Royal Reels: Gambling

Islands

LETTER from CRETE to DR. CONSTANTINOS KYRIAZOPOLOUS, MELBOURNE

The vendor describes the cover as “1904 usage of orange 20 lepta & green 5 lepta (Hera) stamps of Crete Greece stamps on private cover with cachet at left “New Freedom (Neas Eleftherias)” sent from Heraklion to Dr. Konstantine Kyriazopoulos, 168 Victoria str., North Melbourne, Australia with a Melbourne backstamp. An enlargement of the purple cachet is also shown (Figures 1 & 2). A printed BANQUE D’ATHÈNES cover is addressed

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MONTAGU JOHN STONE-WIGG, ANGLICAN BISHOP of the SEE of NEW GUINEA

The ‘Four Corners’ blue Queensland 2 penny stamp was cancelled with the 9-bar B.N.G. and the unframed SAMARAI/ 25 JUN 00 postmark was nearby. The envelope was addressed to Rev. F.A.C. Livingston, St. John’s Church, Milson’s Point, Sydney, N.S.W. (Figure 1). The reverse has a transit postmarks of an unframed COOKTOWN/ 2 30 P/ JU 28/ 00/ QUEENSLAND and SYDNEY/ JY 6/ 1-P-M./ 00/ 2 as well as a reception

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MELBOURNE to FANNING ISLAND WRAPPER

This ordinary Australian newspaper wrapper (H & G # E16), the 1d green Queen Elizabeth “Newspaper Only”, with five lines of instructions was upgraded with the ½d orange kangaroo stamp, and was sent from Melbourne in 1941 to Mr. Frank MCay, Cable Station, Fanning Island. There was no indication of what newspaper was enclosed nor of the sender’s name and address (Figure 1). In 1798, Captain Edmund Fanning, captain of

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LETTER to N. R. JAMES, ADELAIDE from NAMATANAI, NEW IRELAND

This fine cover is addressed to Mr. James, c/o Weather Bureau, G.P.O. ADELAIDE, South Australia. It has a red Registration label of Rabaul/ Deutsch-Neuguinea, a purple hand-stamped Crown over an oval PASSED CENSOR/ initials/ RABAUL, and the two stamps a green 3d Roo and a brown 5d KGV Head both have the N.W./ PACIFIC/ ISLANDS overprint, as well as 2 purple NAMATANAI/ 18 AU 18/ , an early unworn state

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LETTER from ENGLAND to MISS ROSSITER, STARVATION FLAT, NORFOLK ISLAND

This cover was sent from England with the grey wing-margin 6d stamp S.G. 147, plate 15, issued in 1876 with postmark dated AP 4/ 77, the barred numeral and town name being largely illegible. It was sent ‘via San Francisco’ and ‘via New Zealand’ to Miss Rossiter, Starvation Flat, Norfolk Island. The reverse was not seen but had a transit mark of Auckland. The vendor said that inward mail was

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ICELAND: LETTER from MICHAEL H. CASHMORE, MANLY N.S.W. to AKUREYRI

The cover has a registration label SYDNEY B/ NEW SOUTH WALES and the grey 6d ‘AIR MAIL SERVICE’ stamp is cancelled G.P.O SYDNEY/ R.S./ 15 AP 40A/ B/ N.S.W. AUST. It is addressed to Mr. Gudmundur Mikaelsson, P.O. Box 14, Akureyri, Iceland. The red printing reads: If unclaimed return to/ M.H. Cashmore, 10 Woods Parade, Manly N.S.W. (Figure 1). The reverse has four postmarks (from L to R) a reception

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GOUGH ISLAND SCIENTIFIC SURVEY 1955-1956

This island came to my attention in an eBay auction. Two Tristan Da Cunha QEII pictorials are postmarked Gough Island / */ 22 FE/ 56/ South Atlantic on an airmail registered cover with a Tristan Da Cunha registration label and a boxed GOUGH ISLAND/ SCIENTIFIC SURVEY/ 1955-1956 marking. The cover was addressed to a Landsborough, N(orth) C(oast) Line, Queensland address and it is probably of philatelically contrived origin(Figure 1). A

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FIRST DAY COVER to RABI ISLAND, FIJI from TOOWOOMBA, QUEENSLAND

Rabi Island (pronounced Rambi) is not the smallest inhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, but it could probably boast that it is the smallest inhabited Pacific island with the most extensive information on the internet. This F.D.C. was issued on 10 May 1937 with the Die I 1d green Q.E. and 2d red Die I KGVI stamps, was postmarked TOOWOOMBA/ 9-A10 MY 37/ QUEENSLAND, and was addressed to B. Cobham

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ERNEST ALFRED CROME, “JOINT FATHER of AEROPHILATELY”

This cover has been seen on 3 different websites, but two distinct copies were involved. These two were almost totally identical, and both were prepared by E.A. CROME, c/o J. Dougherty, Esq., Mission Station, Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria. The 2d red KGVI head stamp is postmarked G.P.O. SYDNEY/ AIR/3-P21DE39/ 5/ N.S.W-AUST and there is a black manuscript “Received by parachute/ 23/12/39/ John Dougherty” with a purple handstamp MORNINGTON ISLAND.

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COCOS ISLANDS by AIR MAIL to WOODSTOCK, VERMONT, U.S.A.

This cover has an AIR MAIL vignette in English, French, Chinese and Arabic and has 4 stamps totaling 2/- (shillings) comprising the green 1/- platypus, brown 6d kookaburra, purple1d Q.E. and the blue 5d Australian Antarctic Territory Explorers at the Magnetic South Pole stamp, cancelled with 2 copies of the COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS/ INDIAN/ 2 11 AU 61 2/ OCEAN/ AUST postmark. The reverse has no postal markings, but the senders name is

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