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How to Identify an Australian Postage Stamp

Stamp collecting can take you far and away into the world, especially if you choose a foreign country as your collecting focus. Australia has stamps that bring attention to the animals, plants and historical people of the continent. You can find stamps that highlight native people, historical dates and celebrities. Australia's postal system also has an interesting history in which each state would print its own stamps before the states came together. And there is the currency change that makes the collecting of stamps before a certain date that much more fun, as well.

Things You'll Need

Magnifying glass
Tweezers or stamp tongs
Stamp catalogue or foreign stamp identifier

Instructions

Identifying the Stamp by Country, Currency and Mint
- 1
  Locate the name of the country. The name may be placed on the bottom, side or in an oval in the design of the stamp. Use the magnifying glass if it is hard for you to see the lettering.
- 2
  
  The value of the stamp can be placed anywhere, but look in the corners first.
  
  Look for the currency amount that may be located in any of the corners or in all of the corners. Stamps made after 1966 have a lowercase 'c' for cents or a dollar symbol for amounts over 99 cents. Before this, stamps sold for pounds or pence, symbolized by the British pound symbol or a lowercase 'p.' Lift the stamp with tweezers or stamp tongs and use the magnifying glass if you need a closer look.
- 3
  Using your magnifying glass and look for the mint of issue designation. It may be a letter or a dot or a collection of dots following the numeral denomination, depending on the mint used at the time of printing. Consult the stamp catalog about appropriate markings.

Stamp Collecting