Australian FDC Guide
An illustrated guide to Australian First Day Covers.

Captain Cook Bicentenary (1970-I05)

Covers in this Issue - Go to: << First < Prev Next > Last >>   Cover List (Issue Info)

Cover - "Small" Cook Forgery


Cover Details

Date of Issue1970-04-20
Type of CoverFirst Day Cover (gummed)
DescriptionA number of the rarer 1970 FDCs were forged in the 1980s and the small cook with the 30c stamp was popular with forgers. They can be distinguished by the gum on the flap - the later envelopes used in forgeries used a three-section green gum, whereas the real small cooks had a continuous orange gum on the flap. If the envelope is sealed there's a good chance it's fake. Some vendors marked them as forgeries when they came across them like this one.
Stamps on Cover
General Notes
  • This FDC was created by an independent cover/cachet maker. They were popular up until the early 70's when the PMG started producing their own.
  • Many makers produced a variety of cachets for an issue, usually with the same image but different colour combinations.
  • There may be any pattern of stamps. It's common to see singles, joined pairs and blocks of four stamps for single stamp issues. For issues with multiple stamps, there are covers with individual stamps and sets. There may also be sets of sheet, bookelt pane and coil stamps.