Australia: Aerogramme Uprated to Surface Mail Rate

This is Australia Stein A-3 uprated with a ½ d stamp. 7 ½ d was the international surface mail letter rate up to 1 oz. The additional franking only would have made sense if the aerogramme contained an enclosure and the sender were not willing to pay for an ordinary air mail letter. However, the message on the writing panel does not give any idea for an enclosure. In this case it also would have been required to cross out the "By Air Mail" routing instruction.


Reference
Stein, The Aerogrammes of Australia and its Dependencies, 1944-1980