2016 30c Emergency Adelaide CPS REGISTERED Cover SCARCE TYPE 3 Modern Rarity

Description

REGISTERED COVER with usage of one SCARCE TYPE 3 Emergency CPS stamp plus 70c (old letter rate) stamp.
Very few non-contrived REGISTERED Covers are known.
Cover is a low-quality commercial press & seal type envelope  (DL size) in excellent condition but obviously shows signs of transmission through the postal system. The black "texta" markings on the Cover were applied by Post Office staff when carded for delivery collection at the Post Office.
Both front & reverse shows bright orange Australia Post sorting barcodes.
The Cover is addressed & has sender's printed self adhesive label on reverse. Both have been covered for the listing scans.
Reverse was backstamped by Post Office on delivery. Small portion of reverse flap missing, possibly because the flap on the press & seal envelope was caught in Australia Post's sorting machine. Reasonably neatly opened at top, all other edges intact.
The tracking of this envelope is currently visible by entering the Label Number into Australia Post's Tracking site. These tracking records drop from their site after a while. A printed copy of what appears will be included with the cover to confirm the provenance of the Cover in later years.
General notes concerning the 30c Adelaide Emergency issue follows - they do not necessarily form part of the description for this item.
*******************************************************************************************************************************************
These emergency stamps were distributed to Post Offices for sale to the public over 3 days in early January 2016 because supplies of a regular 30c stamp were exhausted. This 30c denomination was required to enable existing 70c stamps to be uprated to when this new basic letter rate came into force on 4th January. Some Post Offices were also exhausted of 5c, 10c & 20c stamps to make-up.
The stamps were printed in sets of 6 different firstly in 1994 as a self-adhesive in rolls on a waxy backing paper with each stamp separated by a flimsy join of 3mm. They were then fed through a Counter Printing Machine (hence Counter Printed stamps or CPS) whereby a black "literal" was applied to the white space at the bottom of each stamp - in this case "30c  Adelaide 2016".
All States had one of these machines but South Australia was the only State which still retained an operable machine & it was used only for Philatelic Souvenirs at Stamp Shows & other promotions or events, plus an additional Philatelic item from Adelaide each year.
No machine anywhere had ever produced stamps for general postal sale, indeed this is the ONLY Emergency issue in Australia's postal history.
Because of the extremely unwieldy nature of these strips, they were sold in strips of up to 10 from the Adelaide GPO & possibly a few from another CBD Post Office. Supplies to suburban Post Offices were in strips of 5 plus one single, supposedly for ease of accounting & distribution.
The Emergency nature of this issue meant there was no prior announcement, no stocks were put aside for dealer orders or for standing orders of New Issues to collectors.
After the issue became known & sales at high prices began on on-line auction sites the mainstream media heavily covered the issue, causing members of the public to scramble for, & list, any remaining stamps they had remaining after their normal postage usage.
In recent years Australia Post has declined to disclose how many stamps are printed for each regular issue, citing "commercial-in-confidence", so it is unlikely true numbers will ever be known. Given the clunky nature & capability of this old CPS machine possibly around 5,000 stamps, i.e, around 800 sets were printed & many of these were used by the public on normal letter-rate mail before this Emergency Issue became generally known.
ADDITIONALLY there are TWO DISTINCTIVE TYPES of 6v sets which have been used in producing this EMERGENCY issue & it is highly unlikely that even Australia Post knows the numbers of each type produced.
Some Registered Mail Covers with one of the stamps plus a normal 70c stamp have been discovered as have some commercially used Covers & clipped mail from kiloware mostly salvaged by Charity related organisations.
With many being offered by non-collectors & even in some cases by those with philatelic knowledge, the sets are being described with titles & details of varying accuracy & reliability, and may be the source of confusion.
It really matters little what they are called now provided collectors know what they are buying. When the stamps are listed & priced in all major Catalogues their distinctive nomenclature & numbering systems will dispel any confusion in the mind of the knowledgeable collector.
This is particularly important because it seems the TYPE 3 set is 10 - 15 times SCARCER than the TYPE 4 set.
The traditional AUTHORITATIVE reference for the Kangaroos & Koalas set of 6 Counter Printed Stamps (CPS) is
Sel Pfeffer's Catalogue 3 - Framas & CPS.
Sel was an expert researcher for these issues (plus Booklets), Catalogue Publisher, long standing regular columnist for Australia's leading stamp magazine & highly experienced stamp dealer, particularly in these fields. Some five years or so ago he retired, so unless someone has bought the intellectual property & republishes, copies of his Catalogues will only be found on the secondary market.
For this set of 6 Kangaroos & Koalas it has LONG been recorded in relation to the 1994 microprint on the Family of Koalas stamp:
Type One:
small thin figures, below ground line & to right of tree trunk, dark print   [Does not exist for this Emergency issue]
Type Two:
small thin figures, below ground line & centred around tree trunk, light print   [Does not exist for this Emergency issue]
Type Three:
thicker figures, 0.75mm below ground line, slightly to the left of the tree trunk   [DOES EXIST for this Emergency issue]
Type Four:
thicker figures, 0.75mm below ground line, slightly to the right of the tree trunk   [DOES EXIST for this Emergency issue]
All other stamps in the set from each type have the same positioning of the microprint, it is exceptionally easy to identify. The positioning does not, & cannot, interchange between the Types.
The item scanned is that which you will receive. Please satisfy yourself that it meets your collecting interests.
*********************
FURTHER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This TYPE 3 was the FIRST of the EMERGENCY printing done. There was a part roll already loaded into the Counter Printing Machine that was remaining after the previous use of the Machine.
The estimated number of stamps remaining on the roll was 350. When the loaded roll was finished a new roll was loaded. This new roll & those subsequent were all TYPE 4.
This confirms the above suggestion that TYPE 3 is 15 - 20 times scarcer than TYPE 4, depending upon the number of stamps that have survived.
Additionally, it seems that all, or most, over-the-counter sales on the 6th January were TYPE 3, later sales to the public & when a few Stamp Club members started scouring Post Offices seem to be all, or mostly TYPE 4.
**********
To those messaging suggesting that the naming of the Types should coincide with their "understanding of the comparative rarity" when they purchased from various sources, please refer to the long-standing AUTHORITATIVE reference detailed above.
This remarkable EMERGENCY issue has already been described as a "Modern Rarity".
TYPE 3 is the rarity amongst the rarity.
A fully joined strip of 6 is of ARCHIVE or EXHIBITION standard.
********************
I have been informed by a person doing a detailed assessment of this remarkable issue that only TWO fully joined strips of 6 of TYPE 3 are publicly known to exist. A few may be held privately by collectors as "key" stamps within their collection & thus are unlikely to see the market until their collection is sold & dispersed.
Because the stamps were printed sequentially on a roll, it is only possible that a total of around 35 strips of 10 (the longest that were issued) existed. Of these, many were broken & sold over the counter at the GPO in small & varying numbers to people wanting to "match-up" with the remaining quantity of 70c stamps they had.
A further number were used to create a series of Philatelic Covers & Cancelled-To-Order to "prove" early date usage, even though most did not process through the postal system.
Surprisingly, some were even purposely broken into strips of three to create a nice square picture for Catalogue illustrations or scans for on-line Auction listings. Some were even broken into singles & the waxy backing paper further trimmed to remove the untidy looking remnants of the flimsy join in the strips.
**********
On condition of anonymity some Post Office staff have made contact. They had no knowledge of the printing or distribution of these CPS stamps, they were what was supplied in response to urgent requests. At least some POs were aware of the forthcoming rate increase & had ordered substantial numbers of 30c (Crocodile) stamps but their orders never arrived.
They were unaware of any special significance of the 30c CPS until repeated public counter specific enquiry for them, but by then stocks of the CPS stamp were sold & replenishment 30c Crocodile stamps were on hand.
Adelaide GPO were recalling from POs that did have stock of the 30c Crocodile, even in small quantities as little as 500, for overnight redistribution to POs whose stock was exhausted.
In no case has any suburban Post Office reported supplies in a different format to a joined strip of 5, plus various single stamps in multiples of 5, those singles not necessarily different.
********************
******************************************************************************************************************************************
This item is in my possession but is offered on behalf of another party.
The item scanned is that which you will receive. Please satisfy yourself that it meets your collecting interests.
FREE Registered Post by Australia Post worldwide. This service only provides maximum compensation up to AUD100 unless very expensive additional fees are paid (responsibility of the purchaser).
Any Customs clearances or fees are the responsibility of the purchaser. Full accurate disclosure will be made with lodgement declarations.
Any queries please message me.
Other 30c Adelaide Emergency CPS items may still be available. Please search my Store.
See scan & item title.