Queen Victoria Fiscal Stamps - Part One.

Forward to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part Two.

When New Zealand introduced postage stamps in 1855 it soon became apparent that stamps could also be useful for the payment Government taxes and levies. This was introduced in 1867 and soon became known as 'Stamp Duty.' Upon payment, a revenue stamp (Fiscal Stamp) would be attached to the transaction document as proof of payment. Often these stamps would also be signed and dated as well. Sometimes holes were punched in them as well to signify that they were used. 

Is this wrong? The Date is too early!



         Revenue stamps were officially introduced on 1st January 1867, however, it appears that some were released earlier as the above image clearly shows the date 17/12/1866. It is unlikely this date was written in error as presumably the new year would well and truly be entrenched in the clerk's mind by November 1867, some 11 months later, so we should consider the date must have been November 1866 and the stamp was used before its official issue date.

1867 Imperforated Die I Revenue Stamps (Adhesive). 

Like the first postage stamps of this period, the first revenue stamps were issued imperforated meaning the issuing officer had to hand cut them from the printed sheet. This is one of the primary ways of identifying these stamps. The other being the large value boxes at the top and bottom of each stamp. Of course, experts would use other signs, such as paper type and watermarks etc. too.

The first stamps were printed from a die which is usually referred to as 'Die I.' This die was used to produce the printing plate. All the stamps in this series used this same plate with only the printed colour of the sheet being changed. Next, the value was printed on the top and bottom panels using a different coloured ink. This could either have been done at the same time or left for a later date.   
Like the postage stamps of this time, they were imperforated, having to be cut from the sheet by hand. This was not always accurately done as can be seen in the first examples below, leading to the great variety in this issue with different shapes and margins in the stamps. Often scissor marks can be seen as the sales clerk was more interested in selling the stamps than making a neat job of cutting them out. When a stamp was used it was usually signed and dated by the clerk who collected the duty (sold the stamp).

Below is a small selection of this first issue.

                                  

        1d Grey and Red (imperf).                                       6d Brown and Blue (Imperf).                               2/- Orange-Red and Blue (Imperf).

  

                 

2s/4d Green and Brown (Imperf).                              7s/8d Brown & Blue (Imperf).

                                 

12/6 Brown & Blue (Imperf).                        £2/10/- Orange-Red & Green (Imperf).                        £10 Orange-Red & Green (Imperf).


1867 Die I Perforated.
As with the Full Face Queens of this era, a number of experimental methods of separation were trialled before perforating was accepted to be the preferred method of separating the stamps. In some cases, home-made machines were used by particular offices while in other cases the experiments had 'Official' sanction. Finally, as it became excepted, perforation was done as part of the printing process.

               

1d Slate & Red.                                             4d Green & Black.

                                

     8d Blue & Black.                                             1/- Lilac & Green (2 lines).                                             2/- Pale Rose & Blue.

                

3s/4d Brown & Blue.                                             6/- Orange & Blue.

                                

       6/8d Pale Blue & Red.                                                  7/4d Brown & Green.                                                £40 Deep Rose & Blue.

 Perforations.

Below are some examples of perforations used during this early trial period.

 H Roulette.

 Oblique Roulette.

 Pin Perf.

 H Roulette.

Y Roulette.

Pin-roulette 4 Dunedin.

Die I Errors.

     

SHLILINGS instead of SHILLINGS. Notice that the first "I" appears to be too low.

EIFTEEN instead of FIFTEEN.

 

         Raised S in Seven.                                 Ponnds instead of Pounds.

I'm rather surprised how simple spelling mistakes like these appear in the overprinting of these stamps. One would think, considering the official nature of these stamps, that more care would have been made with checking each stamp. It has been pointed out to me that one mistake like this hidden in a large sheet might be hard to find but isn't that what the printers quality control is for, to identify such errors.

 1871 Perforated (Die II)

  

Die I Example.                                      Die II Example.

As the original plates began to wear a new die was used. This was very similar to the first die. In Die II the top value cartouche is wider and has the vertical shading more openly spaced. The two white dots left and right in the circle are larger and more clearly seen.  I believe many collectors are mistaking these dies. I have even seen websites where this seems to be the case. In fact, it is likely some 'expert' is going to view this page and discover I have done the same.

Below is a selection of Die II stamps.

  

 2d Green & Red.                                             8d Blue & Red.                                          6/- Rose & Blue.

  

£1 10/- Orange-Red & Green.                        £2 Orange-Red & Green.

Thirty Shillings.                                                    Forty Shillings.

  

£10 Red & Green.                                   £25 Rose & Blue.                                    £50 Rose & Blue (2).

 Die II Errors.

  

ONEI instead of ONE. Could be raised led or spacer after the ONE that is high enough to catch ink and print.
TENI instead of TEN. Again the same problem as the previous example.

G of SHILLINGS has a longer cross stroke while G in EIGHT has none.

Colours of the DII One Penny.

1d - Light Grey & Dark Blue.                            1d - Blue & Light Blue.

  

1d - Dark Blue & Dark Blue.                             1d - Light Grey & Green.                             1d - Blue & Green.

  

1d - Slate & Green.                           1d - Dull Purple & Green.

  

1d - Mauve & Blue.                              1d - Rose Lilac & Green.                              1d - Lilac & Blue-Green.

1880 Fiscal Issue.

After the second die period, we come to the Fiscal stamps most of us know from our stamp catalogues. This issue contained values up to 1,000 pounds but general stamp catalogues only contain the values most likely to be used for postage.

Since this issue is beyond the intended scope of this page I will leave further notes and images for my second post on the Victorian Fiscal Stamps.

 1882  Postage or Revenue.

By 1882, all Postage and Fiscal stamps were valid for both postage or revenue purposes. In fact, all postage stamps from this time carried the words 'Postage & Revenue." Below are three postage stamps used for fiscal purposes.

        

1/- 2nd Side-Faced Issue (1892 - 1900

1/- 1898 Pictorials (Kea and Kaka.

3/- 1935 Pictorials (Mt Egmont now Mt Taranaki.

Gold Revenue.

In order to avoid a document having many stamps attached to it, the Gold Revenue Stamps for ultra-high values of duty were produced. These were overprinted individually when values exceeding £1000 were required. When printed, these stamps had 4 decent sized margins, approximately 4mm wide. These margins were however often trimmed prior to use.

The earliest recorded use of these stamps is 7th July 1884, and they were produced until the use of stamps for the collection of duty was discontinued in 1955. As the numbers of these stamps produced were low, and they were produced individually, it is possible in many cases for the enthusiast to research government records and track the exact transaction from which each stamp corresponded.

£1,751 - The first recorded example of a Gold Revenue Stamp.

               

    £3,000                                                            £6,328                                                      £7,000

Three examples of Gold Revenue Stamps.

£35,000! I would love to know the details behind this stamp. Since the stamp duty was this much it must have been a massive transaction, even by today's standards.

Fakes and Forgeries.

The last section of this post looks at stamps that never were. They were stamps altered or changed for resale to unsuspecting collectors. Being a very specialised area it was thought these stamps could be passed off as being genuine. I have two examples to show you. I hope to collect more if I can. First is a group of stamps all produced using the Die II 8d Blue & Red as their base. The second example is one stamp that appears to have been produced for use instead of a legal revenue stamp.

For the Collector Market.  

At some point in time, fraudulent examples of Longtype Revenues stamps were produced by an enterprising individual. They used the Die II 8d Blue & Red as their base, erased the EIGHT from the top panel, and PENCE from the bottom panel, and used the blank canvas to invent their own values. To continue the deception they then overprinted their creations with F-class postal type cancellations and presumable attempted to pass them off to unsuspecting collectors as unique and postally used examples.

If you look carefully at the images you can just make out the ghostings of PENCE in the bottom panel. It is hard to see as the postal type cancellations were carefully placed to hide any obvious defect in the stamps.

  

Die II Imperf £7 5/- Blue & Red.               Die II Imperf  £8 5/- Blue & Red.                Die II Imperf £9 10/- Blue & Red.

  

Die II Imperf £9 15/- Blue & Red.          Die II Perf £13 Blue & Red.               Die II Perf £15 Blue & Red.

Die II Perf £20 Blue & Red.

Other values known to have been converted from the 8d Blue and Red include:-

Die II Imperf £5 10/- Blue & Red.

Die II Imperf £7 10/- Blue & Red.

Die II Imperf £8 10/- Blue & Red.

Die II Imperf £12 Blue & Red.

Die II Imperf £15  Blue & Red.

For Use as a Revenue Stamp.

Due to the extremely high values commanded by revenue stamps, the temptation to produce forgeries for legitimate use must have been high. See below for an example that cannot be proved to have been produced by legitimately. That means it is very likely this stamp was produced as a forgery to be used instead of a real revenue stamp. One question that would be interesting to know is was this a one-off or were a number produced at the same time.

Die I Imperf  2/- Grey & Red.

 Note the larger font in the top panel compared to the usual printing, and serifed lettering in the lower panel - not known to be used except on the Die II 15 Shillings.

Other known examples include:-

Die I  £9 15s  Perf.

Die II  £12  Blue & Red.

Die II  £15  Blue & Red.

Much of the information on this post came from NZ Revenues.