Tasmania - "Courier" Issues

Issued 1 November 1853, these were the first postage stamps issued by Tasmania.
At the time, the colony was known as Van Diemens Land, and that is what is inscribed on the stamps.
The stamps were printed at the offices of the "Courier" newspaper, in Hobart - hence the name of the issue.
An interesting aspect of the production of these stamps is that each stamp was engraved seperately onto the printing plate by hand. This means that each unit shows minor varieties and each is different from all others on the printing plate.
The plates were engraved by C. W. Coard, who also added his name to the printing plates.
There were two "4d" plates manufactured, but only one "1d".
The stamps were printed on unwatermarked paper and were issued imperforate.

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Last updated 17 September 1997