2018-09-28 Fri

The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is a part of Antarctica administered by the Australian Antarctic Division.

The territory's history dates to a claim on Enderby Land made by the United Kingdom in 1841, which was subsequently expanded and eventually transferred to Australia in 1933. The A.A.T. was first gazetted on 16 March, 1933, the acceptance act was passed on 13 June, 1933, it was then proclaimed on 24 August 1936 giving Australia the area as one of its territories.

Australia has post offices on Macquarie Island and its base camps. Being a Territory of Australia, any stamps issued under this territory are valid for postage anywhere within Australian waters. The first stamp for the A.A.T. was issued in 1957.

Denominated 2 Australian shilling, this stamp shows three men left to right, Peter Shaw (Meteorologist), Phillip Law (Director, Antarctic Division, Department of External Affairs) and Doctor Arthur Gwynn (Ornithologist) to the left of a map of the Australian Antarctic area. The stamp is inscribed with “AUSTRALIAN” at the top and “ANTARCTIC TERRITORY” at the bottom.

This stamp was first issued on 27 March, 1957 in Australia, then 11 December, 1957 at Macquarie Island, 1 February, 1958 at Wilkes Base, 6 February, 1958 at Davis Base and 18 February, 1958 at Mawson Base.

Image Courtesy: https://colnect.com