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When the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896, Edwin Flack, a Melbourne accountant was Australia's only competitor. He won both the 800m and 1500m. Flack also ran the marathon.
In the brilliant sunshine before a magnificent 103,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the symbolic Olympic flame, testament of world brotherhood, blazed in its golden cauldron for the first time under the skies of the Southern Hemisphere. Teams from seventy-one nations provided 3342 competitors in seventeen events.
The Australian Post Office issued six stamps for the Olympics. Two were publicity stamps (1954 & 1955) and a set of four issued on 31 October 1956. Fifty-two different postmarks were used at numerous venues. The postmarks are available today at affordable prices but the registered covers with special labels are elusive. |
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Limited Edition Covers of Dandenong Victoria, first day cover, PO Size (110 mm x 190 mm), full set of four stamps issued for the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Olympics, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, limited numbered edition of 25. |
$35 |
56O-50A001 |
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Mappin & Curran of Melbourne Victoria, generic souvenir envelope issued in 1956 for the Olympics, showing the Melbourne Cricket Ground in green, Size 6 (95 mm x 165 mm), full set of four stamps issued for the 50th anniversary, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, small number of 7 covers serviced and numbered. |
$35 |
56O-50A002 |
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Mappin & Curran of Melbourne Victoria, generic souvenir cover issued in 1956 for the Olympics, showing the Melbourne Cricket Ground in red, Size 6 (95 mm x 165 mm), full set of four stamps issued for the 50th anniversary, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 19 covers serviced and numbered. |
$30 |
56O-50A003 |
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2006 post card, 100 mm x 150 mm, issued by the Public Records Office, Government of Victoria, reproducing the ticket used at the West Melbourne Stadium for the 1956 Olympics, serviced as a maximum card by affixing the $1 stamp issued for the 50th anniversary of the 16th Olympiad that shows the 1 Shilling stamp of 1956, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 16 cards postmarked and numbered. |
$30 |
56O-50A004 |
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2006 post card, 100 mm x 150 mm, issued by the Public Records Office, Government of Victoria, reproducing a photograph showing Ron Clarke lighting the Olympic flame in the Melbourne Cricket Ground, serviced as a maximum card by affixing the 50¢ stamp issued for the 50th anniversary of the 16th Olympiad that shows the 2 Shilling stamp of 1956, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 16 cards postmarked and numbered. |
$30 |
56O-50A005 |
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Australian Post Office, pre-stamped postage paid postcard, 105 mm x 145 mm, issued in 1998 showing the Yarra River and the City of Melbourne, serviced as a maximum card by affixing the 50¢ stamp issued for the 50th anniversary of the 16th Olympiad that shows the 2 Shilling stamp of 1956, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 16 cards postmarked and numbered. |
$30 |
56O-50A006 |
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Australian Post Office, pre-stamped postage paid postcard, 145 mm x 105 mm, issued in 1998 titled Melbourne by Night, serviced as a maximum card by affixing the $1 stamp issued for the 50th anniversary of the 16th Olympiad that shows the 1 Shilling stamp of 1956, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 16 cards postmarked and numbered. |
$25 |
56O-50A007 |
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Australian Post Office, pre-stamped postage paid postcard, 160 mm x 118 mm, printed as the invitation to the opening of the 2006 stamp exhibition When the Olympic Games Came to Melbourne, serviced as a maximum card by affixing the $1 stamp issued for the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Olympics that shows the 1 Shilling stamp of 1956, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 12 cards postmarked and numbered. |
$25 |
56O-50A008 |
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Australian Post Office, Post Master Gallery Exhibition publicity leaflet, 210 mm x 100 mm, for the 2006 stamp exhibition When The Olympic Games Came to Melbourne, serviced on front with the se-tenant set of two 50¢ stamps issued for the 50th anniversary of the 16th Olympiad that shows the Olympic Flame at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 16 postmarked and numbered. |
$35 |
56O-50A009 |
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Australian Post Office, Post Master Gallery Exhibition booklet, 22 pages 210 mm x 150 mm, for the 2006 stamp exhibition When The Olympic Games Came to Melbourne, serviced on front cover with the se-tenant set of two 50¢ stamps issued for the 50th anniversary of the 16th Olympiad that shows the Olympic Flame at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, commemorative first day of issue postmark 1 November 2006, GPO Melbourne Victoria, 16 postmarked and numbered. |
$60 |
56O-50A010 |
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