Editing Inverted Swan

{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{more footnotes|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox postage stamp
|  common_name            = Inverted Swan 
|  image                  =Inverted Black Swan SLNSW.jpg
|  country_of_production  = [[Western Australia]] 
|  location_of_production = Perth 
|  date_of_production     = January 1855 
|  nature_of_rarity       = [[Invert error]] 
|  number_in_existence    = 15 + a partial 
|  face_value             = 4-pence 
|  estimated_value        = [[United States dollar|US$37,500 – US$80,000]]
|}}

The '''Inverted Swan''', a 4-pence blue postage stamp issued in 1855 by [[Western Australia]], was one of the world's first [[invert error]]s.  Technically, it is the frame that is inverted, not the image of the swan, but it has become commonly known as the Inverted Swan.<ref name="Rare Stamps 1927 p. 3">Rare Stamps (15 March 1927). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947), p. 3 (5 O'CLOCK CITY EDITION).</ref>

In 1854, Western Australia issued its first stamps, featuring the colony's symbol, the [[black swan]], as did all WA stamps until 1902. While the 1d black was engraved in Great Britain by [[Perkins Bacon]], other values, including the 4d blue, were produced by [[Horace Samson]] in Perth using [[lithography]], and with different frames around the swan design for each value.

== The error ==
In January 1855, additional 4d stamps were needed.  When [[Alfred Hillman]] brought the printing stone out of storage, he found that two of the impressions had been damaged, so he had to redo them. One of the replaced frames was tilted; the other was accidentally redone upside-down.<ref name="Rare Stamps 1927 p. 3"/> The stone's block of 60 was transferred four times to make the printing stone, and 97 sheets were printed before Hillman discovered the mistake and corrected it, resulting in a total of 388 errors being printed.<ref name="Rare Stamps 1927 p. 3"/>

However, the errors went unrecognised and unreported for several years.  Only 15 complete copies, plus a part of a stamp in a strip of three, have survived. No unused copies are known.

One example was discovered in Ireland in the 1860s, acquired by the [[Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster|Duke of Leinster]], and bequeathed to Ireland in 1897.<ref name="Rare Stamps 1927 p. 3"/> It is on display at a museum in Dublin.<ref name="NMI">{{cite web |last=tracy|first=Linda |title=Inverted Swan Stamp... An Error that has become a Rarity |work=Documentation Discoveries |publisher=[[National Museum of Ireland]] |year=2019 |url=https://www.museum.ie/The-Collections/Documentation-Discoveries/October-2016/Inverted-swan-stamp |accessdate=17 November 2019 }}</ref> It was on displayed in 1890 at [[Royal Philatelic Society London]]'s first [[philatelic exhibition]].<ref name="NMI"/> Other examples are in the Royal Collection, the [[Tapling Collection]] of the [[British Museum]], at the [[State Library of New SOuth Wales]]<ref>State Library of New South Wales, [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/74Vvgkq2Q50X/AeMqpRObjmDLo S.G.4a. ( 1 )],</ref> and at museums in Sydney, and Perth, in addition to private collections.

In 1927 the locations of the nine known copies were listed in the Brisbane Telegraph. 1 – Collection of the Royal Family of Windsor. 2- Tapling collection, British Museum. 3 – Leinster collection, Dublin Science and Art Museum. 4 – White collection, State Library of New South Wales. 5 – EH Collins. 6 – PR England. 7 – Dr HA James. 8 – JA Nix. 9 – L Meinertzhagen<ref name="Rare Stamps 1927 p. 3"/>

Copies of this stamp have been sold over the years such as, a 1980 auction realisation US$80,000,{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} for $37,500 in 1983{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} and for £122,400 in a [[Spink & Son|Spink]] auction on 19 May 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stephens |first=Glen |title=World Record Price for Australasia |work=July 2015 Market Matters |publisher=Glen Stephens |date=June 2015 |url=https://www.glenstephens.com/snjuly15.html |accessdate=17 November 2019 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of notable postage stamps]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* ''Philatelic Gems 1''. Amos Press, 1989.

==External Sources==
*The Inverted Swan, used Four Pence stamp, Western Australia, 1855, State Library of New South Wales, [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/74Vvgkq2Q50X/AeMqpRObjmDLo S.G.4a. ( 1 )]

[[Category:Birds on stamps]]
[[Category:History of Western Australia]]
[[Category:1855 in Australia]]
[[Category:Postage stamps of Australia]]
[[Category:Postage stamp invert errors]]
[[Category:1855 works]]