New South Wales, 1850 (one penny, red)
A round seal with figures on a shore, printed in red.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
No English name: the round seal of New South Wales, with SIGILLUM and AUST. in Latin, is the clue.
- 1AUST.
- 2SIGILLUM: seal
- 3SIC FORTIS ETRURIA CREVIT
- Inscription
- POSTAGE · ONE PENNY · SIGILLUM … AUST. · SIC FORTIS ETRURIA CREVIT
- Meaning
- The Latin ring is the colony’s seal (AUST. for Australia); the motto means “thus Etruria grew strong”. No country name in English.
- Issued by
- New South Wales (British colony)
- Today
- Australia (the state of New South Wales) Flag of Australia
- Year
- 1850. Issued 1850.
- Made by
- New South Wales Post (organizational publisher)
One fact
Collectors call the first stamps of New South Wales “Sydney Views” after the scene in the colony’s seal at their centre.
Source and public-domain rule
Australia, Crown copyright, more than 50 years. A government (Crown) stamp of 1850: Crown copyright in Australia lasts 50 years, so it ended long ago. Copyright in a work made or first published by or under the direction or control of the Commonwealth or a State (the Crown), such as a government postage stamp, lasts 50 years (Copyright Act 1968, ss. 176, 177 and 180). The colonial issues of Tasmania and New South Wales are older still. Applies to issuers au, ts and nw, published before 1976. Legal sources: Copyright Act 1968 (Australia), compilation of 2 April 2026, ss. 176–180.
Scan: New South Wales 1850 stamp Mi 1.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1056379079), licence templates {{PD-Australia}}, {{PD-old}}. Downloaded 2026-10-21, sha256 a4524f4e8e75…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-22 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a second check of these rights by a person is planned, and a stamp that turns out not to be free to use will be removed. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
