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