Royal Reels: Gambling

Postmarks

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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NUMERALS, COOPLACURRIPA (Plenty of Mosquitoes) & NUMBER ONE

Aboriginal place names intrigue me and Cooplacurripa (‘plenty of mosquitoes’) is no exception. But there is more to my interest for why was the post office and town name changed from the original to Number One, and a second post office and town with the original name moved further north-west? A web search not only gave no answer to these questions, but also to-date has been remarkably unhelpful in giving

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MULWALA CONSTRUCTION CAMP N.S.W. POSTMARK

This postmark was sufficiently short-lived and is relatively uncommon, and this area on the New South Wales and Victoria border is of considerable interest, that I felt it reasonable to research it and to write a short paper. The postmark cancels the red 2½d KGVI definitive which was issued on 7 January 1942 and it reads MULWALA CONSTRUCTION CAMP/ -9 JE 43/ NSW. The postmark is described in N.C. Hopson &

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MULTIPLE POSTMARKS on 1866 COVER SENT from MELBOURNE to LONDON

This unclaimed cover was franked with the 6d blue ‘Laureate’ of Victoria and was postmarked by the duplex MELBOURNE/ 3A/ AU 27/ 66. It was finally sent to England after reception at two cities in India, but the addressee’s name and the original address in India is no longer legible, for most of the front is a mass of readdresses which have been hatched out. There are however on the

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MILITARY ENCAMPMENTS in VICTORIA: LANGWARRIN CAMP & BOER WAR

The purple ‘TWO PENCE’ stamp of Victoria was cancelled with a shield enclosing the details of the postmark which was 1/ MILITARY/ FE 11/ (with no year)/ ENCAMPMENT. Note the ‘scalloped’ out perforation at the right hand side of the stamp. The vendor stated that it was used at Langwarrin Camp, Victoria (Figure 1). Another example of the same postmark was seen on a cover addressed to Messrs. Reuters Telegram

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THE EXPERIMENTAL CHARLES RIDEOUT SYDNEY DUPLEX (1861-62)

Two N.S.W. covers, both sent per the same ship, appeared on eBay addressed to Messrs Newell, Melbourne, Victoria dated 1860 and 1861 respectively, but only the latter one caught my fancy, for I did not recall seeing the duplex cancel previously. I was not surprised that the specific cancel was not found in my modest collection of early Sydney cancels, but I was at a loss to find it was

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TASMANIAN POSTAGE STAMPS USED INSTEAD of POSTAGE DUES & JESSIE ROOKE, SUFFRAGETTE

This cover is an example of the use of a pair of green 2d ‘Side Face’ Tasmanian postage stamps used on inwards mail from Victoria to Tasmania in 1897 in lieu of Postage Dues. The orange pair of ONE PENNY ‘Reading’ stamps of Victoria are cancelled with an incomplete UP TRAIN/ M.G. ( )/ OC 12/ 97/ VICTORIA postmark and DEFICIENT POSTAGE 2d/ FINE 2d/4d handstamp was applied. The Tasmanian

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SIR HAROLD R. DEW, BOSCH PROFESSOR SURGERY, UNIVERSITY of SYDNEY

The cover has a mauve-brown QE 1d stamp cancelled with AUST F.P.O./ 3 AP 45/168, and there was an accompanying paper with the following notation: WWII – AUST F.P.O./ 168. II AUST CORPS, WONGABEL, QLD, 9 JUN 44-10APR 45. It was addressed to Prof. H.R. Dew, Department of Surgery, University of Sydney, N.S,W. There was a purple rectangular boxed AUSTRALIAN/ MILITARY FORCES/ PASSED BY CENSOR/ 641, and it was signed

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REGISTERED QUEENSLAND T.P.O. COVERS to TATTERSALL’S, HOBART

Four of these covers appeared on Ebay in March of 2005 and all demonstrated a plethora of postmarks both on the front and reverse. Although the majority of markings were legible, in each example there were postmarks that left much to the imagination only. The covers ranged from 1903 to 1908, and will be described from the earliest to the latest. The earliest cover was sent from MURPHY’S CREEK/ SE

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PROF. ARCHIBALD LIVERSIDGE 1846-1927, UNIVERSITY of SYDNEY

A front of a very simple cover was sent to Professor Liversidge, Sydney University and readdressed in manuscript to the Union Club, in Sydney. It had a duplex cancellation different from the first duplexes in that the date stamp part was upright instead of sideways and had a double circle instead of one, and the obliterator oval had 4 rings instead of 3. It was probably of local manufacture and

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