Newsflash! A second used partly missing
black on the 50¢ Pioneer reported
As reported by Simon Dunkerley in Stamp News November 2006

In the recent July 2006 edition of Stamp News, the first recorded example of a new partial missing colour variant of the 1972-76 50¢ Pioneer was reported in the 'Australia in Depth' column (pages 14 and 15). If you missed that issue, the article is on this website here.

Well, after waiting over thirty years from the time this stamp went off issue for the first to be reported, it did not take much longer for a second example to surface. A reader was fortunate to find a very similar one in bulk material many years ago, and was prompted to make contact. I have examined this stamp and it is certainly a genuine example of the same partially missing black error. The only difference is that it is cancelled a little lighter than the first. After sitting on it for so long, that reader has decided to sell it and I understand has plans to put the money to good use elsewhere.

With the only two recorded being used, there is a very good chance that all examples of this error travelled through the post, so check all of your used 50¢ Pioneer stamps, and any commercial covers that you might have! A significant portion of stamps used through regular mail have not survived, so the chances are small. As the cause of this error is not certain there may have been an entire row of one or more sheets showing the error, or there may have been only a few stamps within one sheet. This is because the vertical direction of the error is at odds with the direction this stamp was usually printed in.

I will be astonished if a third one turns up, however, one of the joys of being in the philatelic market is that no one knows what the next surprise will be. Let me know if you have something worthy of reporting; If not, happy hunting!

;

Simon Dunkerley Pty Ltd
P. O. Box 461 Blackburn Victoria 3130 AUSTRALIA
Tel: (61 3) 9878 1142   Mob: 0419 872 951

Email us at simon@simondunkerley.com