First Issues - 1850 to 1851

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Victoria

Only two days after New South Wales and Spain, delayed by a public holiday, on 3rd January, Victoria issued its first stamp featuring a quaint ‘half length’ representation of Queen Victoria by local artist E. Wilson and printed in Melbourne. The stamp shown is a later SG5 red-brown variant as the orange-vermilion SG1 sells for £15,000 mint. Continuing the Australian innovations, Victoria issued the world's first Registration stamp ( below) and Late Fee stamp (SG33 Sc-I1) in 1854 and 1855.

[first issue 3rd January 1850] Queen Victoria SG5 Sc1	Charity Hospital charity fund 1897 SG353 Sc-B1	Post Due 1890 SG-D1 Sc-J1	World's First Registration 1854 SG34 Sc-F1

Australia commemorative 1950 SG239-40 Sc228-9

The colony continued to issue attractive stamps until the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The Victoria and New South Wales first issues were commemorated in a 1950 se-tenant pair.

Switzerland

As has been noted, three Swiss Cantons were early movers in issuing stamps in the 1840s. On 7th April 1850 the federal administration made its first issue. The stamp sells at £2,000, but a centenary charity stamp illustrates the design. Its first airmail stamp was an excessively expensive 1918 definitive overprint: the first purpose-designed issue, shown, was in 1923. Gibbons and Scott differ on the first official. [see note]

[first issue 7th April 1850] Centenary commemorative 1950 SG522 Sc-B191	Commemorative 25th anniversary of UPU 1900 SG191 Sc98	Airmail 1923 SG316 Sc-C3	Charity Children's Fund 1913 SG-J1 Sc-B1	Official 1938 SG-O381 Sc-O1	Post Due 1878 SG-D89 Sc-J1

Switzerland is responsible for a number of postal innovations, albeit minor ones. In 2003 it released probably the first braille stamp (the Swiss Federation for the Blind, stated at the time 'Swiss Post is one of the first postal organisations in the world to issue a Braille stamp'). Gibbons Monthly (August 2003) noted that this was rather pointless as registered blind Swiss citizens can post for free.

World's First Braille stamp 2003 SG1538 Sc	World's First Scratch 'n' Sniff stamp 2001 SG1478 Sc	World's First Embroidered stamp 2000 SG Sc1075

2001 saw the first Scratch 'n' Sniff stamp celebrating Swiss chocolate.
And in 2000 the first (and rather large) embroidered stamp: this innovation has been imitated elsewhere and may be the subject of a tangent.

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