When I published my post on the 2014 Antarctica Penguins, Allan wrote a comment on the round design of the stamps. I objected to his comment and wanted it removed. He replaced it with a better-worded comment. During the course of discussing it, he mentioned that New Zealand had issued other round stamps. He even said there had been a series of Round Kiwis that looked like coins. So I went looking for them.
In 1988 a stamp design appeared that was rather unique. It was New Zealand's first round stamp, featuring a kiwi in its design. The Maori motif around the border represents the kowhai tree flower, symbolising the continuous cycle of life. Like Allan said above, it actually appears more like a coin than a stamp. The stamp was engraved by G T Prosser of the British American Banknote Inc. Canada from a design completed by Allan Mitchell.
This stamp was initially produced in a green colour (1988), in booklets of six stamps, later printings in sheet format were in red (1991), blue (1993) and purple (1997). The first three printings of this stamp were by Leigh-Mardon by intaglio with the red and blue printings in sheets of 24 stamps. The purple printing was produced by Southern Colour Print by lithography in sheets of 36 stamps.
Kiwi are flightless, nocturnal birds endemic to Aotearoa. They emerge from their burrows after dark to forage noisily along the forest floor and sniff out worms and insects. Their nostrils are at the base of their bill and give the kiwi a superior sense of smell that makes up for its poor eyesight. Kiwi have been described as ‘honorary mammals’ because of their hair-like feathers, long tactile whiskers at the base of their bill, and their marrow-filled bones. Kiwi are also sometimes called ‘te manu huna a Tāne’ - the hidden bird of Tāne, the god of the forest.
1988 The Green Kiwi.
Booklets of 6 green $1.00 stamps
Issued 19 October 1988.
1988 Green Round Kiwi - First Day Cover.
1991 The Red Kiwi.
Reissued in sheets of 24 stamps - red colour.
Issued 17 April 1991.
1991 Red Round Kiwi FDC & Special Cancel.
Being not well known of things in stamps, I was confused when Allan gave me the stamp above with what looks like the black silhouette of a fern on the bottom edge. I asked him what it was and all he said was it was a used example, see what you can find out about it. So I began to search for an answer, It came in the form of this First Day Cover below. I realised the fern on the image above is part of the special cancel for the FDC.
1991 Red Round Kiwi Error.
Major perf shift moved the red image to the right.
1993 The Blue Kiwi.
Reissued in sheets of 24 stamps - blue colour.
Issued 9 June 1993.
1993 Blue Round Kiwi - First Day Cover.
1993 Blue Round Kiwi Errors.
Left-hand stamp - The sheet above was dragged across this stamp while it was still wet causing the blue drag mark in the lower left selvedge although it doesn't appear to have affected that actual stamp that much.
Right-hand stamp - The final stage of printing a stamp is applying the perforations. On this stamp, the paper was out of position when the perf was applied. This has left the effect
that the printed image as moved to the right.
Above - Post Card sent to Denmark in 1993 using a 1991 Red Round Kiwi.
Below - The front of this card shows a view of Auckland from the War Memorial Museum.
1993 Taipei Stamp Exhibition - Round Kiwis.
Taipei '93 Round Kiwi Miniature Sheet
Issued 14 August 1993
This miniature sheet was produced to commemorate Taipei '93 Asian International Invitation Stamp Exhibition, held in Taiwan 14 - 19 August 1993. The sheet, designed by Leigh-Mardon Pty Ltd, Australia, incorporated three Round Kiwi stamps (green, red and blue) and the Taipei '93 logo. In addition, a rooster was included in the design to commemorate 1993 as the 'Year of the Rooster'.
1994 Hong Kong Stamp Exhibition - Round Kiwis.
Hong Kong '94 Round Kiwi Miniature Sheet
Issued 18 February 1994.
Hong Kong's history of postage stamps dates back to 1862 and the philatelic exhibition entitled Hong Kong '94 was staged to commemorate this long history.
A special miniature sheet, designed by Karen Odiam, was produced to commemorate the exhibition, incorporating three Round Kiwi stamps (green, red and blue). Also featured on the sheet were two golden retrievers (one pup and one fully grown) to commemorate the Chinese Year of the Dog. All three stamps were produced by lithography - this was the first time the blue Round Kiwi has been produced by lithography.
1997 The Purple Kiwi.
Reissued in sheets of 36 stamps - purple colour
Issued 18 June 1997.
1999 The Last Sunset.
You might want to visit our post on this stamp issued on the last day of 1999 and the one issued the following day, the first day 0f 2000.
Reissued in sheet form - purple colour overprinted selvedge
Issued 31 December 1999.
Commemorating the last sunset of 1999
To celebrate the passing over from one millennium to the next, New Zealand Post issued a 1999 Last Sunset cover, featuring a round purple Kiwi stamp with a gold sun overprinted in the selvedge. What made this feature particularly interesting for collectors was that the round purple Kiwi stamp was no longer available for sale, and only a small quantity of these stamps has been overprinted to mark this occasion.
26th Dec 2014. Above is a value block from the top right corner of the sheet. In his search for items for a post, he was working on, Allan found a plate block from the same sheet. It looks so good I just had to include it here too. The colour is an image quality problem and not the stamps.
Last Day Cover - 31 December 1999.
The Purple overprinted Round Kiwi used of the last sunset cover marking the end of a century. The following day another cover was issued marking the first sunrise of a new century.
2000 The Gold Kiwi.
Reissued in sheet form - gold colour with $1.10 denomination
Issued 6 March 2000.
$1.10 - 2000 Gold Round Kiwi, a used pair.
First-Day Cover - 6 March 2000.
2000 World Stamp Expo. Round Kiwis.
World Stamp Expo 2000 Miniature Sheet
Supported by the American Philatelic Society and the American Stamp Dealers Association, World Stamp Expo 2000 was held at the Anaheim Convention Centre in California from 7 to 16 July 2000.
To commemorate this event New Zealand Post issued a special miniature sheet featuring the five-round kiwi stamps in each of the colours issued as at the date of the exhibition. The background design merges our flora - ferns - and the theme of the exhibition - the night sky above.
2002 Bronze Kiwi.
Reissued in sheet form - bronze colour with $1.50 denomination.
Issued 5 June 2002.
2002 $1.50 Bronze Round Kiwi, with a single mint stamp showing printing error in the wording 'New Zealand', part of Country name covered with surplus ink.
First-Day Cover - 5 June 2002.
2010 Palmpex Expo.
Palmpex Stamp Show 2010 Miniature Sheet.
Issued 12 November 2010.
The Palmpex 2010 Stamp Show took place from 12 to14 November in Palmerston North. The city has hosted a number of successful stamp exhibitions in the past and is located in the Manawatu region - halfway between Rotorua and Wellington.
To commemorate the event, New Zealand Post issued an exhibition miniature sheet and souvenir first-day cover. These special products feature an image of the iconic Te Āpiti wind farm in the Manawatu, and three $1.50 Round Bronze Kiwi stamps – a perennial favourite with stamp collectors.
2011 Round Kiwis.
$1.20 - Black Round Kiwi. $1.90 - Silver Round Kiwi.
$2.40 - Blue Round Kiwi.
Reissued in sheet form - 3 different colours and denomination
Issued 6 July 2011.
The Round Kiwi stamps retain the same design as earlier issues with
one exception - the New Zealand Post fern logo is incorporated into the
original engraved design at the top left of the stamp just above the kiwi's head.
2011 Philanippon Stamp Exhibition.
Philanippon World Stamp Exhibition 2011 Miniature Sheet.
Issued 28 July 2011.
Philanippon 2011 ran from 28 July to 2 August 2011. It was located less than half an hour south of Tokyo by train, the picturesque waterfront city of Yokohama is Japan’s second-largest city with a population of over three million people.
New Zealand Post issued a special exhibition miniature sheet and exhibition souvenir cover to commemorate the event. The exhibition miniature sheet incorporates two $1.90 All Blacks stamps as well as a $1.90 silver Round Kiwi stamp - all set against Mount Taranaki in New Zealand’s North Island. Part of a national park, this snow-topped 2518 metre mountain is a popular destination for tourists and trampers alike.
2011 China Stamp Exhibition.
China Stamp Exhibition 2011 Miniature Sheet.
Issued 11 November 2011.
China 2011 was the third FIAP international stamp exhibition to be held in China since the two successful exhibitions in 1996 and 2003. It took place from 11 to 15 November 2011 with the aim to promote the development of philately throughout Asia.
New Zealand Post issued an exhibition miniature sheet and exhibition souvenir cover to commemorate the event. The specially shaped miniature sheet incorporates three 2011 Round Kiwi stamps set alongside China’s national treasure – the giant panda. The exhibition souvenir covers beautifully depicts Wuxi’s Lake Taihu, which is China's third-largest body of fresh water.
May 2015 - Another Round Kiwi?
So is that the end of the Round Kiwi Story or is there another one to come. NZ Post is always looking for new opportunities for new issues. Maybe they will consider another round kiwi. They have certainly been popular with collectors and as can be seen from this page a set of them plus miniature sheets would make quite a collection.
Yes, NZ Post's answer to my question above. There is another Round Kiwi Issue celebrating 30 years since the Green Kiwi was issued in 1988.
$1.20 Brown Kiwi. $1.20 Great Spotted Kiwi. $2.40 Little Spotted Kiwi.
$3.00 Tokoeka. $3.60 Rowi.
First Day Cover - 4 July 2018.
Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
Another clever idea for a thematic collection.
ReplyDeleteGraham
Thank you Graham.
DeleteWhen I discovered the Round Kiwis I was fascinated with round stamps.
When Allan told me there was a whole series, I had to put them together on a single page.
Anne.
What about adding the 2018 Exhibition Issues which feature the 2018 Round Kiwi?
DeleteGraham
Anne doesn't have a post in the hall of fame. Why not this one as it tells a story of an interesting series of stamps? The round kiwis are often seen as special so a collection of them must be seen as special too. Along with the FDCs and errors, this page makes an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteJames.
I have a NZ round 1p stamp with a Queen Victoria caricature that I can't identify
ReplyDelete