Overview
Land ahoy! This stamp issue takes us back in time to 1643, the year Captain William Mynors, of the East India vessel the Royal Mary, sailed past a small green island in the remote Indian Ocean. Because it was Christmas Day, Mynors named the lush, uninhabited volcanic isle Christmas Island.
Here we see Santa recreating this first sighting of the island by Europeans. The island and surrounding waters are home to a rich variety of birds, reptiles, crustaceans, and mammals, many of which greet Santa to join in the Christmas festivities. These include booby birds, frigatebirds, the Emerald Dove and Golden Bosun, crabs, Green Turtles and a friendly Dugong.
Today, the Christmas Island National Park offers some protection to the island’s extraordinary and unique biodiversity, which has been threatened by historical phosphate mining and invasive introduced species.
The illustrator of this stamp issue is talented Melbourne-based artist Rosie Marshall. Rosie has illustrated numerous children’s books, advertisements and private commissions.
Technical specifications
- Issue date
- 1 November 2023
- Issue withdrawal date
- 31 December 2024
- Denomination
- 65c x 1, $3.00 (int.) x 1
- Stamp & product design
- Sonia Young, Australia Post Design Studio
- Stamp illustration
- Rosie Marshall
- Paper: gummed
- Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor
- Paper: self-adhesive
- S/A Sheetlet of 10 - Raflatac Cast gloss SP34 KS90, S/A Sheetlet of 5 - Tullis Russell Red Phos PSA (P55) 100gsm Release S/A
- Printer
- RA Printing (Rapid Labels S/A Sheetlet of 10)
- Printing process
- Offset lithography
- Stamp size (mm)
- 26 x 37.5
- Minisheet (mm)
- 135 x 80
- Sheetlet (mm)
- 192 x 120
- Perforations
- 14.6 x 13.86
- Sheet layout
- Module of 50 (2 x 25 no design)
- FDI Postmark
- Christmas Island WA 6798
- FDI withdrawal date
- 30 November 2023
65c Santa with a Red Crab and Brown Booby
It’s all aboard Santa’s Christmas boat for the delivery of gifts to the island. A Red Crab and Brown Booby, complete with festive adornment, are on hand to help.
$3.00 Brown Booby, Robber Crab and Green Turtle
A festive-looking Brown Booby, Robber Crab and Green Turtle get set to join those onboard the boat to get the Christmas gifts safely ashore.
Shop our stamp collectables
Set of Gummed Stamps:
Set of Christmas Island Gummed Stamps
This set of stamps contains the two stamps from the Christmas Island Christmas stamp issue.
Sheetlet:
Christmas Island Christmas Sheetlet of 5 x Self-Adhesive Stamps
This self-adhesive sheetlet of 5 x $3.00 stamps is from the Christmas Island Christmas stamp issue.
Minisheet:
Christmas Island Christmas Minisheet
This minisheet is from the Christmas Island Christmas stamp issue and presents the two stamps in an expansion of the full illustrative design.
Sheetlet pack:
Christmas Island Christmas Sheetlet Pack
This Christmas Island Christmas sheetlet pack contains two embellished self-adhesive sheetlets of 10 x 65c stamps from the stamp issue presented in a high-quality folder.
- Set of Gummed Stamps
- Sheetlet
- Minisheet
- Sheetlet pack
Additional collectables:
This content was produced at the time of the stamp issue release date and will not be updated.
