For many children across New Zealand, performing in a nativity play is a festive tradition. This stamp issue Christmas 2014 show five main characters of the Christmas story in the form of children actors. The first year I was in New Zealand I got to play a Japanese angel. LOL I've attended plays where my little brother was involved. Its always a lot of fun.
Children dressed as various nativity play characters.
Gummed Stamps.
Five gummed stamps are on sale with various values from 80c - $3.00. They went on sale on 1st October, 2014 in time for the stamps to be placed on Christmas parcels, letters and other mail being sent overseas.
Five gummed stamps are on sale with various values from 80c - $3.00. They went on sale on 1st October, 2014 in time for the stamps to be placed on Christmas parcels, letters and other mail being sent overseas.
80c – Mary & Jesus.
Depicted here this girl dressed as Mary with the baby Jesus. Mary gazes at her newborn child, with a look of love emphasising the love we must show to one another at Christmas time.
$1.40 – Joseph. $2.00 – Wise Men.
The two children on these two stamps are playing the parts of Joseph, the husband of Mary and one of the wise men from the East. Though weary from the hardship of travelling and having no place to stay other than a stable, Joseph still looked after Mary in her time of need. The three wise men were Kings of the East, lead to Jesus by the light of a star. They express generosity with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
$2.50 – Angel. $3.00 – Shepherd.
Other visitors to the baby Jesus were Angels and Shepherd, here again played by two children. The angel is shown wearing a garland of New Zealand flora, and is expressing joy at the birth of Jesus. The angel brought the news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds and led them to the manger where Jesus lay. The shepherds were full of hope that the news was true.
I like the way the joy of children, acting and playing a part, has been captured in these stamps. Not forgetting the wonderful story that they tell, the Christmas Story, that ageless story of the birth of Jesus.
Below if the First Day Cover for the gummed stamps.
Used in booklets and coils. (See Examples below.) Notice how the top two values have an Airmail label included in their design.
80c – Mary & Jesus.
$2.00 – Wise Men. $2.50 – Angel.
The First Day Cover for the adhesive stamps.
Being new at this stamp collecting I was unsure what these adhesive stamps were used for. A search of the NZ Post site revealed illustrations of these products as sold.
Above left - Christmas 2014 Self Adhesive 80c Stamp Dispenser.
Above right - Christmas 2014 Self Adhesive Booklet.
Below - Christmas 2014 Set of Three Self Adhesive Booklets.
Date of Issue:- 1st October, 2014.
Number of Stamps:- Five gummed and three self-adhesive stamps.
Denominations:- Gummed:- 80c; $1.40; $2.00; $2.50; $3.00.
Designer:- Lindy Fisher, Auckland, New Zealand.
Printer:- Southern Colour Print Ltd.
Process:- Lithography.
Stamp Size & Format:- Gummed:- 40mm x 30mm (Horizontal).
Self-Adhesive:- 30mm x 25mm (Horizontal).
Paper Type:- Gummed:- Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor Gummed.
Dispenser Box:- Avery Dennison 210gsm Kraft Back WLK5 Adhesive.
Booklets:- Tullis Russell 210gsm Red Phosphor PSA Paper.
Stamps Per Sheet:- 25
Perforation:- 14
Period of Sale:- Until 30th September, 2015 (Unless stocks run out first).
So Awesome Anne, you are writing here too.
ReplyDeleteI hope your writing is not (or should I say 'is') like you write in your own blog. Ha! Ha!
Good first post. Must have taken you into something new writing about postage stamps.
Andrew.
So my name goes before me does it, Andrew?
DeleteFor your information, no I will not be writing like I do in my old blog.
My venture into stamps is just to try something different. I'll mainly be writing about New Issues that no one knows much about anyway. Don't think I could do those posts on older stamps like Allan and Mary do. Apparently there are around 15 new issues per year. If I do these it will leave the others free to work on other projects.
And just for my spill-over fan club from the other blog I'll sign off.
Awesome Anne. LOL
Indeed it does Awesome Anne.
DeleteLOL Andrew
You two above appear to know each other from some other blog.
ReplyDeleteI just want to comment on the work you did here Anne. You seem new to the world of stamps?
I like the way you have included the packets used for booklets and adhesive stamps. This was something a bit different.
Windgirl.