Australia Post has created its second ever $5 Jumbo Stamp^™, the size of a miniature sheet.  It features the NSW 1888 20/- (£1) "Carrington" the highest face value postage stamp ever issued by New South Wales.  It was replaced by the 1913 £1 Brown and Blue Kangaroo first watermark.

 

This new stamp is MASSIVE - 105 x70 mm.  (About 4½" x 3"!)  Literally the size of many modern Mini Sheets.  The sheet of 10 is about the same size as a regular sheet of 100, so each of these is clearly about 10 times the exterior size of a normal commemorative.  The stamp itself is therefore LARGER than it appears, even on your computer screen.  It is about the size in real life, of the Certificate shown.

 

Just 500 of these sheets were issued IMPERFORATE by Australia Post.  They were sold via a telephone order allocation on January 10, 2006  - the first callers to phone after a certain hour could buy STRICTLY one sheet.  There were only 500 sheets ever sold by Australia Post.  All were numbered in gold ink on lower left corner as illustrated.  About 350 MUH sheets were sold by the phone ballot.  The other 150 sheets were nicely framed with a brass plate and special numbered AP Certificate - the same as illustrated here.  They sold quickly at $149 each.

 

The fools GLUED down these 150 sheets with a strong adhesive "to keep them flat",  so those 150 were destroyed as far as MUH was concerned.  So we have about 350 MUH sheets remaining for the world.  Of an official imperforate issue sold by Australia Post.  Of a beautiful stamp topical.  Demand of course was massive and most collectors who were successful in waiting on the phone for 40 minutes have no intention whatever of parting with their prize, no matter how high the price gets.   A classic "supply and demand" squeeze!
 

NONE were sold to dealers or overseas agents - unless they phoned up and waited on the line like everyone else!  I have not heard of one dealer who bought them from AP.  The full sheets are large of course (PO sheet of stamps size) and not possible to house on any standard album page.  A single is all most folks really need.  Due to the wide white selvedge on every stamp there obviously no mistaking a single for a cut down perforated copy.

 

I also have FIVE Registered First Day Covers cancelled January 10, 2006.   As far as I can ascertain there are no others out there.  See lot F.   Canny buying at $300 each.   I have no doubt this is the very scarcest Decimal FDC - possibly the lowest number of anything Australian since WW2.  

 

After extensive advertising over 6 months, and needing to offer ever increasing prices. month by month, I purchased just a couple of mint sheets of 10 for a VERY large sum, and have broken them down for collector convenience as follows - subject unsold :