Opera soprano Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931) was Australia's first international "superstar". Born Helen Porter Mitchell, Melba made her debut at the Melbourne Town Hall in 1884. After an audition in Paris, she adopted the name Melba after her home city, and made her debut on the European stage in Brussels in 1887. Her glittering career continued until the 1920s. Suffering ill health she returned to Australia in early 1931 and died in Sydney a few weeks later.

This is not the first time Melba has been commemorated on a stamp. A 5d stamp marking the centenary of her birth was issued in 1961, and a stamp showing a 'Peach Melba' (named after Melba) was part of the Desserts issue from 2009.

Issue Information
This issue consists of a single stamp issued in gummed sheets of 10 and self-adhesive booklets of 20.

Gummed Sheet Stamps
All images on this page come from the electronic version of the Stamp Bulletin. Actual images of the products will be posted when available.

Sheet stamp

Gummed Sheets
This issue was produced in small sheets of 10 stamps (5 x 2).

Sheet of 10 stamps

Self-adhesive Booklet Stamps
This issue include a self-adhesive booklet of 20 stamps.

Self-adhesive stamp

Self-adhesive Booklets
Booklet collectors should note the philatelic barcode starts with a '2', and is very close to the general barcode.

Booklets were distributed to post offices in chequebooks of 20 booklets. These are not listed on this website.

Booklet layout

Booklet cover (philatelic barcode)

Booklet cover (general barcode)

Postal Stationery
A maximum card accompanies this issue.

Maximum card (image from Australia Post website)

Issue Summary
The table below summarises the above information. The cost of each item is given, along with a total for each section. In some cases the stamps are only available from self-adhesive booklets (sold at face value), or from prestige booklets, souvenir sheets or folders (sold above face value).

Item and Description	Cost
For the General Collector
Gummed sheet stamps
Single stamp (60c)	60c
Self-adhesive stamps
Single stamp from booklet (60c)	$12.00
Total	$12.60
For the Specialised Collector
Small sheets
Small sheet of 10 gummed stamps	$6.00
Booklets
Booklet with philatelic barcode	$12.00
Booklet with general barcode	$12.00
Postal stationery
Maximum cards	$1.35
Total	$31.35
Grand Total	$43.95

References
Australia Post, Australian Stamp Bulletin, No. 310, May-June 2011

If you have more information, or spot an error, please e-mail me.