2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee

        2012 marked a significant year for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as she celebrated 60 years as a dedicated monarch. New Zealand Post was proud to present the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee stamps to mark this prestigious anniversary. Official portraits (70c stamps) of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh wearing their New Zealand honours have been released to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

A used copy of the $2.40 stamp.

        The 60th anniversary of a monarch’s accession is known as a ‘Diamond Jubilee’, and it is certainly an occasion worth celebrating. Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee is only the second in the past 1,000 years of New Zealand and British history. The first was Queen Victoria's in 1897. Queen Elizabeth II’s coincided with Waitangi Day on 6 February 2012.
        Queen Elizabeth II has close links to New Zealand and is the first monarch to adopt the title Queen of New Zealand. She has visited New Zealand on ten separate occasions, both officially and informally, and in the past six decades she had been actively involved in all aspects of New Zealand life.
         Featuring silver foiling on metallic silver ink, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee stamps reflected this prestigious anniversary. Each of the six stamps in this highly collectable stamp issue reflected Her Majesty's close association with a dedication to Aotearoa. From the official 2012 portraits to photographs of the Queen's various tours of New Zealand, this was a stamp issue worth celebrating.
        This stamp issue wouldn't be complete without a miniature sheet and first-day covers. The first-day covers featured the official New Zealand portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as the official New Zealand Diamond Jubilee emblem. They were the perfect accompaniments to the set of stamps.

Antarctica Post - Page Two

        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. 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.     

Go Back to Antarctica Post - Page One.  (Issues 2002 - 2009)

2012 Matariki - Maori Rock Art.

          Māori rock art is not as well known as Maori wood carving but examples can be found throughout the country. The stamps in this issue depict examples of rock art documented in Te Waipounamu (the South Island) where more than 500 sites have been recorded to date.

           Rock art is applied to a variety of stone types, and while the common perception is that rock art was created using a burnt stick, the majority of the ‘drawings’ in Te Waipounamu appear to have been applied as pigment in solution. The style of Māori rock art is similar to that from wider Polynesia, suggesting that it was a practice brought to New Zealand by its earliest people.

           Māori rock art gives a glimpse of New Zealand’s history and culture, and the drawings included on the six self-adhesive stamps in this issue portray animals now long extinct, representations of everyday life and depictions of the supernatural.

          The rauru (spiral design) on the stamps pays respect to Rangi and Papa, and the light and knowledge that came about from their separation. The colours used in the rauru reflect the land and environment, and the koru represent growth and life and pay respect to the past, present and future.

Personalised Stamps

          Personalised Stamps have been issued in a number of formats since 2001. The basic idea is that you add your own photograph or logo to the one provided by NZ Post. Your personal stamps are then created and sent to you. While there is an extra cost involved you do get a postage stamp the is uniquely you.
          In this post, we intend to show you each issue listed by year on the one page. There is not much description needed and in many cases, the same design appears a number of times with different values. In some cases, the same stamp has appeared twice in the same issue with different values too. While this may not turn out to be the most popular post on this blog we all thought these issues need to be covered as they are genuine stamps able to be used for postage by their purchaser.
          Before Personalised Stamps, there was a series of four issues known as Greeting Stamps. These began in 1988 and went through until Personalised Stamps began in 2001. The first two issues of Personalised Stamps from 2001 and 2005 could also be considered as Greeting Stamps two so we have included them here and in our Greeting Stamp collection.

                

New Zealand Wine Post 2010 - Today

         Stamps and many of the items found on these pages can be purchased from:-

New Zealand Wine Post. (Stampmetro) 

         This is the third part of our New Zealand Wine Post collection, taking us through the third 10 years. This collection is incomplete and needs a lot more work in some areas but we've decided to open it for viewing as we continue adding new items and completing further sections.

         The Wine Post, also known as New Zealand Wine Post, is a privately owned postal service in New Zealand. It is operated by Weston Winery New Zealand, which is the World's Most Southern Winery and acts as its only post office. The Wine Post began issuing its own postage in 1990. It is one of the many independent posts of New Zealand which has a deregulated postal environment. The Wine Post stamps are for their domestic and international postage for their own winery.

                 Collection Overview.

                Page One - New Zealand Wine Post   1990 - 1999.

            Page Two - New Zealand Wine Post   2000 - 2009.

            Page Three - New Zealand Wine Post 2010 - Today.

            Special Page - New Zealand Wine Post - Official Stamps.

                  Special Page - New Zealand Wine Post - Wine Labels.

2012 New Zealand Native Trees

The 2012 New Zealand Native Trees stamp issue features five gummed stamps which portray five iconic native New Zealand trees. Each of the beautiful species is depicted in a detailed illustrative style, showing flowers, fruit, leaves etc. and the scientific name of each species is included in the design – adding to the authenticity of the issue.

 

New Zealand’s isolation from the rest of the world has allowed its unique flora to evolve and flourish, resulting in the distinctive array of native trees present today. This high degree of endemism makes New Zealand’s native trees truly special, so much so that Conservation International has recognised New Zealand as a world biodiversity hotspot. Almost all of New Zealand’s native species of conifers, flowering trees and tree ferns occur nowhere else – resulting in native forests like no other on Earth. As New Zealanders we need to celebrate this unique treasure we have in our forests and landscape, which is what this issue sets out to do.

2012 - A Tiki Tour of New Zealand No 2

      
         The Second Tiki Tour of New Zealand showed a lot more colour than the original Tiki Tour in 2009. (2009 - A Tiki Tour of New Zealand) 

         It was a similar format featuring various places around New Zealand in stylised/cartoon type illustrations on a map of New Zealand. Some of the places and scenes had been seen in the first series, but here many were completely new. 

         We have laid out this post with a brief summary of the series taken from the NZ Post web site.  Then we show the actual sheet as it was issued. Below this you will find a set of three First Day Covers. Finally we have laid out all 20 stamps separately with some information about places shown.

2012 - Great Voyages of New Zealand

As a small nation surrounded by water, New Zealand has relied on ships and vessels as a means of transport for as long as it's been inhabited. The 'Great Voyages of New Zealand' stamp issue features five vessels that have played a part in shaping New Zealand.

2011 - Ross Dependency - Race to the Pole.

 This issue marks the Centenary of the first successful attempt to reach the South Pole. Over the summer season of 1911/12 two men were attempting to be the first to reach the pole.  One was an Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, and the other a British explorer, Robert Scott.  The stamps of this issue, remember and celebrate both men and their teams. 

The miniature sheet titled "The Race to the Pole" including the five stamps of this issue.

2012 Fifty Years of Friendship - New Zealand and Samoa

         New Zealand and Samoa share a special relationship that is underpinned by the 1962 Treaty of Friendship. 2012 marks 50 years of this important partnership, and New Zealand Post celebrated this with very a unique stamp issue. At about the same time these stamps were issued Samoa celebrated 50 years of independence. The stamps issued by Samoa to mark this event can also be seen at the bottom of this post.

An interesting set of five stamps that stand out as being very different to stamps usually issued by New Zealand. Each of the five stamps features a contemporary view of a selu tuiga – a head comb that takes the shape of a traditional tuiga. A tuiga is a Samoan headdress that is worn at important events by the mānaia (son) or the taupou (daughter) of the high chief of the village. The tuiga is a unique symbol of the chiefly nature of Samoan society, and a significant number of tuiga were worn when Samoa gained independence.

2012 Scenic Definitives.

Definitive Tour.

Back to 2009/2010 Scenic Definitives.                                       Forward to 2014 Scenic Definitives.

        Since the 2014 Scenic Definitive Issue has already been covered in this blog, this post will be the last in our Scenic Definitive Series until a new issue appears. We are planning to link them or list them n some way so readers can navigate through them.

        In 2012 three new denominations were added to the current Scenic Definitive Series to cover upcoming changes in postal rates. This stunning new stamp issue showcased three of New Zealand’s most picturesque locations – Cape Reinga, Stewart Island and Lake Matheson.

  

  Also included in this issue were two of the gummed stamps appearing in an adhesive format as well. Earlier in February, another adhesive, $2.40 Lake Rotorua had already been issued, making the six stamps shown here.

Wildlife - Game Bird Habitat.

         The New Zealand Game Bird Habitat Trust, established under the 1953 Wildlife Act, exists primarily to improve New Zealand game bird habitat, and secondarily to improve the habitat for other wildlife. The key purpose of the Game Bird Habitat Trust Board is to distribute funding for the development and enhancement of wetland habitat for the benefit of game birds and other wetland inhabitants.

         The New Zealand Fish and Game Council commenced issuing $10 license stamps in 1994.  The stamp is affixed to the game bird hunter's license thus validating the license for the current year. $2 of the license fee goes towards establishment and protection of Game Bird Habitats. The stamps and related products such as miniature sheets and First Day Covers are also marketed by NZ Post with funding received going back to the Habitat Trust.

          I first saw these stamps on the NZ Post website a few months ago. A web search revealed a few extra years to the ones offered by NZ Post. Since it seemed an impossible exercise to find all of these stamps, or for that matter even establish how many years they had been issued, I dropped the project in favour of many others I could complete. Yesterday I found them all except the year 2011 which I just happened to have already so now I am able to feature them in a post on this blog. 

          The date shown under each stamp relates to the year of issue of the stamp, not the year the license expires as shown on the stamp itself.

2012 75 Years of the RNZAF

        In 2012 the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) celebrated 75 years since it was formed in 1937. NZ Post used its annual military issue to mark this important milestone with a set of 15 stamps. They were issued as a miniature sheet with each stamp have a postal value of 60c, giving the whole sheet a face value of $9.00.
        Below the sheet, I give further details about the subjects depicted on each stamp.

Rugby on New Zealand Stamps

       

          As the title above says, this post is about the history of New Zealand Rugby as told by the stamps of New Zealand.

1967 Health - New Zealand Rugby.
         

          We begin our search for New Zealand Rugby Stamps with the Health Issue of 1967. When New Zealand was changing to decimal currency and so it was decided to start a new sporting theme in the Health  Stamp Series. As the New Zealand Rugby Union was celebrating their 75th Anniversary the first stamps of this new theme depicted rugby. Each design featured a boy playing rugby football with a shadow figure of an 'All Black' player in the background.

                               

1967 Rugby - 2 1/2c + 1c                           1967 Rugby - 3c + 1c

2000 / 2012 The Year of the Dragon.

See my complete collection of Chinese New Year Issues.

Dragon from the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival, Auckland 2016.

2012 The Year of the Dragon.

        In 2012 New Zealand again celebrated Chinese New Year with a set of four stamps. These same stamps also appeared on the miniature sheet issued at the same time. The stamps followed the recent trend of having the Chinese symbol on the lowest value, then two values depicting an associated with the Lunar Year, in this case a dragon and the highest value a New Zealand Icon.

        The dragon is an important ancient symbol for the Chinese people, and it is believed to ward off evil spirits. Everything connected with the dragon is thought to be blessed, which makes this lunar stamp issue particularly special.

2012 Ross Dependency Definitives.

         On the 21st of November, 2012, The Ross Dependency issued their annual 5 value definitive set. The stamps depicted five views of scenery from the dependency. These stamps are used by people stationed at Scott Base and other bases in the area. Also many of these stamps will be purchased directly from NZ Post by collectors all over the world.
         I always like to see the new issues from The Ross Dependency because they are usually great stamps. The scenes are usually interesting and colourful making them ideal for display in an album. I would suggest the Ross Dependency would be a good subject to start a virtual stamp collection.

                    

 70c - Mount Erebus                                                   $1.40 - Beardmore Glacier

2012 Beijing International Stamp and Coin Expo

         This expo was held at the Exhibition Hall of the China World Trade Centre in Beijing. It attracted collectors and international exhibitors to showcase their numismatic and philatelic products on a global scale. It was also a chance for China to open up its stamps and coins to the world. This expo was first held in 1995.
         To mark this event, on Nov 2, New Zealand Post issued a exhibition miniature sheet and souvenir cover to celebrate the expo. The souvenir miniature sheet incorporates three stamps from the 2012 Year of the Dragon stamp issue set against an image of the Dunedin Railway Station, which also features on one of the stamps. Dunedin was one of the earliest settlements for Chinese immigrants in New Zealand.

          I have personally never been a great fan of miniature sheets. Since they are not usually found attached to letters other than first day covers. The design on this sheet is colourful and shows three of the values from the 2012 Year of the Dragon issue with the fourth left off. 

Technical information

Date of issue:	2 November 2012
Miniature sheet and exhibition souvenir cover designed by:	Stamps Business, New Zealand Post, Wellington
Printer and process:	Southern Colour Print Ltd by offset lithography
Number of colours:	Four process colours
Paper type:	Tullis Russell 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper
Period of sale:	These stamps remained on sale until 1 November 2013.

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

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

Information for this post came from.

New Zealand Post (Stamps)

2012 The Hobbit I - An Unexpected Journey

   

   
         To mark the release of the first movie of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' NZ Post issued a set of six stamps depicting six of the characters from the movie. The set was accompanied by a set of six miniature sheets including one of the stamps. Below I have included both the miniature sheets and the separate stamps. The stamps, issued on November 1st, also included the usual first day covers and presentation packs.
         See my Lord of the Rings stamp collection.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with these issues,

view our post 2016 A Journey Through Middle-earth.

2012 Blenpex

        Blenpex, Marlborough's first National Stamp Exhibition which was held in Blenheim from the 12 -14 October. To mark this event, on 12th October, New Zealand Post issued a special miniature sheet and souvenir cover.
    

         The design of the miniature sheet depicts the 2,885m high, Mount Tapuae-o-Uenuku, a well known peak seen from all over the Marlborough District. The three stamps included in the design came from New Zealand's 'Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee' which were issued earlier this year at the time of the jubilee.

         Personally I don't particularly like miniature sheets as I believe they do not reflect the original purpose of stamps as a means of pre-paying postage. Miniature sheets are mainly designed for the collector market. Putting a miniature sheet on a normal sized envelope would in many cases be totally impractical if not impossible.

        As miniature sheets go this one is among some of the better ones. It is colourful with an attractive appearance. Including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee stamps will of course make it attractive for collectors of stamps depicting the royal family too.

        

Technical information

Date of issue:	12 October 2012
Miniature sheet and souvenir cover designed by:	Stamps Business, New Zealand Post, Wellington
Printer and process:	Southern Colour Print Ltd by offset lithography
Number of colours:	Four process colours plus PMS 877 silver and silver foil
Paper type:	Tullis Russell 104gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper
Period of sale:	These stamps remained on sale until 11 October 2013.

2012 Christmas Issue

        On October 3rd New Zealand issued the Christmas set of postage stamps for 2012. Since 1960 there has been a Christmas issue every year. Very attractive stamps, I am particularly pleased with them.
        This year there are five stamps and three adhesives, each depicting a scene from the story of the birth of Christ. I like the design of these stamps. They have "Merry Christmas" with the name "New Zealand" at the top. Then down each side of the centre picture are leaves and flowers from the native tree, the pohutukawa, New Zealand's Christmas Tree, which produces bright scarlet flowers at Christmas time. Below the picture is the value and a silver fern. A very New Zealand stamp! I like that.

    

70c - Mary and Joseph with Jesus.                         $1.40 - The Shepherds.                         $1.90 - The Angel of the Lord.