 1913 6 Pence (Chestnut) "Kangaroo" Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Shown below is an example of the 6 Pence (chestnut) value from the 1913 issue of the newly federated Australia. This example was overprinted for official use.

Australia-The 1913 Halfpenny (Green) "Kangaroo" Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Shown below is the 1913 issue of the Halfpenny stamp issued for the newly federated Australia. Until 1913 each Australian state had issued it's own stamps. Many of the stamps in the first issues show minor variations in Dies. Die 1 (of which this is an example) showed a small break in the inner frame line level with the top of the words denoting value. This was later repaired in Die 2.

Australia-The 1932 and the 1937 Versions of the 1 Shilling "Lyrebird" Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Shown below are the two versions of the Australian stamp issue of the 1 Shilling "Superb Lyrebird". The design was issued twice (with minor variations) first in 1932 and again as part of a definitive set in 1937.
While the designs are not easy to tell apart the 1932 version is a larger stamp as can be seen in the illustration below. The 1937 version is also a dull-green, the 1932 a green (with a shade variation of yellow-green).
A detail of each stamp is shown below the first illustration. The earlier version first.

Great Britain-1955-Queen Elizabeth-High Value "Castles"-Postage Stamp Set-Illustrated

Illustrated below is the stamp set issued in 1955 during the early reign of Queen Elizabeth. The set consisted of four stamps a 2 Shilling and Sixpence (brown), 5 Shilling (red), 10 Shillings (blue) and 1 Pound (black). The Castles illustrated were  2/6 "Carrickfergus", 5s "Caernarvon", 10s "Edinburgh" and 1p "Windsor".

New Zealand-1937 and 1948 Halfcrowns-(2 Shillings and Sixpence)-Illustrated

Illustrated below are the obverse and reverse of two examples of New Zealand Halfcrowns. A Crown was worth 5 Shillings in pre-decimal currency and a Halfcrown was worth 2 Shillings and Sixpence. Coins issued for New Zealand were not introduced until 1933 .Until this time British coinage had been used, British coins ceased to be legal tender in New Zealand in 1935, New Zealand being the last self governing Dominion to issue its own currency.
In 1920 silver coins throughout the British Empire had been devalued from 95% silver (sterling) to 50% silver and 50 % alloy and all silver coins minted for New Zealand between 1933 and 1946 were only 50% silver. After 1946 silver in coinage was discontinued and all were replaced by cupro-nickel coins.
The two Halfcrowns shown below are from the reign of George the 6th. The 1937 example is 50% silver the 1948 cupro-nickel. Other changes occured during the minting, originally the obverse legend on George the 6th coinage was "King Emperor" this was discontinued after the independence of India. The reverse remained the same technically described as " Ensigns armorial of the Dominion on their shield (quarterings depicting the Southern Cross, a wheat sheaf, a lamb suspended by a ribbon and mining hammers crossed divided by three ships) surmounted by the Royal Crown and surrounded by ornamentation inspired by Maori carvings." The Halfcrown is a quite large coin at 32 mm in diameter and considered very collectable.

Great Britain-1912-24-George the 5th Defintiive Postage Stamp Set-Illustrated

Illustrated below is the 1912-24 definitve stamp set (with some shade variations). The set had values from a Halfpenny to 1 Shilling and originally issued as a Halfpenny (green), 1 penny (bright-scarlet), 1 Penny/Halfpenny (red-brown), 2 Pence (orange-yellow), 2 and a Halfpence (cobalt blue), 3 Pence (dull reddish-violet), 4 PEnce (deep grey-green), 5 Pence (brown), 6 Pence (dull-purple), 7 Pence (olive), 8 Pence (black/on yellow paper), 9 Pence (agate), 10 Pence (turquiose-blue) and 1 Shilling (bistre). Subsequent issues between 1912 and 1924 produced shades and some (like the 9 Pence value) were issued with a colour change and are know in shades. Some of the colour changes and shades are illustrated below.

The Halfpenny (green) is known in shades of yellow,deep,very yellow(1914) and bright. A yellow and green are shown here

Originally issued in bright scarlet (on the right) the 1 Penny value is known is shades of vermilion (left), pale rose-red, carmine-red and scarlet vermilion.

Originally issued in red brown (left) the Penny/Halfpenny is known in shades of chocolate-brown (right), chestnut and yellow-brown.

Originally issued as orange-yellow (left) the 2 Pence value was also produced using 2 Dies. Die 1 shows four shaded lines above the head of George the 5th ( right)  Die 2 only three. A reddish-orange (right) was issued from Die 1 in 1913. Other shades were orange from both Die 1 and 2 and a bright-orange from Die 1.

The 2 Pence/Halfpenny was originally issued in cobalt-blue shades are known in blue (left) and bright-blue (1914-right) with indigo and dull-prussian-blue issued in 1920 and 1921.

The The 3 Pence originally issued in dull reddish-violet (left) shades are known in violet (right), bluish-violet and pale-violet.

The 4 Pence value has three shades of grey-green. Originally issued in deep grey-green (right) two other shades of
grey-green (left) and pale grey-green are known.

Originally issued in brown (right) the 5 Pence value is known in two other shades of yellow-brown (left) and bistre-brown.

Originally issued in a dull purple (right) the 6 Pence value has shades of reddish-purple (left) and deep reddish-purple.

Originally issued in olive (above) the 7 Pence value is also known in shades of bronze-green (1915) and
 sage-green (1917)

Issued in black the 8 pence value has no known shades but was printed on yellow paper (above) and on a buff paper
in 1917.

The 9 Pence value was originally printed in agate (left) a shade of this issue in deep-agate (right) is known. In 1922 the
colour if the value was changed to an olive-green and shades of pale olive-green are known. Two examples of
the colour change are shown below.

The 10 Pence value was originally issed in turquoise-blue with a shade of deep turquoise-blue known.

The 1 Shilling value was originally issued in bistre (left-1913) with bistre-brown shades (right) known.

Costa Rica-1900-A Partial Set of Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Illustrated below is an old album page with 3 early stamps of Costa Rica. All were issued in 1901 (although dated 1900) and are part of set of various designs of notable Costa Ricans and local views with values from 1 Cent to 10 Colon.

Ecuador-An 1894 Postage Stamp and 1896 Postage Due-Illustrated

Below is an old album page with an early postage stamp of Ecuador. The stamp bears a portrait of President Rocofuerte and was issued in 1894. The postage due stamp was of the type first issued in 1896 and remained unchanged in design till 1929.

Nicaragua-3 Early Postage Stamps on An Old Album Page-Illustrated

Below are 3 Nicaraguan stamps all issued in the early 1890's. The oldest (middle) was issued in 1893 part of a set with values from 1 Cent to 10 Pesos, all of the smae design but different colours for each value.
The second oldest (right) was issued in 1894 and part of a set of the same design with values from 1 Cent to 10 Pesos. The 3rd (left) was issued in 1895 and is also part of a set with  the same design and values from 1 Cent to 10 Pesos.

Peru-An Old Stamp Album Page with Peruvian Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Below is an old album page with some early Peruvian stamps.The 5 Cent (blue) shows Pizarro the Conquistador and was issued in 1896, part of a set with his portrait with values from 5 to 20 Cents.

Chile-An Old Album Page of Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Illustrated below is an old album page of Chilean stamps. The 2 stamps at the right edge are rouletted stamps from the 1860's and 70's after the early imperforates but before perforations were used on Chilean stamps.

Cuba-An Old Album Page of Cuban Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Below is an old album page of stamps of Cuba. Below the page are details of 2 of the stamps. the first is the "curly head" issued during the Spanish Administration of the country. The second was issued in 1899 when the United States administered Cuba and the design is a statue of "La India".

Dubai-An Old Album Page-3 Postage Stamps and One Postage Due-Illustrated

Shown below is an old stamp album page of 3 stamps of Dubai and 1 postage due stamp. Below the page is a detail of one stamp and the postage due stamp.

Egypt-An Old Album Page of Egyptian Postage Stamp Definitives-Various Kings-Illustrated

Shown below is an old album page of the definitives of various of the Egyptian Kings before the last king was ousted and Egypt became a Republic. Below the page are details of 4 of the stamps.