Australian Antarctic Territory


FD Local Use 30 JAN 60/ Scott L1 / Davis Base

The stamps of the Australian Antarctic Territory are relatively few. The first two stamps, the 5p and 8p issues, began their life as 4p and 7p stamps respectively but were subsequently surcharged typographically in black and blue before being issued for public consumption.

There is no doubt that Australia's favorite Antarctic son is Sir Douglas Mawson who is shown on the very first issue, Scott L1, along with Edgeworth David and A.F. McKay during Mawson's 1908-09 expedition to the Antarctic. He is also presented on Scott L7 which honors the 50th anniversary of his 1911-14 expedition. Not only Mawson, but his ship, the S.Y. AURORA, is recognized and can be seen on Scott L37.

Errors occurred on several occasions. The most notable is with Scott L41 which identifies the ship shown as that of Sir Ernest Shackleton's NIMROD, used on his first expedition in 1907-09. The depiction is actually that of Robert Scott's relief ship, the MORNING, used on Scott's first expedition. Also from this definitive series one can spot the flag on Amundsen's ship, the FRAM, as that of Iceland rather than Norway! (The "Fram" was originally built for Fridtjof Nansen's Arctic expedition to search for the North Pole.)

All AAT stamps are valid for postage within Australia.