Antarctica Post has issued a new stamp each year since 2002. These stamps are designed 
and issued with the help of New Zealand Wine Post. Their stamps secure special delivery between the USA bases, South Pole Station or McMurdo Station to Antarctica Post Agency in Dunedin. Once the letter reaches New Zealand it is forwarded using other postal services.
As well as providing a postal service they also have an eye for the collector market as well. They offer a service where for $10.00 they will provide a letter or postcard cancelled at the South Pole and sent to you via New Zealand postal services. Examples of these can be seen on this page.
There will be some small, poor quality stamps in this collection until we can find better replacements. We considered it was better to present a complete collection rather than go for a part collection of good quality stamps. Like we did with our NZ Wine Post collection, this post will be published partly finished with further work continuing after that. For updates see our 'What is New in this Blog.'
Our collection of Antarctica Post stamps has continued to grow until now the decision has been made to establish the second page.
AP# 11.
In September 1838 the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, commanded by James Clark Ross, left on a discovery voyage to Antarctica. They penetrated the ice belt as far south as latitude 78 9 30 where they found open water again. They had discovered the area we now know as the Ross Sea. Sailing further south he came upon the island that now takes his name, (Ross Island named by Scott), with its two great volcanoes, the active Mount Erebus and the extinct Mount Terror. The mountains were named after Ross's ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. At the southern end of Ross Island, they came upon the Great Ice Barrier which we now know as the Ross Ice Shelf. Becoming worried about being trapped for the winter, Ross named the place McMurdo Sound and turned north again towards the safety of the open ocean.
First Day Postcard sent from Dunedin to Scott Base. Notice the Scott Base cancel for the return journey dated months later, 16th Feb 2011. I also like the New Zealand koru penguin as well.
2010 joined pair with a major colour fade error in the right stamp.
The longitude and latitude lines are almost gone.
Ross's ship HMS Erebus.
AP# 12.
2011 - Icebreaker "Polar Sea."
Polar-class icebreakers USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) are heavy icebreakers operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). These cutters, specifically designed for icebreaking, have reinforced hulls, special icebreaking bows, and a system that allows rapid shifting of ballast to increase the effectiveness of their icebreaking. The vessels conduct Arctic and Antarctic research and are the primary icebreakers that clear the channel into McMurdo Station for supply ships. All are homeported in Seattle, Washington.
2011 Antarctica Post FDC Ice Breaker Postcard.
Notice this card carries the McMurdo Station cancel from the USA base at McMurdo Sound, near the New Zealand Scott Base.
Unaddressed First Day Cover.
AP# 13.
2012 South Polar Times.
Date of Issue - 24th July 2012.
$2.00 - The June 1902 cover of the South Polar Times.
Notice the vertical perforations of this pair didn't completely punch through.
This issue commemorates Captain Robert Falcon Scotts handmade Antarctic Newspaper- South Polar Times, which he prepared in the hut at his base in Antarctica. There were several editions but only ever one of each which was read by his five men team so that at that time, everyone in Antarctica read it. This is the June 1902 issue front cover.
2012 South Polar Times - First Day Cover.
2012 South Polar Times - Missing bar on the 'E' of June variety.
You can see this flaw easier in the enlarged detail below.
A full sheet comprising 20 stamps of the $2.00 - South Polar Times.
AP# 14.
2013 Captain Scott and Lassie.
Date of Issue - 11th October 2013.
Left-hand Stamp - $2.00 - Captain Scott and Lassie (Specimen).
Right-hand Stamp - $2.00 - Captain Scott and Lassie (Selvedge Inscription).
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO, RN (6 June 1868 – 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition (1901–1904) and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition (1910–1913). On the first expedition, he set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82°S and discovered the Polar (Antarctic) Plateau, on which the South Pole is located. On the second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, four weeks after Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition.
On their return journey, Scott's party discovered plant fossils, proving Antarctica was once forested and joined to other continents. A planned meeting with supporting dog teams from the base camp failed, despite Scott's written instructions, and at a distance of 150 miles from their base camp and 11 miles from the next depot, Scott and his companions perished.
Captain Robert Scott and Lassie - First Day Cover.
The caption on the cover says - "Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Lassie on the ice soon after their arrival on the Terra Nova in 1910 for the expedition to the South Pole."
From time to time we find an item that gives us an insight into the designing process of these stamps. Like the NZ Winepost stamps, Geoff Weston was behind most of the Antarctica Post designs.
Hollow Numeral Verse Solid.
Antarctica Post 2013. This is a print essay showing the trial of two different print styles for the stamp value. In the top stamp, the text of the value is hollow while on the bottom stamp it is solid. See what a difference it makes.
AP# 15.
2014 South Pole Station Dome.
Date of Issue - 3rd October 2014.
$2 - South Pole Station.
This is the second station showing the geodesic dome. The dome was removed in 2008. You will find more information on this station at the beginning of our first Antarctica Post page.
South Pole Station Dome - First Day Cover.
Three colour trials that were considered during the developing of this stamp.
AP# 16.
$2.00 - The Frozen Continent.
Corner stamps with sheet numbers 05 & 015, colour blocks also shown in the selvedge. This design shows Antarctica from space where the curve of the earth can be clearly seen. What is important about this design is comparing the brown/green of South America in the lower-left with the white of Antarctica upper-right.
$2.00 - The Frozen Continent.
Another interesting printing error where a ghost image of the words 'The Frozen Continent' appears below and to the left of correct wording. This error is actually rather harder to notice unless it is pointed out.
The cyan colour missing, on a complete sheet of 20 stamps. Compare these stamps with the normal one on the cover above. Without the blue of the Cyan, the whole effect of the globe of the earth is lost.
AP# 17.
2016 Douglas Mawson.
Date of Issue - 12th September 2016.
Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
$2.00 - Douglas Mawson.
Mawson joined Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition (1907–09) to the Antarctic, originally intending to stay for the duration of the ship's presence in the first summer. Instead, both he and his mentor, Edgeworth David, stayed an extra year. In doing so they became, in the company of Alistair Mackay, the first to climb the summit of Mount Erebus and to trek to the South Magnetic Pole, which at that time was over land.
In 1911, Mawson led his own expedition, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, to King George V Land and Adelie Land, the sector of the Antarctic continent immediately south of Australia, which at the time was almost entirely unexplored. The objectives were to carry out geographical exploration and scientific studies, including a visit to the South Magnetic Pole.
His expedition explored large areas of the Antarctic coast, describing its geology, biology and meteorology, and more closely defining the location of the South Magnetic Pole. In 1915, the Royal Geographical Society awarded him their Founder's Gold Medal and in 1916 the American Geographical Society awarded him the David Livingstone Centenary Medal.
A selvedge pair from the sheet lower right corner.
First Day Cover - 12 Sept 2016.
First Day Cover - 12 Sept 2016.
Cancelled at McMurdo Station - 2 December 2016.
2017 Byrd Flight to the South Pole (Colour Trial)
November 2017.
A colour trial pre-printing. The tick (at the bottom) indicates the correct depth of colour in these images for the sheet printings. It is printed on paper with no gum. We can expect the issued stamp to be released soon.
Soon to be issued - $5.00 Admiral Byrd Polar Flight.
AP# 18.
2017 Admiral Byrd Flight to the South Pole.
Day of Issue - 29th November 2017.
$5.00 - Byrd Flight to the South Pole.
Corner pair with sheet number and colour bar.
On November 28, 1929, the first flight to the South Pole and back was launched. Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., along with pilot Bernt Balchen, co-pilot/radioman Harold June, and photographer Ashley McKinley flew the Ford Trimotor to the South Pole and back in 18 hours, 41 minutes. They had difficulty gaining enough altitude, and they had to dump empty gas tanks, as well as their emergency supplies, in order to achieve the altitude of the Polar Plateau, but they were ultimately successful. Such a tiny little plane to make such an amazing flight.
First Day Cover - 29 November 2017.
Postal cancel shows the same day (29th November) as the original flight but 88 years later. The stamp has selvedge attached showing the issue title. The cover shows the plane landing on the ice with the Southern Lights in the background. At the lower right is Admiral Byrd with a map of his flight from McMurdo Sound to the South Pole and back.
2018 Captain Oates - Act of Self-Sacrifice.
Date of Issue - 10th October 2018.
2018 Antarctica Post - Specimen.
It appears this will be the annual 2018 Antarctica Post stamp.
Captain Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus" Oates (17 March 1880 – 16 March 1912) was a British army officer, and later an Antarctic explorer, who died during the Terra Nova Expedition. Oates, afflicted with gangrene and frostbite, walked from his tent into a blizzard. His death is seen as an act of self-sacrifice when aware that his ill health was compromising his three companions' chances of survival, he chose certain death.
A joined pair from the top-right corner of the sheet.
First Day Cover - 10 November 2018.
2019 - Captain Scotts Hut.
Date of Issue -
2019 Antarctica Post - Captain Scotts Hut.
Specimen pair.
Our collection of Antarctica Post stamps has continued to grow until now the decision has been made to establish the second page.
This interesting series of stamps. I notice there is only one issued each year .Looking forward to what 2017brings.
ReplyDeleteJames.