NORFOLK ISLAND-GB 1953 CORONATION DAY AIRLETTERS MATCHED PAIR

Description

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N O R F O L K     I S L A N D
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1 9 5 3
RARE PAIR CORONATION DAY FLIGHT AIRLETTERS
• •
LONDON - NORFOLK ISLAND - LONDON per QANTAS AIRLINES
• •
Superb & Fresh AIRLETTERS flown on CORONATION DAY FLIGHTS IN BOTH DIRECTIONS
UNIQUE & ORIGINAL EBAY OFFER
SPECIAL CACHETS ON SCARCE, PRINTED "CORONATION DAY" AIRLETTERS - A RARE MATCHED PAIR
ON OFFER
: (a) NORFOLK ISLAND to LONDON specially-printed CORONATION DAY AIRLETTER, postmarked 2 June 1953, with E II R CORONATION DAY special postmark, franked with Norfolk Island 1d and 9d "Ball Bay" stamps, backstamped "[CROWN] LONG LIVE THE QUEEN" London F.S. machine slogan postmark of 8 June 1953, and "F.S." (Foreign Section) triangle, and
(b) specially-printed CORONATION DAY AIRLETTER franked with GB 2½d and 4d Coronation commemorative stamps, the London F.S. machine slogan postmark of 2 June 1953 "[CROWN] LONG LIVE THE QUEEN", and backstamped on arrival (via Sydney) with single circle Norfolk Island - Aust. regular postmark on 10 June 1953.
BACKGROUND
: It is quite well known to British Commonwealth stamp collectors that QANTAS, the Australian Airline, prepared, stamped, and flew, special
envelopes
on special flights on "Coronation Day" 1953, to and from London to every territory of the British Empire, with a special
rectangular cachet
in purple ink applied to every flight cover. Territories excluded from this event were any which did not have an airfield, such as Pitcairn Island or Tristan da Cunha.
WHAT IS LESS WELL KNOWN is that, in addition to the gold and royal blue cachets of the printed Qantas Airlines covers, three or four different AIR LETTERS and AEROGRAMMES were also printed by Qantas, and were carried on these flights.
THE PURPLE INK CACHETS
: Most covers (and airletters) received the 55mm x 37mm thin rectangular cachets, dated 2 June 1953, with 90-degree corners. These are the
most common
cachets on Flight Covers from Norfolk Island to London. The cachets differed only in the name of the territory, e.g. GREAT BRITAIN / CROWN / NORFOLK ISLAND, or COLOMBO / CROWN / GREAT BRITAIN, etc. Some cachets had tiny squares in each corner.
IN ADDITION, a RARE NORFOLK ISLAND purple ink cachet (
offered here
) was produced with a 4mm wide
patterned border
(see final image). This patterned wide border cachet is
only known
on some Flight Covers from Norfolk and Papua-New Guinea to London. It is possible that these cachets were made because of wear and tear on the original, thin-line cachets.
CONDITION
: BOTH Airletters are in superb and excellent condition, unlike the majority of "Coronation Day" Flight Covers and Airletters currently offered on eBay and on the international market.
NO RUST, NO OXIDATION, NO RIPS, NO WRINKLES, NO TEARS, NO BLEMISHES !! ALMOST 70 YEARS OLD !!
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