Sub-Collection: Tasmanian postmarks with a mining or mineral connection.
The One Shilling Kangaroo and Map stamp is part of Australia’s first national definitive series, introduced in 1913. The design, a kangaroo superimposed on a map of Australia, became one of the most recognisable symbols of early Commonwealth philately. The 1/‑ value was widely used for heavier letters, parcels, and registered mail, making postmarked examples from remote mining towns especially desirable for postal‑history collections.
Stamp Details
Country: Commonwealth of Australia
Series: Kangaroo and Map
Denomination: One Shilling (1/‑)
Colour: Green
First Issued: 1913
Design: J. B. Cooke (based on the original Waterlow design)
Printing Method: Typographed (letterpress)
Paper: Multiple watermark variations depending on issue period
Perforation: Typically 12 or 12½ (varies by printing)
Set Name: Kangaroo & Map Definitives
Set Size: Multi‑value definitive series (15 denominations across several colours)
Stamp Number in Set: Mid‑range value (1/‑)
Adamsfield
Adamsfield was one of Tasmania’s most unusual and short‑lived mining towns, built almost entirely on the extraction of osmiridium, a naturally occurring alloy of osmium and iridium found in the ultramafic gravels of the Florentine Valley. Discovered in the early 1920s, the field produced some of the world’s highest‑grade alluvial platinum‑group metals, attracting hundreds of miners during its brief boom. The settlement grew rapidly with huts, stores, and a Post Office, but declined just as quickly once richer overseas sources and synthetic alternatives reduced demand. By the late 1930s, Adamsfield had largely emptied, leaving behind a scattering of ruins and one of Tasmania’s most distinctive mineral‑rush stories.
Rusty Morley was the last of the “osmiridium” characters that lived in Adamsfield. Sadly, Rusty passed away in 2021. His childhood was partly spent at Adamsfield where his father was an osmiridium miner. I have a sample of osmiridium that Rusty collected.
The last permanent resident was the postmaster, Stan Gerny, the “Count of Adamsfield”, who was the “last man standing” in the mining village. He was frail and was removed from his Adamsfield shop not long after postal services were withdrawn in 1960, dying in hospital soon after.
The Adamsfield Post Office operated from December 1925 until May 1960.
