During 2015 Tasmanian Stamp Auctions (http://www.tsauctions.com/auction ) offered a number of Tasmanian handstamps for auction including circular datestamps, crown seals and other engraved brass handstamps. It is rare to see surviving post office handstamps and only a few are known. Generally, redundant or worn out handstamps were destroyed by the Post Office.

Given the very low survival rate of post office cancellers and instructional handstamps, collectors may be interested in the details of these items. Photographs of the face of the handstamps are shown below as well as a strike of each. In some cases, the handstamps show considerable wear and the strike is unclear which may explain why some were retired from use. The existence of the datestamps in private hands will be recorded in a new A-Z listing of Tasmanian postmarks currently in preparation.

The origin of these items is not known but they were purchased by an observant fossicker at a Tasmanian council recycling shop. Realising that these items were something out of the ordinary, they were offered to Tasmanian Stamp Auctions and realized between $A200 ( Customs, General Post Office Hobart handstamps) and $A575 ( Claude Road circular datestamp)

Note:  The Hobart West CDS1 Type 7 (L) T was not included in the auction consignment and has been in private hands for many years. It is included here for the record.