2013 Honey Bees.

         To mark 100 years of the National Beekeepers Association, New Zealand issued this attractive set of five values. The issue date is the 3rd of July and the stamps were be sold in sets or singles, as well as the usual miniature sheet and first day cover.
        There are a number of things which I like about this set. First the subject is one I like. I like eating natural honey and until recently we had bee hives on this property where I live. Secondly I find the stamps are attractive with clear pictures of their subjects. Thirdly the five stamps fit together to tell the story of honey from the flower to eating.

70c Collection the Nectar.

       On the first stamp the bees fly out to the flowers. Scouts have gone out and found the flowers then returned to tell the workers. The workers move from flower to flower collecting nectar as they go. 

2013 New Zealand Native Ferns

           On the 7th February New Zealand issued a set of five stamps depicting native ferns.

           New Zealand's climate is just right for the many types of fern found in our native forests. I live in a country area myself and the bottom half of my property has been allowed to return to native bush. First the gorse and scrub reclaimed the once cleared land, then larger trees like manuka began to appear. These larger trees killed off the scrub underneath making way for many other native species including our native ferns. I was down there today and in some places the ferns are now so thick it impossible to walk through.

The Stamps
        I like the design of these stamps. They have a pleasant appearance, are simple, well laid out and not cluttered. The fern is depicted in bold coloured diagrams with other detail drawings in grey. The ferns common and scientific names appear under 'New Zealand' and the demonization appears as a symbolic post mark. Nice design, well done.   

           

Hen & Chickens Fern.                                                Kidney Fern.

          (Asplenium bulbiferum)                                       (Cardiomanes reniforme)

    

2001 / 2013 Year of the Snake

          Each year of the Chinese lunar calendar is represented by a different animal. 2001 & 2013 were the sixth in the calendar cycle, The Year of the Snake. Traditionally the Chinese have thought of those born during the Year of the snake as being elegant, insightful, motivated and highly intellectual. According to ancient Chinese folklore, snakes were well thought of. They were considered to be deities in disguise, and a snake entering a house was said to bring good fortune for all who live there.
         See my complete collection of Chinese New Year Issues.

2013

         The 2013 Year of the Snake stamp issue reflects different aspects of Chinese tradition and culture. The four illustrated stamps also celebrate New Zealand's growing Chinese community and are an essential addition to any lunar stamp collection.

  

70c - Chinese Calligraphic Snake.

The Chinese 'snake' character on this stamp was painted by Zhao Meng-fu,

a scholar, painter and calligrapher from the Yuan Dynasty (1254-1322 AD).

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.     

What I Like in a Stamp

         What do I like in a postage stamp design? This was an interesting question which a friend asked me today when I told him I was working on a blog about postage stamps. So I decided to answer that question with a post on stamp designs I like and dislike.

First which stamps do I like?        
          I like a stamp to either tell a story or depict a person, object or scene clearly by using a drawing or photograph. To explain this I have decided to use the 1967 - 68 definitive issue, often known as the new decimals.
        First the "Primary Industry" set of 1968.

1967 - 1968 Decimal Pictorials - Part Two.

1968 - Trade Definitives.

 

        Fishing Industry                                      Fruit Growing Industry.

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 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.
                    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 bluer than the usual green. 

What is this blog about?

        In this post, I want to tell you what this blog is about and how you can navigate around it.

This Blog
       Originally this blog had been based on my Malaysian stamp collection but I was having trouble finding background information about these stamps and their history. So in October 2012 the decision was made to switch to New Zealand stamps where a lot more information was available about the stamps and their designs, particularly new issues. I know the stamps here are images from my virtual collection but I also have a large collection of New Zealand stamps too.
        My plan is to publish at least one post per week featuring a stamp or set of stamps from my collection. While the subject of the stamps will be my major theme, I will also talk about other topics such as flaws, printing of stamps or thematic sets. As New Zealand issues new stamps I will feature them but this blog but it is not going to become just a record of new issues. I am more interested in exploring the beauty and design of stamps rather than just displaying a complete collection. 

Other Pages
        On other pages of this site, I will be displaying larger groups and collections of stamps such as Health Stamps and Christmas Stamps. You can see these pages listed in the tabs bar at the top of this blog.

Main Index.
        Over time others have joined me in this project. You will notice the various writers at the bottom of each post. We also have Asami who has constructed an index listing every stamp issued by New Zealand. As we complete each post, this index is updated with links being added etc.
         Currently, we are working on a series of sub-indexes that will list posts by subjects etc. These index pages will be very useful in searching for particular issues, subjects, and errors.

Labels
        On the right-hand side of this blog, you will find some labels giving a selection of posts on various themes. As posts were added these labels were supposed to have been updated but this has not always happened. We are working on updating and correcting these labels but this could take some time since this blog now have over 300 posts.   

Important Note:-

 This site will be changing regularly so please call back often.