Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW)
16 Oct 2016
10:33:03pm

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Scarce superb mint unhinged vertical pair with wrong 6. The large image is to show the different fonts.

Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW)
17 Oct 2016
02:43:22am

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re: Scarce 1/- B.C.O.F. wrong font 6

Thanks Eric.

The lyrebird is a beautiful bird indeed, and although I have seen many unique animals Australia has to offer, I've never seen a lyrebird.

No matter whether the B.C.O.F. stamps are used or unused, they are a unique part of Australia's post war history, and is missing from many collections and are the key scarce stamps in the set.

You mention you have the 5/- B.C.O.F. in unused condition, do you know the paper thickness as there were 2, thick and thin. It doesn't make any difference in the value though as they have the same value.

Both in unused condition are worth AU$225 each. And the 6d kookaburra, a very popular stamp then.

In a few hours I will be showing a block of 16 6d kookaburras with the wrong "N", also a scarce issue.

I have no idea how the wrong "6" appeared, hopefully a member may shed some light on it, in the meantime I'll be hunting for the explanation.

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re: Scarce 1/- B.C.O.F. wrong font 6

My 5/ appears to be thick paper. But I am tempted to purchase a paper thickness device because I'm just going on a visual inspection. I know the watermarks are more clearly visible on the thin paper versions -- but I don't have another stamp to compare mine to.
It appears to be a nice robust thickness lol.

Looking forward to your block of kookaburras.

Smauggie -- I am betting that Robert has the correct "6" as the one on top. (same as 6 on my 5/)

Eric

Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW)
17 Oct 2016
02:16:56pm

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re: Scarce 1/- B.C.O.F. wrong font 6

Thanks smauggie for the compliment, there is more to come. The bottom "6" is the wrong one, the top "6" is the correct font.

Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW)
17 Oct 2016
03:13:49pm

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re: Scarce 1/- B.C.O.F. wrong font 6

Your stamp is of the thick paper variety, and there is no need to buy a device to measure the thickness of this stamp, there is a much easier way to detect both; the thick paper is chalk surfaced to prevent re-using. It does not have any type of transparency at the back. The thick paper was printed from a copper plate (plate 1), and the thin paper from a composite steel master plate (plate 2).

The thin paper shows a darker lake colour as well as having some sort of transparency (some stamps have more transparency than others) that show the front as well as the watermark; the thinness of the paper allowed greater absorbency of the ink.

Here is what I have at the moment (my varieties are separate to this folder), though I do have a trial red overprint in this folder, there are other trials, not many, all are very difficult to obtain; I'll eventually get them all.

You can use the two 5/- stamps in my collection as a comparison. Also, your stamp is well centred, has undamaged perforations, overall it’s quite a nice item (is it hinged or unhinged?).

Link to my B.C.O.F. collection (just click on the image to enlarge it).
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8f0Z-HKP8u4bTltemdBQlRDT1E

And you are correct, the top “6” is the correct one.

Member ACCC (Australian Commonwealth Collectors Club of NSW)
17 Oct 2016
06:29:17pm

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re: Scarce 1/- B.C.O.F. wrong font 6

Not hinged and the only fault is a small brown spot on the reverse, still a very good buy. US$55 is about AUS$72, and to buy it here would still cost about $180 - $200 even with that spot (blemishes can affect stamp prices). The 5/- stamps are the key stamps in the set.

I would say you did quite well purchasing that fine stamp.