One of the more interesting local posts from the last years of the nineteenth century
was the Australasian New Hebrides Company. Organized in 1887, it provided shipping and
other services - including mail delivery - on steamers running between Australia and the
New Hebrides at intervals of about three weeks. This provided a convenient mail service to
almost sixty islands in the grouping, including Tonga. Unfortunately, this service proved
to be unprofitable and the company closed down in 1899, when it entered into a contract
with the Australian Post Office. 
To pay the additional fee that this
service incurred, two stamps were created. A one pence black and lilac rose and a two
pence blue and red-brown paid the rates. The design on both stamps showed the port of Vila
in New South Wales with the company headquarters in the center. The stamps were
lithographed on heavy wove unwatermarked paper and rouletted but are also known on a toned
paper and with a "Specimen" overprint. In 1913 the remaindered stamps were sold
to a Sydney stamp dealer, which accounts for their relative lack of scarcity even though
only in use for a few years.
These are stamps that will appeal to many different collectors. Not only the local post
and steamship collector, but the Australian or South Pacific fan will appreciate this
issue. Postal historians will enjoy the chase for the very uncommon usage on cover. And
cinderella collectors will want one of the classics of the genre for their album as well.
This column first appeared in Scott Stamp Monthly and has
been edited for online presentation.
This page was last updated June 03, 2005
