Australia-George the 5th Definitives-The 1 Penny Halfpenny-Illustrated

Shown below are four examples of the 1 Penny Halfpenny definitive of George the 5th issued for Australia between 1914 and 1936. The Penny Halfpenny was issued in many varieties of colour, paper, watermark and perforation. (See the Halfpenny and 1 Penny issues this blog).

The blackish-purple variety (left) shown below was issued in this colour twice. First in 1918-20 and in 1918 to 1923. To distinguish between the two issues the watermark must be analysed. The original issue was watermarked with "A" under a two pointed crown in multiples the second issue a single "A" under the two pointed crown. The example shown here is the second issue. Concurrent with the black-brown variety the Penny Halfpenny was also printed in a re-brown colour and and again the only way to distinguish between the printings is by watermark since the perforations are the same. The watermark in this example is the "A" under the two pointed crown in multiples dating it to the 1919 printing of the issue.

In 1923 the Penny Halfpenny was issued in green with the single "A" under the two pointed crown (illustrated below).

The Penny Halfpenny was also issued in scarlet twice. Originally in 1924 and again in 1926 and 1928. The later issues were both watermarked with multiples of "A" under a sloping crown. The example shown below is the 1924 issue with a single watermark "A" under the two pointed crown.

Australia-George the 5th 1 Penny Definitive Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Shown below are some of the George the 5th 1 Penny definitive stamps Issued in Australia between 1914 and 1936. (See Halfpenny issues this blog). All the definitives showed a side-face portrait of King George but were issued in a variet of colours, papers.watermarks and perforations. Below are three of the varieties of the 1 Penny issue. zthe 1 Penny began to be issued in a sage-green in 1924 until 1931 when it was issued in green (shown below). The watermark for the sage-green issues was the "A" under the two pointed crown, Multiples of the "A" under the two pointed crown or multiples of the "A" under the sloping crown. In 1931 the 1 Penny was issued in green with a "Cof A" watermark as illustrated here.

The 1 Penny was also issued in many of the red spectrum of colours from carmine-red, scarlet,carmine-pink and carmine many of them very difficult to tell apart. The watermark and perforation being a more reliable method of distinguishing among varieties.The example below has the single "A" under the two pointed crown and this watermark was used on two of the issues in the red spectrum. First in 1914-20 and again in 1916-18. This example seems more in the scarlet range dating it to 1916-18 issue.

The third variety illustrated is the 1918-13 violet issue. Also watermarked with "A" under the two pointed crown.

Australia-George the 5th-Halfpenny Definitive Postage Stamp Issues-Illustrated

Illustrated below are some of the Halfpenny definitive stamps issued during the reign of George the 5th for Australia. The stamps showing a side-face portrait of King George were issued from 1914 until 1936 and were issued in many varieties of colour, watermark,paper and perforation. The earliest issue of the Halfpenny was in bright green (left) in 1915-20 with a watermark of "A" under a two point crown. The second variety of green was issued in 1918-20 with a watermark of "A" under a two point crown in multiples. The third variety of orange was issued in 1918-23 with a watermark of "A" under a two point crown. The Halfpenny was issued again in orange in 1926-30 however the watermark for this variety was "A" under a sloping crown in multiples.Examples of each watermark are shown below the stamp.