Philatelic Fact of the Week is aimed at making our website even more interesting and informative.

Every week we'll be posting a new philatelic fact about Australian philately or philately in general.  This page will maintain an ongoing archive of all the philatelic facts we list, building over time into a fabulous store of useful stats and facts you can use to test others, make up philatelic quizzes or just reflect on at your leisure.

#78 (Week Ending 1 August 2010):
An Australia Post Collector Pack contains a number of self-adhesive stamps cut from a roll of 100 or 200 and includes the various message tabs that appear on the rolls.

#77 (Week Ending 25 July 2010):
Australia Post commenced using a Seal of Authenticity sticker on the back of some products in 2008.  The Seal was introduced to ensure that collectors know they are buying an official Australia Post product.

#76 (Week Ending 18 July 2010):
The Annual Collection of Australian Stamps has been produced by Australia Post every year since 1981.

#75 (Week Ending 11 July 2010):
In 1847 Mauritius became the first British Colony to issue postage stamps.

#74 (Week Ending 4 July 2010):
The basic letter-rate within Australia increased from 55c to 60c on 28 June 2010.

#73 (Week Ending 27 June 2010):
Australian Antarctic Territory stamps are valid for the prepayment of postage within Australia; Norfolk Island stamps are not.

#72 (Week Ending 20 June 2010):
Only Christmas Island stamps issued since March 1993 and inscribed "Christmas Island Australia" are presently valid for the prepayment of postage within Australia.

#71 (Week Ending 13 June 2010):
A key principle of the Thematic Philately class is that exhibits should use the widest range of appropriate postal-philatelic material.

#70 (Week Ending 6 June 2010):
The first rocket ever to carry letters was launched by an Austrian named Schmiedel in 1931.

#69 (Week Ending 30 May 2010):
Exhibits that do not principally follow the special rules of other philatelic classes are judged as traditional philately exhibits.

#68 (Week Ending 23 May 2010):
Items such as maps, photographs and timetables are permitted in aerophilately exhibits as long as they are considered vital to illustrate or draw attention to a particular point or situation.

#67 (Week Ending 16 May 2010):
Posta Aerea is Italian for airmail.

#66 (Week Ending 9 May 2010):
In 1879 Liege, Belgium employed 37 cats to carry bundles of letters to villages. This service didn't last long as cats proved to be thoroughly undisciplined.

#65 (Week Ending 2 May 2010):
The Literature class is the only class in philately that does not have to conform to FIP Official Language Rules - it can be presented in any language.

#64 (Week Ending 25 April 2010):
The term 'crash cover' refers to a cover saved from a plane, train, or other vehicle with a postal marking explaining the damaged condition.

#63 (Week Ending 18 April 2010):
The term 'paquebot' meaning 'packet boat' refers to letters posted on ships at sea and to the form of postmark used.

#62 (Week Ending 11 April 2010):
Exhibits in the Maximaphily class should be composed exclusively of maximum cards.

#61 (Week Ending 4 April 2010):
The term 'Postal Stationery' refers to postal matter which either bears an officially authorised pre-printed stamp or device or inscription indicating that a specific face value rate of postage has been pre-paid.

#60 (Week Ending 28 March 2010):
Marcophily, a branch of Postal History, is the study of postal markings related to official, local or private mails on covers, adhesive stamps and other postal items.

#59 (Week Ending 21 March 2010):
The world's first stamp magazine was the short lived British Monthly Intelligence, first published in 1862.

#58 (Week Ending 14 March 2010):
Because light and heat involved in the photocopying process can have a deleterious effect on philatelic materials, photocopying of philatelic materials at institutions such as the British Library is not allowed.

#57 (Week Ending 7 March 2010):
The term 'fiscal stamp' refers to a stamp used for the collection of taxes or fees for a non postal purpose.

#56 (Week Ending 28 February 2010):
The introduction of a standard postage rate of one penny in May 1911 was great news for NSW where previously postage had cost two pence outside the limits of a town or city.

#55 (Week Ending 21 February 2010):
Australia has the world’s longest mail run – a two-day 2,400-kilometre trip by plane from Port Augusta (SA) to Birdsville (Qld).

#54 (Week Ending 14 February 2010):
The first self-adhesive stamp to be sold in dispenser boxes of 100 was the 41c Cycling stamp.

#53 (Week Ending 7 February 2010):
Rolls of self-adhesive stamps in a dispenser box (100 stamps per box) were first issued in Australia in May 1990.

#52 (Week Ending 31 January 2010):
Tom Keneally was one of the special group of designers who designed the 1970 Captain Cook Bicentenary stamps.

#51 (Week Ending 24 January 2010):
Perforation measurements list the horizontal perforation first followed by the vertical.

#50 (Week Ending 17 January 2010):
J B Cooke was Australia's first Commonwealth Stamp Printer holding the post until he retired in 1918.

#49 (Week Ending 10 January 2010):
When FRAMA vending machines were first introduced in 1984, they were initially only installed in Australia's 6 State capital city GPOs and Canberra.

#48 (Week Ending 3 January 2010):
A concessional rate for christmas cards posted within Australia was introduced in 1975 (15c) - the same year the basic letter rate was increased from 10c to 18c.

#47 (Week Ending 27 December 2009):
Until June 1925 it was compulsory to pay double the parcel rate for any item marked 'fragile' - this paid for special protection of parcels in transit.

#46 (Week Ending 20 December 2009):
Whilst most Australian decimal stamps have been issued in sheets of 100 or 50, some of the early 1966 issues were issued in sheets of 48 (12 rows of 4).

#45 (Week Ending 13 December 2009):
Perforation measurements should always be taken on mint stamps as stamps can shrink after having been immersed in water.

#44 (Week Ending 6 December 2009):
The Postmaster-General's Department began experimenting with stamp vending machines as early as 1903 but coil stamps from vending machines only became available from 1938.

#43 (Week Ending 29 November 2009):
The practice of recognising the responsible private artist on Australian stamps commenced in September 1966 with the first series of AAT decimal stamps.

#42 (Week Ending 22 November 2009):
The first stamp booklets were introduced by Luxembourg in 1895.

#41 (Week Ending 15 November 2009):
Pre decimal stamps could still be legally used for postage in Australia for a full two years after the introduction of decimal currency in February 1966.

#40 (Week Ending 8 November 2009):
Different quantities were printed of each of the seven 7c non-Olympic sport stamps issued in 1974  (Tennis the most, Lawn Bowls the least).

#39 (Week Ending 1 November 2009):
The first official air stamps were issued by Italy in 1877.

#38 (Week Ending 25 October 2009):
Concessional postage rates for the Armed Forces which had applied since 1939 were abolished in 1961 after which they applied only for personnel serving outside Australia.

#37 (Week Ending 18 October 2009):
In philately the abbreviation 'PC' means Pen Cancelled.

#36 (Week Ending 11 October 2009):
On 9 October 1874, the Treaty of Berne convened in Switzerland established the General Postal Union.  Its name was changed to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1878.

#35 (Week Ending 4 October 2009):
The term 'blind perforation' refers to perforation holes that have been only lightly impressed and not actually punched out leaving the paper in tact.

#34 (Week Ending 27 September 2009):
In philately the term 'imprint' refers to the name of the printer or issuing authority printed on the sheet margins or on the stamps themselves.

#33 (Week Ending 20 September 2009):
QANTAS launched Australia's second regular aerial air mail service in November 1922 in Queensland.

#32 (Week Ending 13 September 2009):
Australia's first regular inland air mail service began in December 1921 between Geraldton and Derby in Western Australia.

#31 (Week Ending 6 September 2009):
The 4d and 5d values are unique to the 1st watermark series of the first Commonwealth Kangaroo and Map stamps.

#30 (Week Ending 30 August 2009):
In 1930 during the Depression, sheets of the £2 kangaroo were divided down the centre as it took too long to sell 60 stamps.

#29 (Week Ending 23 August 2009):
Unlike the other Australian colonies, Western Australia's first stamp issue consisted of only one denomination - the 1d "Black Swan" issued on 1 August 1854.

#28 (Week Ending 16 August 2009):
In 1850 NSW issued its first postage stamps but it wasn't until 1852 that their use became compulsory.

#27 (Week Ending 9 August 2009):
Until 1975 mail circulation in Australia was based on a single Mail Exchange in each State capital city.

#26 (Week Ending 2 August 2009):
Delivery of mail by rail from Australia's east coast to west coast commenced in 1917 with completion of the Port Augusta - Kalgoorlie link.

#25 (Week Ending 26 July 2009):
Priority Paid mail services between Australia's capital cities was introduced in 1970.

#24 (Week Ending 19 July 2009):
Mail delivery by horse drawn coach between Melbourne and Sydney commenced on 1 January 1845. Four days and 16 hours was allowed for each trip.

#23 (Week Ending 12 July 2009):
Melbourne's GPO was built in 3 stages between 1859 and 1867, officially opening on 1 July 1867.

#22 (Week Ending 5 July 2009):
By 1998 Australia was producing on average more than one billion stamps per year.

#21 (Week Ending 28 June 2009):
The 1970 Captain Cook Bicentenary Miniature Sheet was the first (either perforate or imperforate) since the 3d Kookaburra mini sheet issued in 1928.

#20 (Week Ending 21 June 2009):
The term Tete-Beche refers to two similar stamps joined together (se tenant) upside down each to the other.

#19 (Week Ending 14 June 2009):
The 1977 $10 'Coming South' Australian Paintings stamp was originally issued in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5).  A later reprint contained 5 rows of 10 stamps.

#18 (Week Ending 7 June 2009):
The 1934 Centenary of Victoria stamps were the first Australian Commonwealth stamps to be recess printed on a rotary machine.

#17 (Week Ending 31 May 2009):
The 1/- and 2/- multicolor Australian stamps produced for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics were printed in England and Switzerland respectively.

#16 (Week Ending 24 May 2009):
Australia's domestic letter rate increased from 10c to 18c on 1 September 1975.

#15 (Week Ending 17 May 2009):
The first Australian Antarctic Territory stamp, a 2/- denomination, was issued in 1957.

#14 (Week Ending 10 May 2009):
The first form of official Business Reply Post in Australia commenced on 1 July 1929. Businesses paid ½d in addition to normal postage for each reply received.

#13 (Week Ending 3 May 2009):
The term FRAMA label comes from the name of the Swiss company that manufactures the vending machines.

#12 (Week Ending 26 April 2009):
Australia's first airmail stamp - a threepence value - was issued in 1929 for use on the Perth - Adelaide service.

#11 (Week Ending 19 April 2009):
In 1948 it was decided that all Australian Commonwealth stamps of the general series with face value lower that the current letter rate would be printed on unwatermarked paper.

#10 (Week Ending 12 April 2009):
The highest denomination value of the KGV definitive series (1 shilling 4 pence) was brought about by an increase to the interstate telegram rate in October 1920 from 1 shilling 3 pence.

#9 (Week Ending 5 April 2009):
Domestic air mail surcharges were abolished in Australia in 1959 after which all letter mail was carried by air where appropriate at the basic postage rate.

#8 (Week Ending 29 March 2009):
'Australia Post' as we know it today came into being on 1 July 1975 as a result of the recommendations of the Vernon Commission formed in 1973.

#7 (Week Ending 22 March 2009):
Souvenir Post Office Packs were introduced in Australia in 1969.  The first few packs were enclosed in plastic bags and sealed with sticky tape.

#6 (Week Ending 15 March 2009):
On conversion to decimal currency in 1966, the new basic letter rate of 4 cents actually represented a reduction from the previous 5 pence.

#5 (Week Ending 8 March 2009):
Australia's first Christmas stamps were issued in 1957.

#4 (Week Ending 1 March 2009):
The design of our first Commonwealth stamps issued in 1913 (commonly known as 'the kangaroo and map' series) was the result of a public stamp design competition held in 1911.

#3 (Week Ending 22 February 2009):
There are only 20 stamps in a complete sheet of the 1932 5/- Sydney Harbour Bridge (sheets contained four rows of five).

#2 (Week Ending 15 February 2009):
In 1809 Isaac Nichols, an ex-convict, became Australia’s first postmaster. He was the only person allowed to meet arriving ships in Sydney to take charge of the mail, making sure the letters were delivered properly to the people concerned.

#1 (Week Ending 8 February 2009):
The four digit postcode was introduced throughout Australia on 1 July 1967.