The area of the present day Australian state of Victoria was
first settled by Europeans in 1803.
It was officially part of New South Wales
until 1851 when the British Government separated it from New South Wales and
proclaimed the new Colony of Victoria. The area experienced a gold rush almost
immediately as it produced 20 million ounces of gold between 1851 and 1860.
Victoria became a state of Australia in 1901, when Victoria along with five
former British colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia on January
1, 1901. Melbourne was the financial center of Australia and New Zealand at the
time and it was the capital of Australia between 1901 and 1927. Melbourne was
the largest city in Australia until the 1970s when it was overtaken by Sydney.
Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the North, South Australia to the
West, and the Bass Strait to the South separating it from Tasmania. It has a
total land area of around 92,000 square miles and a population of over 5.5M.

Philatelic Profile:
The first stamps of Victoria were a set of four stamps
issued in 1850 showing a portrait of Queen Victoria (QV).
The set (Scott #1 to
#4) catalogs for around $6.5K Mint and around $650 Used. There are some color
varieties and a value omitted error (Scott #7b) which command higher premiums.
The same design was used for a few other issues until 1851 and the first issues
are all very valuable fetching well into the 100s. A new design a portrait of
Queen Victoria Seated on Throne appeared in 1852. The stamp (Scott #14)
catalogs for around $240 Mint and around $40 Used. The same design appeared in
another set of two stamps (Scott #15 to #16) in 1850 and they also fetch into
the 100s for Mint and around $30 for Used. Queen Victoria portraits in different
designs formed the stamp issues of Victoria during the period till 1901. 205
different stamps were issued during the first fifty years – the lowest
denominations of the later issues fetch a few dollars while the higher
denominations start in the 10s. Victoria released a set of seven stamps in four
different QV portrait designs between 1863 and 1867 and that set (Scott #74 to
80) is especially sought after, cataloging in the $1100 range for Mint and
around $110 for Used.


Numismatic Profile:

Collectible
Memorabilia:
Historic items connected with the gold rush are a good
collectible item of Victoria.
Last Updated: 12/2015.
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