Tasmania, 1891 (halfpenny)
A queen’s head almost hidden by a round postmark, printed in orange.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
TASMANIA across the top, and a HOBART postmark.
- 1TASMANIA
- 2Postmark: HOBART
- 3HALF PENNY
- Inscription
- TASMANIA · HALF PENNY
- Meaning
- The colony’s name at the top; the postmark says HOBART, its capital.
- Issued by
- Tasmania (British colony)
- Today
- Australia (the state of Tasmania) Flag of Australia
- Year
- 1891. Issued 1891.
- Made by
- Tasmanian colonial postal administration (organizational publisher)
One fact
This orange halfpenny is postmarked in Hobart, Tasmania’s capital, in 1893.
Source and public-domain rule
Australia, Crown copyright, more than 50 years. A government (Crown) stamp of 1891: 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: 1893 Half penny Tasmania Hobart Yv44 Mi46a SG170.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 948263102), licence templates {{PD-Australia}}, {{PD-old-100}}. Downloaded 2026-10-21, sha256 c5eb087f723e…; 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.
