1988 Centenary Philatelic Society of New Zealand

        During the 1880s New Zealand stamps were few and far between - only a handful, all bearing the portrait of Queen Victoria, had been issued. On 5 September 1888, four collectors met to discuss their hobby; the outcome of the meeting was the Philatelic Society of New Zealand, the nation's first organised stamp collectors' group.

        Today the Society, now the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand, is far bigger, one of the leading philatelic societies in the country and is affiliated to the country's national philatelic body, the New Zealand Philatelic Federation.

        To mark 100 years of organised philately in New Zealand, the Society organised the "Royal 100" national philatelic exhibition, held in Wellington in October 1988.

New Zealand Post issued two stamps marking this 100 year period. Queen Elizabeth II is set against a background showing stamps from the 1882 Second Side-Faced Issue, each with the portrait of Queen Victoria.

1967 Centenaries

1967 Post Office Savings Bank Centenary.

As commemorative stamp issues had already been produced for the centenaries of the Postal Service and Telegraph Service it was felt appropriate that a special stamp issue should be produced for the centenary of the Post Office Savings Bank in 1967.

The opening of the first Post Office Savings Bank occurred in the 1860s, the gold rush years in New Zealand. It was an important event that fostered the habit of thrift and saving among the increasingly prosperous colonists of this relatively young nation.

                            
4d - Queens.                                                                9d - Coins.

1980 Anniversaries



 The 1980 Anniversaries Issue consisted of six stamps. Three were celebrating the 125th anniversary of stamps in New Zealand and the rest celebrated three other anniversaries. There was also a miniature sheet issued at the same time, featuring the three Chalon Stamps. The first stamp issue, the Full-faced Queens is also know as Chalon Stamps.

The three stamps commemorating the 125th anniversary of the first New Zealand stamp issue were designed by D A Hatcher, these stamps were also incorporated into a special miniature sheet which he also designed.  The remaining three stamps, designed by R M Conly, commemorated the Centenary of Rotorua and the International Orchid Conference and the World Ploughing Championships which were both held in New Zealand in 1980.

Further down we have included a small collection of flaws and printing errors from these stamps.

1955 Stamp Centenary

      This set has already been shown on this blog, in our post 2005 - 150 Years of New Zealand Stamps, but considering the importance of this issue to the history of New Zealand Stamps, we felt it deserved its own page. I believe the clever way these three stamps were designed is often over looked by collectors in their search for more attractive and exciting stamps. I hope this page below might go some way to correcting this.

         The 1955 featured the three values shown above. While appearing to be simple designs, I will show you below that some thought has gone into them, cleverly linking the stamps and postal system of 1855, with the stamps and postal system of 1955.  

Queen Victoria Fiscal Stamps - Part Four.

        Back to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part Three.

         In this, our last post on the QV Fiscal Stamps, we are going to look at the design of the long-type fiscal/postal series from 1880 and compare them with the 1882 2nd Side-Faced Issue. Then I have some examples of how the QV Fiscal Stamps were used, both for revenue stamp duty and for postage.

I love to enlarge these old stamps when I get a good quality image. It is only then that we can really enjoy the fine workmanship of these classic stamps. Often enlarging brings out details that are missed in the tiny images. For example in the image above of the 6/- Rose, look at the fine detailing in the scrolling work in the borders. Also, it was only when I enlarged the image that I discovered the ferns in the triangles in each corner.   

Queen Victoria Fiscal Stamps - Part Three.

Back to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part Two.               Forward to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part Four.

1880 QV Long-type Fiscal Stamps - The Complete Set. 

      In my first post on the Queen Victoria Fiscal Stamps, we looked at a series of issues leading up to the famous 1880 Revenue/Postage stamps. In my second post, we looked at the 1880 set itself. Included in that post was a set of the stamps most commonly used for postage after these stamps were authorised for postal use in 1882.

       Now we come to the question - What about all the other stamps from this series? Well, there is a large number of them, around 60 approx., it is hard to tell as some values appear in different colour shades so I'm unsure if they are varieties or separate stamps. I now think I have all the values except for one and in time I hope to fill in this gap too. The main purpose of this post will be to show all of them, as in this way you can get an idea of the actual size of this important issue.

       As you go through the collection on this page you will notice some appear to be mint while others have been cancelled in various ways, using date strikes, punch marks and handwritten dates. As I said above, I have also included some more obvious colour varieties too.

      Also, notice how the design changes as you go down the page. It is particularly noticeable in the frame around Queen Victoria's head. This is very similar to what happened in the Side-face postal issues as well. The design retains the words 'New Zealand' at the top and 'Stamp Duty' further down but the frame around Queen Victoria's portrait goes from a circle to part circle top and bottom. It then becomes a square, a hexagon and finally to an elliptical circle.     

Queen Victoria Fiscal Stamps - Part Two.

Back to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part One.               Forward to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part Three.



1880 Queen Victoria Long-Type Postal Fiscals.

The 1880 Queen Victoria Long types are by far the most diverse set of revenue stamps printed in New Zealand. 14 different printings were made over the 51-year history of the issue (even long after Queen Victoria had died!) with different papers, watermarks and perforations evident between each issue. This, combined with the wide range of values, from 4d to 1000 pounds, makes this an exceptionally interesting set to study.

A History of the Issue.

        By 1878 the die II revenue printing plates were beginning to wear. This resulted in several options for their replacement being considered. In 1878 and the following years, several important decisions were made by the New Zealand government. These resulted in major changes to both postage and revenue stamp production.

1878

        It was decided that for the 1d denomination, most in demand of the revenue stamps, a new stamp of a completely different design would be introduced. Since this stamp would be used on many different documents a more convenient size was also considered. This resulted in the introduction of a smaller sized stamp based upon the British 1d Inland Revenue stamp. The design also reflected some of the current stamps in New Zealand's 1882 Second Side-Faced issue. Initially, this stamp was printed in lilac (15th June 1878) but due to the stamp's faded appearance was later printed in blue (from 14th December 1878).

            

1878 - 1d Lilac.                                  1878 - 1d Blue.

Queen Victoria Fiscal Stamps - Part One.

Forward to QV Fiscal Stamps - Part Two.

When New Zealand introduced postage stamps in 1855 it soon became apparent that stamps could also be useful for the payment Government taxes and levies. This was introduced in 1867 and soon became known as 'Stamp Duty.' Upon payment, a revenue stamp (Fiscal Stamp) would be attached to the transaction document as proof of payment. Often these stamps would also be signed and dated as well. Sometimes holes were punched in them as well to signify that they were used. 

Is this wrong? The Date is too early!



         Revenue stamps were officially introduced on 1st January 1867, however, it appears that some were released earlier as the above image clearly shows the date 17/12/1866. It is unlikely this date was written in error as presumably the new year would well and truly be entrenched in the clerk's mind by November 1867, some 11 months later, so we should consider the date must have been November 1866 and the stamp was used before its official issue date.

1873 Newspaper Stamp.

Definitive Tour.

Back to Fullfaced Queens.                Forward to 1874 - 1882 Side Faced Queens.

  Originally there was no charge for newspapers forwarded through the post for delivery within New Zealand. However, with the number of newspapers posted frequently dwarfing paid mail, the Post Office decided it had to charge for newspaper delivery. A rate of 1d was imposed in 1864 and dropped again in 1865 due to public pressure, only to be reinstated in 1867.

          Inspired by the English 1870 ½d newspaper stamp, a decision was made in 1872 to reduce the cost of newspaper delivery to½d  and produce a similar stamp featuring a side view of the young Queen Victoria.

          The stamp was designed by the Government Printer, John Davies based on the contemporary English newspaper stamp. A woodblock die was carved in Melbourne, Australia, and electrotypes were produced from it by W.H. Kirk in Wellington making this the first stamp where the design, printing plate preparation and printing plates themselves were completed in New Zealand.

          The stamps were printed for 22 years. For 17 of those a special purpose paper watermarked with a six-rayed irregular star was used.

1874 - 1882 The Side - Face Issues.

   Definitive Tour.

Back to 1973 Newspaper Stamp.                Forward to 1898 Pictorials.

     I have never been particularly interested in the two Queen Victoria - Side Face Issues. To me, they never compared in appearance to Queen Victoria - Full-Faced Queens, that preceded them. So, since there is a big gap in this blog where these classic issues should be, we will take the month of August to produce a short series of posts on the three major definitive issues of the late 1800s.

       In this post will feature the final two Queen Victoria stamp issues, the 1874 First Side-Face Queens and the 1882 Second Side-Face Queens. In a second post, I am going to cover the 1898 Pictorial Issue, New Zealand's first pictorial issue. Here we will also be looking at the various additions and reprints of this issue, as well as the 1900 Pictorial Centenary Issue.

         Meanwhile, our other contributor Mary, is going to do a series of three or four smaller posts featuring various subjects from these main issues and from this same time period. I must say here that she has a couple of surprise items to show you, including the most expensive stamp in New Zealand.

1855 Full Faced Queens - Part Four.

Definitives Tour.  

Forward to 1973 Newspaper Stamp.

Links:- Full-Faced Queens.
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part One.
                    A basic introduction to the Full Faced Queens issues. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Two.
                    Looking at factors effecting the condition and value of Classic Stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Three.
                    A collection of covers from before and using Full Faced Queen stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Four.
                    Modern use of the Full Faced Queen design.

        This is the last post in my series on Full-Faced Queens, New Zealand's first postal stamp issue.
        Over the years the Full-Face Queen design has been reused a number of times as New Zealand has marked various anniversaries since their first issue. They have appeared, either as copies of the original stamps or with the design updated with more modern content.

1955 Centennial of Postage Stamps in New Zealand.
        There were three stamps in this issue but we are only interested in the 4d value in this post.  In this case the original design was updated with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II instead of Queen Victoria. Since New Zealand was still using the old Sterling currency the value could still be written as "THREE PENCE" rather than the more common 3d.

Queen Elizabeth II - 3d

For the other stamps in this issue see my posts

1955 Stamp Centenary. 

2005 - 150 Years of New Zealand Stamps.

1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Three

Definitives Tour.  

Forward to 1973 Newspaper Stamp.

Links:- Full-Faced Queens.
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part One.
                    A basic introduction to the Full Faced Queens issues. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Two.
                    Looking at factors effecting the condition and value of Classic Stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Three.
                    A collection of covers from before and using Full Faced Queen stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Four.
                    Modern use of the Full Faced Queen design.

   

       In the third part of the Full-Faced Queens we continue our look at New Zealand's first issue of postage stamps by looking at some of the covers used during this period.

       Before New Zealand issued pre-paid postage stamps letters were hand stamped to show payment had been made for postage. These hand strikes would show words such as "Paid At Auckland" or "Paid At Nelson" and often how much had been paid would be written in pencil of crayon. 

        In many cases, when we study covers from this period we find these hand strike post marks are almost impossible to read. This is because either the original strike was poorly executed or the mark has faded over time. 

        In these post we are going to look at a few pre-postage covers and then we will look at some covers from the Full-Faced Queen period. The quality of many of these covers were not good to start with and the process of up-loading them has made them worse but I still believe you will get some idea of what these early covers were like.

1855 Full Faced Queens - Part Two

Definitives Tour.  

Forward to 1973 Newspaper Stamp.

Links:- Full-Faced Queens.

          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part One.
                    A basic introduction to the Full Faced Queens issues. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Two.
                    Looking at factors affecting the condition and value of Classic Stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Three.
                    A collection of covers from before and using Full Faced Queen stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Four.
                    The modern use of the Full Faced Queen design.

        In this second post on the Full-Faced Queens, we will look at the condition of these stamps and try to understand why they are valued as they are today. Included on this page are some errors caused during printing. Finally, we will look at a complete set of Full-Faced Queens that was sold in 2007.

  

1855 The Full-Face Queens - Part One

Definitives Tour.  

Forward to 1973 Newspaper Stamp.

Links:- Full-Faced Queens.
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part One.
                    A basic introduction to the Full Faced Queens issues. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Two.
                    Looking at factors effecting the condition and value of Classic Stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Three.
                    A collection of covers from before and using Full Faced Queen stamps. 
          1855 Full-Faced Queens - Part Four.
                    Modern use of the Full Faced Queen design.



       What better way to start this blog again than to feature New Zealand's first issue of postage stamps, The Full-face Queens. This post is only an introduction to this set. I plan to do a page or some further posts on the Full-face Queens at a later date. (Links to these pages have now been added above.)

          

        Following the example of Great Britain, which first introduced postage stamps in 1840, New Zealand decided to introduce a system of pre-payment of postage using similar stamps in 1850. It would take another five years before these new stamps were finally issued. 
        The set originally comprised only three stamps - 1d (penny), 2d (penny) and 1s (shilling). These were printed in England by Perkins, Bacon. Other values were added later. The 6d appeared in 1859, the 3d in 1863 and the 4d in 1865. These additional values, together with all reprints of the original three denominations, were printed in New Zealand from printing plates prepared in England. Colour changes were made to three of the values in 1871. The 1d changed from red to brown, the 2d from blue to orange and the 6d from brown to blue. I have also seen examples of the 1s which appear more blue than the usual green.