2014 Health Issue.

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To View this issue in our main Health Stamp Collection.
2014 Health Issue



Teaching children to grow their own fruits and vegetables not only benefits their health and well-being, it gives them positive attitudes towards healthy foods as well as a sense of pride and accomplishment. The 2014 Children’s Health stamp issue celebrates these foods that fuel the New Zealanders of tomorrow.

The 2014 Health Issue is special in that it marks the 85th year since Health Stamps were first issued. The series has come a long way and changed a lot since then. Health Stamps have contributed greatly to children's health over the years and continues to do so with every stamp sold this year providing 10c for Health.

2014 Legendary Landmarks.

          When I discovered that Allan had missed this 2014 stamp issue from early July, I asked him why. He said he had not intention of putting it on this blog as it 'wasn't a real stamp issue.' This issue came out as a sheet rather than as single stamps so Allan thinks it is aimed at collectors and not many will end up on common letters, therefore he does not consider it a postage stamp. I said "I'll do it." He replied, "Be my guest." So here it is.      
          Many towns and cities throughout this country have their special unique icons that reflect their character. The NZ Post Legendary Landmarks stamp issue takes a look at just 18 of these. From the well-known landmarks like the Lemon & Paeroa bottle and the Ohakune carrot, to the lesser-known Mossburn deer and the truly kiwi Taihape gumboot, these landmarks can tell you about the local history and the town’s identity without saying a word.

For those who are interested - 1998 Town Icons.

Revenue Use of Postage Stamps Around 1900.

         During our research for this current series of posts on the stamps from 1873 to 1907 we came across a number of items on which stamps had been used for revenue purposes. These have been displayed in the various posts but we have decided to put them all together here so they can be compared on one page.

First off a bit of background. In 1880 it was decided to combine the payment of postage and 'revenue' - such as government fees and import duties into a single set of stamps. All previous issues of stamps had only been usable for postage purposes or for revenue purposes. Apart from the 'Postage and Revenue' inscription, most of the second sideface stamps were modified designs from the 1874 issue stamps they replaced and are very similar. The key to telling these two issues form one another is the 1874 series carries the word "Postage" while the 1882 series carries the words "Postage & Revenue."
This opened the way for a very diverse range of documents to have 'postage' stamps attached, as can be seen in the items below. Mainly they relate to the transfer of larger amounts of money without using the money itself but there is one document, the application for a Hotel Liquor Licence included here as well.  Further down is some examples of newspaper wrappers too. If we come across any others of interest we will add them to this post. 

1900 4d Lake Taupo Invert.

        This stamp, issued August 1899 is the 4d Lake Taupo / Mt Ruapehu. The lake is New Zealand's largest lake situated in the centre of the North Island, the stamp design incorporates, Mount Ruapehu (2,797 metres) in the distance. The tree depicted is a cabbage palm, common throughout much of New Zealand.  This stamp was a reproduction, at a slightly smaller size, of the 1898 1d stamp designed by J Gaut.

See our post on the 1898 Pictorial Issue.

4d - Lake Taupo / Mt Ruapehu.

A normal mint example.

1898 New Zealand's First Variety. (Error)

       Is this an error or a variety?

       New Zealand's best-known stamp error - the name of the lake was misspelt with an ‘i’ (Wakitipu)  instead of an ‘a’ (Wakatipu.) It caused considerable interest when issued and further printings were made to satisfy the purely philatelic and speculative demand. The consequence was that in its mint form, the error is more common than the correct spelling. Most of those who bought the stamp retained them unused and genuinely used copies are not common. You can see a used copy on the cover further down but it is in very poor condition.

See our post on the 1898 Pictorial Issue.

   

1898 2½d - Lake Wakitipu/Wakatipu error.

The error is on the left and the correct spelling on the right. 

1898 The First Pictorial Issue.

Definitive Tour.

Back to Sideface Issues.                          Forward to Universal / Dominion.

       This fascinating stamp issue holds a special interest for stamp collectors as it was among the world's earliest pictorial definitive issues. The issue followed the lead of New South Wales where a similar pictorial issue had just been released. 

        The decision to break away from featuring stamps with Queen Victoria's portrait was a bold one and not without some risk of offending public opinion. A design competition was held that attracted over 2,400 entries. The selection criteria - 'to include a representation of characteristic or notable New Zealand scenery in the design and a stamp issue symbolic of the land.'

           The quality of the winning designs was so great that a decision was made to print the issue using the more expensive recess printing method, with the anticipation that costs would be covered many times over by sales to stamp collectors. The stamps were engraved in England along with initial printings and subsequently printed in New Zealand from new plates supplied from England. The issue featured the same denominations as the Second Side-faces with a new 9d stamp added for overseas parcels, and two and five shilling stamps added for parcels, fiscals and telegrams.

1873 Newspaper Stamp.

Definitive Tour.

Back to Fullfaced Queens.                Forward to 1874 - 1882 Side Faced Queens.

  Originally there was no charge for newspapers forwarded through the post for delivery within New Zealand. However, with the number of newspapers posted frequently dwarfing paid mail, the Post Office decided it had to charge for newspaper delivery. A rate of 1d was imposed in 1864 and dropped again in 1865 due to public pressure, only to be reinstated in 1867.

          Inspired by the English 1870 ½d newspaper stamp, a decision was made in 1872 to reduce the cost of newspaper delivery to½d  and produce a similar stamp featuring a side view of the young Queen Victoria.

          The stamp was designed by the Government Printer, John Davies based on the contemporary English newspaper stamp. A woodblock die was carved in Melbourne, Australia, and electrotypes were produced from it by W.H. Kirk in Wellington making this the first stamp where the design, printing plate preparation and printing plates themselves were completed in New Zealand.

          The stamps were printed for 22 years. For 17 of those a special purpose paper watermarked with a six-rayed irregular star was used.

1874 - 1882 The Side - Face Issues.

   Definitive Tour.

Back to 1973 Newspaper Stamp.                Forward to 1898 Pictorials.

     I have never been particularly interested in the two Queen Victoria - Side Face Issues. To me, they never compared in appearance to Queen Victoria - Full-Faced Queens, that preceded them. So, since there is a big gap in this blog where these classic issues should be, we will take the month of August to produce a short series of posts on the three major definitive issues of the late 1800s.

       In this post will feature the final two Queen Victoria stamp issues, the 1874 First Side-Face Queens and the 1882 Second Side-Face Queens. In a second post, I am going to cover the 1898 Pictorial Issue, New Zealand's first pictorial issue. Here we will also be looking at the various additions and reprints of this issue, as well as the 1900 Pictorial Centenary Issue.

         Meanwhile, our other contributor, Mary is going to do a series of three or four smaller posts featuring various subjects from these main issues and from this same time period. I must say here that she has a couple of surprise items to show you, including one of the most expensive stamps in New Zealand.