2012 Christmas Issue

        On October 3rd New Zealand issued the Christmas set of postage stamps for 2012. Since 1960 there has been a Christmas issue every year. Very attractive stamps, I am particularly pleased with them.
        This year there are five stamps and three adhesives, each depicting a scene from the story of the birth of Christ. I like the design of these stamps. They have "Merry Christmas" with the name "New Zealand" at the top. Then down each side of the centre picture are leaves and flowers from the native tree, the pohutukawa, New Zealand's Christmas Tree, which produces bright scarlet flowers at Christmas time. Below the picture is the value and a silver fern. A very New Zealand stamp! I like that.

    
70c - Mary and Joseph with Jesus.                         $1.40 - The Shepherds.                         $1.90 - The Angel of the Lord.     


        In the two stamps below are the wise men from the East who have travelled far, following a bright star until they found the baby Jesus and brought Him precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

        
$2.40 - The Three Wise Men Bring Gifts.               $2.90 - The Three Wise Men Travelling.

Below are these five stamps on the official First Day Cover. Notice the cover and the official date stamp both feature the pohutukawa flower (New Zealand's Christmas Tree.) 



Three Adhesive Stamps.


       70c - Mary and Joseph with Jesus.                                                    $2.40 - The Three Wise Men Bring Gifts.     
$1.90 - The Angel of the Lord.


Technical information

         Date of issue:
3 October, 2012.
         Number of stamps:
Five gummed and three self-adhesive stamps
         Denominations:
Gummed: 70c, $1.40, $1.90, $2.40 and $2.90. Self-adhesive: 70c, $1.90 and $2.40.
         Stamps designed by:                                                                                             
Donna McKenna, Wellington
         Printer and process:
Gummed stamps and dispenser box stamps: Southern Colour Print Ltd by offset lithography. Booklets: Australia Post, Sprintpack, Australia.
         Number of colours:
Four process colours (self-adhesive tagged with red phosphor).
         Stamp size and format:                                     
Gummed: 30mm x 40mm (vertical). Self-adhesive: 25mm x 30mm (vertical)
         Paper type:
Gummed: Tullis Russell 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper. Dispenser box stamps: Avery Dennison B90 Kraft Black WLK5 Adhesive 210gsm. Booklets: B100 self-adhesive stamp paper.
         Stamps per sheet:
25
         Perforation gauge:
Gummed: 14. Self-adhesive: die cut
         Special blocks:
Plate/Imprint blocks may be obtained by purchasing at least six stamps from a sheet. Barcode blocks are available in both A and B formats
         Period of sale:
Unless stocks are exhausted earlier, these stamps will remain on sale until 2 October 2013


Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
You can visit their website and Online Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Information for this post came from.