Gwoya Jungarai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gwoya Jungarai (c.1895 - 28 March 1965), known as One Pound Jimmy, was an Australian aboriginal man of the Wailbri people of central Australia. He was the first named aboriginal person to appear on an Australian stamp, in 1950, and today appears on the Australian 2 dollar coin.
It's said he got his one pound because whenever asked how much it would cost to buy one of the boomerangs he made, his answer was "one pound".
Two stamps were issued in 1950 and 1952 with his picture, an 8 ½ pence stamp and a 2 shillings and 6 pence (half crown) stamp, featuring similar images of him in profile, looking upwards. They were based on a photograph taken by Roy Dunston in 1935 for Australian Geographic and which appeared on the cover of Walkabout magazine in 1936. That photograph represented a typical Australian aboriginal man, and was well-known in the 1950s.
[edit] References
- 156 years collecting Australian graphic art, Australia Post Priority magazine, issue 32 (including an image of the 8 1/2 p stamp)
- Faces of Australia stamp their place in society, Steve Meacham, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 June 2002 (including an image of the 2'6 stamp)
- The Australian Aborigine, Harvey Terris, Fundy Stamp Collectors Club, September 2001 (including images of both stamps issued)
- We, The Aborigines, Douglas Lockwood, 1963, Walkabout paperback 1970 ISBN 1-86302-622-3
