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Private Revenue Perfins of Victoria An Elsmore Coath production The authors would welcome your comments additions or input into this work A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W Y Other V
-------------------------------------------------------- VOC.a
User: Vacuum Oil Co Pty Ltd Oil & Fuel Processing and Distribution
Address: 90-92 William St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1886-1899 Series, inscribed 'STAMP DUTY' 1d Rarity Scale:
1886-1899 Series 1d R4 Background: Refer VOCO.a Device: The VOC.a device was a customised single die device.
Related patterns: Refer to other Vacuum Oil Company patterns: --------------------------------------------------------
VOCo.a
User: Vacuum Oil Co Pty Ltd Oil & Fuel Processing and Distribution
Address: Queen St, Melbourne, VIC
Later 90-92 William St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1886-1899 Series, inscribed 'STAMP DUTY' 3d 1901 Series, inscribed 'POSTAGE' 6d 1911 Series 1d, 6d Rarity Scale:
1886-1899 Series 3d R4
1901 Series 1d R4, 6d R4
1911 Series 6d R4
Background: *Vacuum Oil started operating in the United States in the 1860 and in 1895 became the first oil company to be established in Australia. Up until that time foreign oil products were marketed in Australia via agents.
Vacuum Oil first opened offices in Melbourne and they were incorporated in 1904. In 1908 they merged with the Colonial Oil Company and they progressively expanded throughout Australia with offices, processing and distribution facilities in Sydney, Townsville, Perth, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Newcastle, Hobart and other locations. In 1924 they opened a bulk terminal at Pulpit Point in Sydney. They opened processing facilities in Altona (Melbourne) in 1940 and at Port Stanvac (South of Adelaide) in 1963.
In 1930 the US parent company merged with Standard Oil to become Socony Vacuum and later Socony Mobil but the Australian operation remained Vacuum Oil until it changed its name to Mobil Oil Australia in 1963.
Device: This Victorian device was the first device used by the company in Australia. It was a customised single die device and came into service in 1896.
The device is characterised by rather fine pins that can often produce poor, blocked or incomplete strikes of the pattern. By the late 1920’s strikes are almost always incomplete with missing pins in the top of the V, middle of the O and bottom right of the C. Despite this the device remains in service for a long time and is not discontinued until mid 1932. By this stage the pattern is almost unreadable due to the absence of pins. The Melbourne Office or Offices used a number of devices at the same time but some are only found on postage stamps.
In 1910 they introduced the VO/CO.a device (see below) and later in 1921 they introduced another VO/CO style device but then in 1928 this device was moved to Townsville and it was used on Queensland revenues as VO/CO.a in the Queensland section.
In 1923 they introduced the VOCO.b device (see below). This means that in the early 1920’s there were at least 4 separate perfin devices located in Vacuum Oils Melbourne offices, with 3 found on revenue stamps in Victoria and the other later used on revenue stamps in Brisbane.
For more information about Vacuum Oil devices see the “Study of Vacuum Oil Patterns used in Australia” under the Perfins Research tab at www.perfins.com.au
Related patterns: Refer to other Vacuum Oil Company patterns:
NSW: VO/CO.a
QLD: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VOCO.c, VOCO.d, VO/CO.a VO/CO.b
SA: VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b, VO/CO.c, VOCO.d
TAS: VOCO.a
VIC: VOCO.b, VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b
WA: MOA.a, VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.a
* Australian Dictionary of Biography. * Wikipedia * Mobil Australia website -------------------------------------------------------- VOCo.b
User: Vacuum Oil Co Pty Ltd Oil & Fuel Processing and Distribution
Address: 90-92 William St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1915 Series: 1d, 2d, 3d Rarity Scale:
1915 Series 1d R4, 2d R4, 3d R3 Background: Refer VOCO.a Device: The VOCO.b device was a customised single die device and it came into service in about 1923, possibly as a replacement to the VOCO.a device which was failing, although the VOCO.a device continued to be used until 1932.
There are a series of at least 4 other separate single die devices with similar patterns to VOCO.b as follows:
Melbourne 1923-55 Hobart 1938-57 VOCO.a (Tasmanian section) Brisbane 1942-48 VOCO.d (Queensland section) Other 1938 approx
This policy of the company to purchase devices of a similar layout has occurred at other times including the circa 1905/07 devices which were 4 similar devices located in the offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle.
In previous studies of Australian Private perfins these similar device/pattern combinations, such as with the VOCO.b style device have been considered to be a single pattern.
We have proved that this is not the case and shown that they are certainly separate devices as they have subtle differences in pin location that are consistent to patterns from a single location and what is more the devices have overlapping remote usage.
Related patterns: Refer to other Vacuum Oil Company patterns:
NSW: VO/CO.a
QLD: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VOCO.c, VOCO.d, VO/CO.a VO/CO.b
SA: VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b, VO/CO.c, VOCO.d
TAS: VOCO.a
VIC: VOCO.a, VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b
WA: MOA.a, VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.a
-------------------------------------------------------- VO/Co..a
User: Vacuum Oil Co Pty Ltd Oil & Fuel Processing and Distribution Address: 90-92 William St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1911 Series 1d 1915 Series: 2d Rarity Scale:
1911 Series 1d R4
1915 Series 2d R4 Background: Refer VOCO.a Device: The VO/Co..a device was a customised single die device and it came into service in 1910 and was used in Melbourne up until 1919.
The extra pin on the top of the C in this pattern is a unique characteristic of this pattern. There are some similar format VO/CO patterns, but only the Melbourne device had this pin.
Related patterns: Refer to other Vacuum Oil Company patterns:
NSW: VO/CO.a
QLD: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VOCO.c, VOCO.d, VO/CO.a VO/CO.b
SA: VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b, VO/CO.c, VOCO.d
TAS: VOCO.a
VIC: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.b
WA: MOA.a, VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.b, VO/CO.c -------------------------------------------------------- VO/Co.b
User: Vacuum Oil Co Pty Ltd Oil & Fuel Processing and Distribution
Address: Port Authority Building 29-31 Market St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: c1957 Series: 3d Rarity Scale:
c1957 Series 3d R4 Background: Refer VOCO.a Device: The VO/Co.b device was a customised single die device and it came into service in Melbourne in about 1928.
As with past devices this was one of 2 very similar devices used around the same time as follows:
Melbourne 1928-59 Adelaide 1933-59 (VO/Co.c South Australian section)
Now these 2 devices produce a pattern which is almost identical. There are some small differences, the Adelaide devices has slightly thinner pins, and in the 1940’s it starts to drop the middle pin in the left hand arm of the V. But essentially the patterns are the same.
In previous studies of Australian Private Perfins these 2 devices/patterns have been considered to be a single device/pattern. But we are confident that there are 2 devices as there is concurrent remote usage and this is supported by both postmark evidence on postage stamps and the fact that the patterns are found on the revenue stamps of both Victoria and South Australia.
Related patterns: Refer to other Vacuum Oil Company patterns:
NSW: VO/CO.a
QLD: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VOCO.c, VOCO.d, VO/CO.a
SA: VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b, VO/CO.c, VOCO.d
TAS: VOCO.a
VIC: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.a
WA: MOA.a, VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.a, VO/CO.c -------------------------------------------------------- VO/Co.c
User: Vacuum Oil Co Pty Ltd Oil & Fuel Processing and Distribution
Address: Port Authority Building 29-31 Market St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1920-60 Series: 3d on 2d c1957 Series: 3d Rarity Scale:
1920-60 Series 3d on 2d R4
c1957 Series 3d R4 Background: Refer VOCO.a Device: The VO/Co.c device is a 2 or possibly a 3 die customised device, with dies in a horizontal format. This is the only multi die device.
Related patterns: Refer to other Vacuum Oil Company patterns:
NSW: VO/CO.a
QLD: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VOCO.c, VOCO.d, VO/CO.a
SA: VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b, VO/CO.c, VOCO.d
TAS: VOCO.a
VIC: VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.a
WA: MOA.a, VOCO.a, VOCO.b, VO/CO.a, VO/CO.b
-------------------------------------------------------- VP/C.a
User: Victorian Producers Co-operative Co Ltd Producers Co-operative and later Stock and Station Agents Address: 589-605 Collins St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1915 Series 2d, 3d 1960 Overprinted 'CATTLE' 3rd issue, perf 11 Series 2/1d, 3/-, 6/- Rarity Scale:
1915 Series 2d R4, 3d, R4
1960 Overprinted 'CATTLE' 3rd issue, perf 11 Series 2/1d R4, 3/- R4, 6/- R4
Background: *The Victorian Producers’ Co‐operative Company Limited (VPC) was an agricultural cooperative which operated as a financer and sales agency in Melbourne for the benefit of farmer members. It was established in 1910 and continued in operation until taken over by the firm Elders in 1999. The founders believed that they had to create a cooperative in order to escape what they termed “...the tyrannical conditions imposed on them by middlemen in the sale of their produce and the purchase of their requirements.” The VPC undertook the roles of selling wool, livestock and real estate (generally farms) on a commission, and providing finance to farmers on short term or seasonal loans and insurance services, as well as setting up stores for the sale of farm supplies, including veterinary products, agricultural chemicals and fencing supplies. The VPC was also a major wheat buyer and seller, until the 1940s when the Australian Wheat Board took over statutory control of marketing the Australian wheat crop. At its peak in the late 1980s, the VPC had more than 5000 members, with a turn-over of more than $500million annually, over 300 permanent employees as well as hundreds more part-time and casual workers. It erected large with wool stores in Melbourne, Geelong and Portland and had over 50 branches throughout country Victoria, as well as the Riverina District of NSW and the South East region of South Australia. In the 1990s the VPC took over McNamara Ellis, a Deniliquin Stock & Station Agency, but the collapse of the Wool Reserve Price Scheme, saw their income slashed and they were themselves taken over by rival firm Elders in 1999. Device: The VPC.a device was a rather crude one and it only lasted a couple of years. It was a single die customised device and was in use over the period 1921-1923.
It was plagued by missing pins and late strikes are almost unreadable.
The pattern is rarely found on the revenue stamps of Victoria and only a few have been seen by the authors. It is more common on Australian postage stamps.
It was replaced by the VPC.b device.
Related Patterns: Refer to other Victorian Producers Co-operative patterns in:
VIC: VPC.b
* Wikipedia -------------------------------------------------------- VP/C.b
User: Victorian Producers Co-operative Co Ltd Producers Co-operative and later Stock and Station Agents Address: 589-605 Collins St, Melbourne, VIC later 578-584 Little Flinders St, Melbourne, VIC Revenue Use: 1915 Series 2d, 3d 1930 Series 3d 1960 Overprinted 'CATTLE' 3rd issue, perf 11 Series 2/1d, 3/-, 6/- Rarity Scale:
1915 Series 2d R4, 3d, R4
1930 Series 3d R4
1960 Overprinted 'CATTLE' 3rd issue, perf 11 Series 2/1d R4, 3/- R4, 6/- R4
Background: See VPC.a
Device: VPC.b was another single die customised device and came into service to replacing the failing VPC.a in 1923.
The single die format is confirmed by the fact that the device could produce single and central strikes in a broad range of stamp formats.
It was a sound device and remained in service for over 50 years and was only discontinued in 1977. Late strikes of the device are generally good and the device appeared to still be serviceable.
VPC.b was a rather odd layout with a very broad V, and as a result it can often appear as a partial on smaller format stamps.
It is only rarely found on the revenue stamps of Victoria but it is common on the postage stamps of Australia.
Related Patterns: Refer to other Victorian Producers Co-operative patterns in:
VIC: VPC.a -------------------------------------------------------- A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W Y Other © copyright 2011 |
