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Few
people today would remember war savings certificates, a type of promissory
note, sold to hundreds of thousands of Australians during World War I and World
War II.
With
the outbreak of WWII it was again
necessary for the government to find ways to raise money for the war. A new 6d (sixpence) War Savings Stamp was
designed, together with a new booklet format, and printed.
These
War Saving Stamps were issued by the Commonwealth Government between 1939-45 as
a means of raising funds for the war effort.
The
front cover featured the Australian coat of arms and flag with the words “For Australia” on the scroll, below
which is the name and address of the owner, written in black/red ink.
Inside
the booklet the squares spelled out the patriotic message, “Victory Buy War Savings Stamps, 6d”. At the bottom were the words “Don’t be an onlooker. Be in the fight”. As each stamp was added the squares were
progressively covered.
The
cards, bearing patriotic messages, were distributed to schoolchildren who, each
week, were encouraged to ask their parents to buy a stamp.
When 32 sixpenny War
Savings Stamps had been affixed to this card it would be exchanged for a War
Savings Certificate, with a face value of £1, at
any Savings Bank or Money Order Post Office.
This
was effectively a long-term loan with the bond redeemable 7 years after the end
of the war.
The
most common stamp was the blue “Spitfire” which was not a Spitfire plane at
all, but a “Defiant”. The name, however,
stuck and philatelists continue to refer to as the “6d WW2 Blue Spitfire”.
Less
commonly found is the 5/- Artillery and Tank issue
The Canada Bay Heritage Museum wishes to
thank Bob Phillips for his generous donation of a War Savings Card and stamps
which he had kept from his childhood days.
(Note: sixpence = 5 cents; £1= 2
dollars; 32 x 6d stamps = 16
shillings; 20 shillings = £1.)