1974 Commonwealth Games

         After the Amsterdam Olympic Games in 1928 a Canadian proposal for an 'Empire Games' was put before the representatives of the Empire countries. It was unanimously accepted and eleven countries took part in the first Empire Games in 1930 at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

         It was decided that the games be held every four years.  Later, at Jamaica in 1966, it was agreed that the term 'Empire' should be dropped and the games should in the future be known as the 'British Commonwealth Games'.  In 1974, forty four years after the first games, over thirty countries and approximately 2000 athletes took part in the 10th British Commonwealth Games at Christchurch, New Zealand. 

         The first Paraplegic Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, in 1962.  In 1974 the 4th Paraplegic Games were held in Dunedin, New Zealand.  To commemorate these two sporting events in New Zealand in 1974 five stamps were issued.

The Stamps.

                                                       

     4c - Women's Hurdles.                                                                          5c - Men's Paraplegic Basketball.

10c - Cycling.

                                                       

18c - Rifle Shooting.                                                                      23c - Men's Lawn Bowls.

Printing Error.

1974 4c Commonwealth Games with doubled black,

where the black appears blurred & doubled.

 Some Interesting Covers.

An Official First Day Cover of the 1974 Commonwealth Games Issue.

As is common with most FDC there is no address or evidence of being posted.

Another Official First Day Cover of the 1974 Commonwealth Games Issue.

Now this cover is more interesting. We think that maybe a collector visited the Kaitaia Post Office on the 9th Jan and purchased this cover got it cancelled and took it home with him since the address in the lower right hand corner only gives a name and the town.

Oh, this is what I call a FDC.

Souvenir Cover for the 1974 Commonwealth Games posted at the main stadium on the opening day of the games. Is this an official postal item? I think so since it appears to have travelled through the postal system from Christchurch to Auckland.

Now this is a very different cover. While it carries a 1974 Commonwealth Games stamp this cover has nothing to do with the games. Its celebrating the centenary of a pack-horse postal service between the towns of Matata and Whakatane in the eastern Bay of Plenty. It even has a special date stamp used to mark this occasion. I like especially the illustration of the two horses. 

Here is an example of an ordinary postage stamp doing what it was designed to do, appearing on an ordinary letter, in this case, a letter sent between two suburbs of Auckland.

Technical information:

Date of Issue:	9 January 1974
Designers:	M Cleverley, Wellington
Printers:	Harrison and Sons, England
Stamp Size:	24.13mm x 40.64mm
Sheet Size:	100 stamps per sheet
Process:	Lithography
Perforation Gauge:	13.25 x 14
Paper Type:	Harrison and Sons, chalk surfaced, unwatermarked

Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ

You can visit their web site and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Information for this post came from.

New Zealand Post (Stamps)