Submitted by aarAdmin on Mon, 11/17/2025 - 00:00
A rare 1855-57 New Zealand 1/- stamp, probably the only example still with its original gum (lot 1093), sold for $32,000 at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Stamps, Coins & Banknotes, Postcards and Postal History sale on November 12 and 13 as collectors rushed to snap up the more valuable auction items.
With many of the lots carrying estimates of a few hundred dollars, most were cleared over the two-day sale.
Perhaps the auction surprise was a circa 1854 but undated Hobart “Liverpool Tea Warehouse” penny in fair to good condition (lot 36) that went under the hammer for $12,000 on a $1000-$2000 catalogue estimate.
Extremely rare in any condition and struck by an unknown British Mint, these were issued from 1854-1864 by Alfred Nicholas, owner of the Liverpool Tea Warehouse in Liverpool Street, Hobart Town, Tasmania.
The retail warehouse offed goods such as sugar, brandy, ale and tobacco to the local populace and Nicholas also took a keen interest in the colony’s administration serving from 1858-59 as the Hobart and Kingsborough member in the Tasmanian Legislative Assembly.
Three currency notes of “New Australia” – Paraguay (lot 525) created in 1895 sold for $15,500.
According to an article entitled “the Notes of New Australia” by Peter Symes published in October 2004, a total of 14 examples are documented, mainly in the National Library, Canberra and Dixson Library Collection, Sydney.
Accompanied by a National Bank of Paraguay 1886 5 centavos banknote, the ones successfully auctioned do not appear to have been previously recorded.
“New Australia” was a utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay created by the New Australian Movement and founded on September 28, 1893 as Colonia Neuva Australia with 238 people.
A year earlier, prominent figure in the Australian labour movement, William Lane (who founded Australia’s first labour newspaper The Worker), established The New Australia Co-operative Settlement Association.
A split in the Australian labour movement with those who went on to form the Australian Labor Party spurred Lane’s intent to form a socialist utopia outside Australia.
The first ship left Sydney in July 1893 for Paraguay where the government was keen to attract white settlers and had offered a large area of good land.
Although there were some able settlers amongst their ranks – including Mary Gilmore, Rose Summerfield, Gilbert Stephen Casey and George Birks and his family – the settlement also attracted a large number of misfits, failures and malcontents.
Among several coins from different countries that were successfully sold, an extremely rare 1872 Vittoria Emanuele II 100 lire uncirculated gold coin from the Rome Mint brought $8800.
