2019 Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008

In 2019 New Zealand commemorates 100 years since the birth of Sir Edmund Hillary. These stamps celebrate key moments in the remarkable life of one of our greatest heroes.

The five stamps.

The enduring nature of Sir Ed’s legacy is that we see him as the embodiment of so many of the attributes that we like to see in ourselves. In our somewhat complicated and contradictory way, we saw him as both humble and successful, considerate and determined, accommodating and focussed, down-to-earth and highly talented.

In many ways, Sir Ed’s greatest strength was his ability to reinvent himself. And he did this throughout his long and remarkable life; new expeditions, new projects, new responsibilities. Sir Ed wrote books, made films and became the New Zealand High Commissioner to India. But there was always something that stood out, and that was his commitment to New Zealand. He was an extremely generous man, and he derived great pleasure from the successes of others. Simply, he wanted the best for the country and the people he loved.

The Single Stamps.

(Will be replaced when better images become available.)

$1.30 - Hillary Ridge, Aoraki/Mount Cook.

The ascent of Aoraki/Mount Cook’s South Ridge, now named Hillary Ridge, contributed to Sir Ed’s preparedness for the climb on Mount Everest four years later.

$1.30 - Mount Everest 

Making the first ascent of the world’s highest mountain not only made Sir Edmund Hillary a famous name, but it helped to put New Zealand on the map in the minds of people around the world.

$1.30 - South Pole Expedition. 

As well as leading the Ross Sea party in 1957/1958 and conducting scientific research for the International Geophysical Year, Sir Ed led the first vehicular crossing to the South Pole.

$1.30 - Himalayan Trust 

Over half a century, Sir Ed built schools, hospitals, airstrips, water systems and bridges, and provided thousands of educational scholarships to the people of the villages around Mount Everest in Nepal.

$1.30 - Ocean to Sky, India. 

 Led by Sir Ed, the Indo-New Zealand Ganges Expedition in 1977 took three New Zealand HamiltonJet boats from the Bay of Bengal across the Gangetic Plains and ended with the ascent of a 6,000-metre Himalayan peak.

Collectable Items.

First Day Cover - 23 July 2019.

Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008 Presentation Pack. 

Find out more about Sir Ed’s legacy from his son, Peter Hillary. The pack includes a first-day cover and the full set of five stamps. 

Now, here is something rather clever. All five stamps are included on one full sheet as they are all the same value. That means you can get a value block and a plate block with two copies of each of the five stamps. 

Values Block - Top Two Rows.

Full sheet of 25 stamps showing five copies of each design.

Plate Block - Two Bottom Rows.

Technical information.

Date of issue: 23 July 2019.

The number of stamps: Five gummed stamps.

Denominations: $1.30 x 5.

Stamps, miniature sheet and first day covers designed: Helcia Berryman, Grange Park Creative, Raumati South, New Zealand.

Printer and process: Southern Colour Print, Dunedin, by lithography.

The number of colours: Four process colours.

Stamp size and format: 46mm x 35mm (horizontal).

Paper Type: Tullis Russell 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper.

The number of stamps per sheet: 25.

Perforation gauge: 14.286 x 14.47.

Period of sale: Unless stocks are exhausted earlier, these stamps will remain on sale until 22 July 2020. First-day covers will remain on sale until 17 September 2019.

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

You can visit their website and Online Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Information & images for this post came from.

New Zealand Post (Stamps)