rbourOpened in 1932 as a combined road / rail bridge, Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of the premier icons of Australia. It appears on numerous postage stamps, miniature sheets ( including sheet borders ), several items of postal stationery, a Parcel label and even a Commemorative Telegram.
Unlike many of the railway articles, this is an ongoing project, as new issues will, no doubt, continue to appear. I hope it is reasonably complete, but please let me know of anything omitted or when anything new appears.
Gutter Pairs: Many of the Australian stamps exist in gutter ( interpanneau ) pairs. I have included information on these only for the inaugural 1932 issue and later issues where the gutter is pictorial. I have only included one or two catalogue numbers ( SG ), where such detail might help to identify a stamp.
The scans in this article are immediately ABOVE the stamp, stationery or postmark descriptions. The listing has been produced in five sections:
Section 1 : Stamp Issues of Australia
Section 2 : Numerous worldwide m/s for Olympics 2000 with identical central label with the Bridge
Section 3 : Other world stamp issues
Section 4 : Postal Stationery and a Telegram
Section 5 : Postmarks relating to the Bridge.
A feature of the stamps of the Bridge is that only one of them actually shows a train - or even the tracks, and the one that does, 2004 50c, shows only a distant view of a train. So, to illustrate the railway properly, please find below a very pleasing portrait of a train leaving the Bridge, reproduced by kind permission of Maikha Ly of Australia. Please note that his photograph is copyright.
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K98 rolls off the bridge on a Hornsby bound service - 20-11-2002 - by Maikha Ly
Section 3 : Other World stamp Issues
[ . . ] Algeria 2000 24d Bridge, Opera House & Sports Symbols
[ . . ] Anguilla 1984 $ 1.00 Stamp-on-Stamp of 1932 2d Bridge
[ . . ] - ditto - same with Ausipex 84 se-tenant label ( probably interpanneau label )
[ . . ] Barbados 1999 $ 4.00 m/s ( World Stamp Expo ). Bridge in sheet border
[ . . ] Belize 1984 $ 3.00 m/s Stamp-on-Stamp of 1932 5/- Bridge
[ . . ] Cocos Islands 1988 $ 3.00 Sydpex m/s. Bridge in sheet border
[ . . ] Great Britain 1988 34p Shakespeare and Bridge ( issued se-tenant with 34p cricket )
This stamp is part of a joint issue with Australia( q.v. ). Unlike the Australian version, which was printed with the rows offset, providing both horizontal and vertical se-tenant pairs , the G. B. stamps only exist in horizontal se-tenant pairs.
[ . . ] Guyana 1991 $ 30 Olympic Swimmer and Bridge ( SG 3110 )
[ . . ] - ditto - olympic sheetlet/9 x $ 30.00 including 1 x SG 3110
[ . . ] Ivory Coast 180f + 20f Bridge in background
[ . . ] Kiribati 1988 $ 2.00 m/s Ship under Bridge ( on stamp part of design )
[ . . ] Laos 2000 Olympic m/s ( sold at 10,000k ). Bridge on sheet border
[ . . ] Lesotho 1988 20s Rod Laver & Bridge ( part of International Tennis stars set, ' Sydney ' mis-spelt )
[ . . ] Lithuania 2000 m/s Olympic Medals and Bridge
[ . . ] New Caledonia 1981 29f Ship and Bridge ( faintly outlined behind the ship )
[ . . ] Niuafo'ou 1988 m/s containing 12 x 42s including cricket & Bridge on two se-tenant values
[ . . ] - ditto - all 12 stamps with underprint ( on gum ) XX UPU / CONGRESS / WASHINGTON / DC / 1989
[ . . ] Proof imperforate strip/3 stuck on card of the three cricketing values including the two Bridge stamps
[ . . ] Norfolk Island 1988 37c Sydpex & Bridge ( from normal sheets )
[ . . ] - ditto - m/s of 3 x 37c including one as above
[ . . ] St. Vincent 1991 $ 6.00 Disney m/s of Wilbur. Bridge in sheet border
[ . . ] Samoa ( Western ) 1980 $ 2 m/s ( Sydpex 80 ). Bridge in sheet border
. . . LEFT: The issued LE 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RIGHT: The Error of Value LE 1.50
[ . . ] Sierra Leone 1987 LE 50 Scouting & Bridge
[ . . ] - ditto - but Error of Value LE 1.50 ( for LE 50 )
[ . . ] Slovakia 2000 18Sk Sydney Olympics attached to label showing Bridge
Note: Bridge is on Label only. Alternate rows start with either the stamp of the label, providing the stamp se-tenant with the label both vertically and horizontally.
[ . . ] Solomon Islands 1985 35c Runners and Bridge ( stamp from normal sheets )
[ . . ] - ditto - m/s with above stamp ( and a non-bridge 25c )
[ . . } Solomon Islands 1988 35c Ship M.V.Papuan Chief & Bridge ( stamp from sheets )
[ . . ] Solomon Islands 1988 60c Ship M.V.Nimos and Bridge ( stamp from normal sheets )
[ . . ] - ditto - 35c and 60c as above but in m/s with two other ( non-bridge ) values
Note 1. The 35c & 60c in the m/s almost form a composite design of the bridge
Note 2. The stamps from normal sheets have a different watermark to the miniature sheet.
[ . . ] Tokelau 1988 Sydpex 50c Bridge ( 4th stamp in a horizontal strip of five )
Note: Stamps 3 and 5 in the strip show the raised approaches to the Bridge
[ . . ] Tonga 1988 m/s containing 12 x 42s including Bridge on two se-tenant values
[ . . ] - ditto - all 12 stamps with underprint ( on gum ) XX UPU / CONGRESS / WASHINGTON / DC / 1989
Note: A proof similar to that mentioned under Niuafo'ou probably exists ( perhaps as a pair )
[ . . ] Tonga 2000 80S Discus Thrower & Bridge ( from strip/5 )
[ . . ] Tunisia 2001 500M Bridge ( from normal sheets )
[ . . ] - ditto - single stamp as above in m/s ( exists #imperforate only )
[ . . ] Vatican City 1996 250L Pope Jean Paul II & Bridge
[ . . ] Yugoslavia 2000 Olympic Games, with Bridge on interpanneau ( gutter ) label.
The Bridge appears only in one of the four sheetlets in the set. It is the central label of a sheetlet/9 ( 8 stamps and the label ).
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