Postage Stamps and Postal History of New South Wales - Numeral Cancellations

Numeral Cancellations

Numeral cancellations on New South Wales postage stamps are also of interest to collectors. Ninety-six post offices had already been opened when the first postage stamps were issued on 1 January 1850. Numeral obliterators were allocated to these post offices to cancel stamps on outgoing mail. Sydney itself had no number and used dumb obliterators. The first allotment of numbers was based on the pattern of roads radiating outward from Sydney.

Numerals and obliterators continued to be allocated to opening post offices up to the beginning of 1904 with 2099 (Toolijooa) probably the last number assigned. The patterns of allocation provide a way of tracking the history of settlement of the state, although made complex by re-allocations as post offices closed or jurisdiction was transferred, as happened when Queensland became a separate colony.

Larger post offices also impressed a date-stamp on covers with the name of the originating office. This means that covers or stamps torn from covers or pairs of stamps can be used to tie numbers to mailing offices where official records are missing. Even so, as many as 300 New South Wales numbers are still untied.

There can be many variations of numeral cancellations depending on the type of obliterator used. The first obliterators allocated had horizontal bars. These were followed by "ray" types. The colour of the ink used might also vary. The Sydney obliterators also exist in many variations.

Most collectors of numerical cancellations ignore the stamp itself, which may appear upside-down or sideways in albums or stock cards.