Royal Reels: Gambling

Postmarks

LETTER from JENOLAN CAVES to A. M. LEA, ENTOMOLOGIST, HOBART, TAS.

The registered N.S.W. cover has added postage of a pair of the blue ‘TWO PENCE’ QV stamp which is postmarked with the numeral ‘1452′ of Jenolan caves, whereas the red printed registration stamp is canceled with the circular JENOLAN CAVES/ SP 14/ 1906/N.S.W. In addition there is an unframed, with double arcs, transit cancel of OBERON/ SP 14/ 1906/ N.SW. which is only 31 k away. It is addressed to

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KHEDIVIAL MAIL LINE 1931 POSTMARK ON KGV HEAD COVER

I have long been intrigued by foreign postmarks on Australian stamps, and was surprised by the present marking, which I have not seen before, on an Australian stamp.  The cover is addressed to a Mr. S. Cassuto, C/o Barclays Bank, Alexandria, (Egypt).  The blue 3d KGV Head Australian stamp is cancelled with a purple outer double ring and a single inner ring with KHEDIVAL MAIL LINE and S/S TALODI is

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KENDALL BROADBENT, NATURAL HISTORIAN & ORNITHOLOGIST, QUEENSLAND

The cover has a manuscript ‘O.H.M.S’. and ‘Per Esk’ and was addressed to Mr. K. Broadbent, George Town, Bristol Hotel, Tasmania. It was readdressed in pencil ‘Sydney’and the original address was crossed out in blue crayon, as was ‘314′. The blue ‘TWO PENCE’ QV stamp of New South Wales was cancelled with a duplex O/ MR 25/ 79/ 1/ SYDNEY with the 3-ring oval NSW obliterating the stamp. There was a black

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JOHN WREN (1871 – 1953), SELF-MADE MAN, LOCAL HERO & SCOUNDREL

This cover leads into a remarkable story told in a total of 4½ pages in the on-line Australian Dictionary of Biography (A.D.B.), a length of biography uncommon for a man of his ilk (a page more than for Ned Kelly). The front shows that it is addressed to John Wren Esqr, Bourke St., City (Melbourne). The 1d rose Victoria ‘Postage’ stamp is postmarked with an unframed sixth duplex SOUTH YARRA/

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IAN S.R. MUNRO, C.S.I.R.O. FISHERIES SCIENTIST & HIS LARGE FISH COLLECTION

The cover has a single black 3½d ‘Emblem of Antarctic Division of Australian Department of External Affairs stamp canceled with a Bexley, N.S.W. postmark and it has 2 cancels of MAWSON/ ANARE/ 16 FE 55/ AUST. ANTARCTIC TERR postmarks, as well as a boxed ‘3½D AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC/ COMMEMORATIVE STAMP/ FIRST DAY OF ISSUE AT/ MAWSON AUST ANT TERR’ handstamp. It is addressed to I.S.R. Munro Esq, 1 Allison Rd. Cronulla N.S.W.

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HARDEN N.S.W. REGISTERED COVER with MULTIPLE T.P.O. POSTMARKS

This fine registered cover looks almost too good to be anything but philatelically inspired. It has a 3 colour stamping with the red 1½d Opening of Canberra Parliament stamp of 1927, the blue 3d Kookaburra stamp of 1928 and the green 3d first airmail stamp of 1929, a total of 7½d, all finely placed and postmarked by three HARDEN/ 6-P 10 JE 30/ N.S.W postmarks. It has the blue AIR

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GOLDFIELDS WATER SUPPLY SCHEME, W.A.: PUMPING STATIONS NOS. 1-8

The blue ‘THREE PENCE’ King George V stamp has a socked-on the-nose cancellation of No7 PUMPING STATION/ 10 OC 31/ WESTERN AUSTRALIA. This was located at Gilgai, Western Australia (Figure 1). The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme was designed and built under the supervision of C.Y. O’Connor between 1898 and 1903 to pump fresh water from the Darling Range near Perth 560 km east to the arid Goldfields. The scheme was

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FROM ILKESTON, DERBYSHIRE, GREAT BRITAIN to MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

There are Australian covers available each year on the market with re-directions including multiple manuscript instructions, and postmarks of multiple post offices. This cover however is somewhat unique in that the address was given fully (albeit incorrectly), plus there are three fine boxed instructions which spread over an area from South Yarra, to Melbourne and finally to Victoria, plus the surprising finding that the cover never finished up at the

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EDWARD WILLIAM STAFFORD (1819-1901) – MISSENT TO MELBOURNE

The cover ties together three British Colonies, India, Australia and New Zealand. It is addressed to The Hon able Edward W. Stafford, Auckland, New Zealand and was sent from India with the black four annas QV stamp tied by a ‘B/60’ cancel, a red boxed ‘INDIA PAID’ at lower left, manuscripts ‘Per Steam Ship’ and ‘Paid’, a double framed oval ‘MISSENT TO/ VICTORIA/ MELBOURNE’, a partial arrival ‘AUCKLAND/ MR 29/

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CENSORED LETTER from MANUS, NEW GUINEA to BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

There are several intriguing features in this censored cover sent to Fritz Thomae, Buenos Aires, Calle Bernardo de Irigeyen 725, South America, and several bidders recognized this for they pushed the price to USD 637.00. There is a purple print OPENED BY CENSOR label without any other identifying mark on it, and there is a partially obscured typed ‘Enclosed letters for enemy countries’. There is mixed postage of the green ½d

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