Tristan da Cunha 1954 - Definitives

Tristan Da Cunha, located in the south Atlantic Ocean, is the most remote archipelago in the world. It consists of four volcanic islands, three of which are uninhabited. The main island, the only inhabited island, is known as Tristan da Cunha, or Tristan for short. The other three islands are: Nightingale Island (which has two of its own smaller islands, Middle Island and Stottenhoff Island); Inaccessible Island: and Gough Island. Incidentally, these three islands are nature reserves.

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On 2 January 1954 Tristan da Cunha released its first set of Queen Elizabeth II definitives. The set was printed at De La Rue, and possibly engraved in-house. If anyone out there knows the name of the engraver or engravers who contributed to this set, I'd love to hear from you. All colours used in this blog are taken from Stanley Gibbons Elizabethan Sepcialised Catalogue, 1976 ed.

½d red and deep brown. Crawfish. The crawfish or crayfish, is known on Tristan as the Tristan Rock Lobster. They are found in abundance on the island.

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1d sepia and bluish-green. Flax Cart. Flax has been used on the island for thatched-roof houses.

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1½d black and reddish-purple. Rockhopper Penguin. Northern Rockhopper Penguins are one of the smallest penguin species. They are known by Tristan Islanders as Pinnamin. These lovely little creatures are incredibly agile. On Nightingale Island the penguins have to negotiate steep rock surfaces by hopping over the terrain, hence the name.

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2d grey-violet and brown-orange. Big Beach Factory. The original Big Beach Fishing Factory was destroyed by lava in 1961. The second factory was gutted by fire in 2008. 

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2½d black and carmine-red. Mollymauk. The yellow-nosed albatross is known by Tristan islanders as the 'Mollymauk'.

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3d ultramarine and olive-green. Island Boat.

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4d turquoise-blue and deep blue. Tristan from the South West.

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5d emerald and black. Potato Patches. Potatoes are a dietary staple of Tristan islanders. Unsuitable for many crops, the volcanic earth is perfect for potato crops.

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6d deep green and violet. Inaccessible Island from Tristan.

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9d reddish violet and venetian red. Nightingale Island. To the right you can also see one of Nightingale's two smaller islands, possibly Middle Island. 

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1/- deep yellow-green and sepia. St. Mary's Church. The church was opened in  1923.

 

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2/6 deep brown and light blue. Elephant Seal on Gough Island. The island is also home to the subantarctic fur seal. Unfortunately, a small amount of sealing has occurred on the islands.

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5/- black and red-orange. Flightless Rail on Inaccessible Island. This species is found only on this island. It is the smallest flightless bird in the world. Thankfully, the island has remained free of predators allowing the Rail to flourish.

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10/- brown-orange and purple. Spinning Wheel. Tristan is home to a thriving wool industry with over 1,000 head of sheep on the island. Every year the island hosts a Shearing Day.

Until next time...

Stay Engraver Crazy!