1989 Heritage Set 3 - The Sea.

Back to Set 2 - The People.                                Forward to Set 4 - The Ships.

Heritage Series Overview.

This issue titled 'The Sea' was another in the 'Heritage ' series leading up to the 1990 150th anniversary celebrations in New Zealand. The theme of this six value set is the sea and oceans. New Zealand is totally surrounded by ocean so the sea has played, and continues to play, a significant part in our island life. This is shown in the variety of ways New Zealanders use and relate to the sea.

1923 The Map Stamp.

         In 1923 the New Zealand Government decided that it was time to restore universal penny postage following its suspension in 1915. The map stamp was issued to commemorate this. The suggestion that the stamp design depict a map of New Zealand was made by Mr R F Joyce.
          Mr W R Bock was instructed to prepare a design and engrave a steel die. The plates were prepared and printed by the Government Printer, Wellington. The first printing was done using plates of 240 - 24 horizontal rows of 10. Later printings used a smaller plate of 120 - 10 horizontal rows of 12. 
          Strangely, however, the one penny dominion remained on sale and continued to be used, even after the map stamp was withdrawn from sale. The map stamp was the first and only stamp impression to appear pre-printed on postal stationery until the 1980s.

Index Three - 1950 - 1969

Stamps Issued 1950 1969

Index Two - 1910 - 1949

Stamps Issued 1910 1949

Index One - 1855 - 1909

Stamps Issued 1855 - 1910

1988 Australian Bicentenary

100 Posts in this Blog!!! 

        Hi Anne here. Since I am throwing the party on Saturday night, I've also been given the 100th post for this blog. We will publish this that morning and the blog's milestone will be celebrationed that evening.

         Now in 1988 Australia celebrated its Bicentenary, bi meaning two. One of the ways this was marked was with a joint stamp issue between Australia and New Zealand. This consisted of a single stamp, a First Day Cover, and a special post cancel, issued by each country.

         New Zealand and Australia have shared a long history together. Captain Cook explored New Zealand and the Australian East Coast at about the same time. European settlement was established in Australia in 1788 and not long afterwards Europeans where found in New Zealand too. At first New Zealand was administrated from New South Wales until 1840 when the Treaty of Waitangi established it as a separate colony.
        Over the years the two countries have been close. A friendship has grown between the two nations, almost like brothers, which has remained strong and unbroken.  That friendship was cemented in World War I on the blood-soaked hills of Gallipoli, soldiers relying on each other even unto death.
        New Zealand's gift to Australia to commemorate the bicentenary was a restored 12 metre gaff-rigged cutter, originally built in Auckland to represent New Zealand in the 1888 centennial regatta in Sydney.

Christmas Stamps 2006 - 2009

Children's Design a Stamp Competitions.

While I was working on Allan's Christmas Stamp Collection I came upon a series of stamps designed by young children. I couldn't do much more than just give the child's name and the title of his/her painting because the large collection pages can't hold much detail about each stamp.

Since I liked these designs so much, I decided to ask Allan about doing a page to include all of them on one page. My plan was to include what other details can be found about each design.

Allan agreed so here it is all 25 stamps, enlarged with more detailed captions. So now you can enjoy the great designs and colours. Also read the italic text, where each child explains the theme behind his/her design. You will see the thought and wisdom that has gone into many of these stamps.

1998 Town Icons

       A few months ago I completed a post on town icons around New Zealand called 2014 Legendary Landmarks. This post looked at 18 famous town icons - landmarks that defined what the town was famous for. I enjoyed doing that post and learnt a lot about various parts of New Zealand in the process.
       Now when Allan began researching for his Heritage Series he found that in 1998 there had been another stamp issue featuring town icons. In this case only 10 town landmarks had been shown in what are big colourful stamps. Actually I think these 10 stamps are better than the 18 from 2014.

1989 Heritage Set 2 - The People.



Back to Set 1 - The Land.                           Forward to Set 3 - The Sea.

Heritage Series Overview.

This issue titled 'The People' was the second in the 'Heritage' series leading up to the 1990 150th anniversary celebrations in New Zealand. The main theme of these six stamps is the groups of people who made their mark on the history of New Zealand.

The stamps have a more classic appearance when compared with other stamp designs from this period. Even among the six heritage issues this set of stamps stands out as appearing being to be much older. 

For an index to all our posts concerning The Maori People.

1988 Heritage Set 1 - The Land.

Heritage Series Overview.                   Forward to Set 2 - The People.

           This issue titled 'The Land' was the first of a 'Heritage ' series of six stamp issues leading up to the 1990, 150th anniversary celebrations in New Zealand. Over the next few months I will be publishing posts on the other five issues as well as a summery page showing all six issues together.

           This issue 'The Land' - consisted of a set of six stamps featuring reproductions of early New Zealand paintings completed by some of the country's most famous 19th century artists. These artists interpreted the crystal clear light and rugged scenery in a romanticised European fashion.  Their paintings were often sent to England as the first record of the new found frontier - persuading many settlers to emigrate.     

1913 Auckland Exhibition Overprint.

          Encouraged by the success of the Christchurch Exhibition seven years earlier, the 'Auckland Industrial, Agricultural and Mining Exhibition' was held between the 1st of December 1913 and the 18th of April 1914. Unlike the Christchurch Exhibition, however, the issue of commemorative stamps was an afterthought.

          On the 29th of October 1913, the Auckland Philatelic Society wrote to the Postmaster-General suggesting the overprints. This was hastily approved and on the 11th of November the Government Printer was instructed to overprint 'AUCKLAND EXHIBITION, 1913' on four of the Edward VII definitives. There was insufficient time to inform the Universal Postal Union of the issue, and so the stamps were only valid for postage within New Zealand.

          Few stamps were printed and even then, a large number were left unsold at the end of the exhibition and destroyed. Since higher values were usually used for overseas postage, the set being restricted to New Zealand has made the 3d and 6d the scarcest New Zealand commemoratives.

2014 Christmas Issue.

For many children across New Zealand, performing in a nativity play is a festive tradition. This stamp issue Christmas 2014 show five main characters of the Christmas story in the form of children actors. The first year I was in New Zealand I got to play a Japanese angel. LOL I've attended plays where my little brother was involved. Its always a lot of fun.

Children dressed as various nativity play characters. 

1906 Christchurch Exhibition.

         This issue commemorated the New Zealand International Exhibition of Arts and Industries which was held in North Hagley Park, Christchurch, between November 1906 and April 1907. It was the first set with large stamps to be designed, engraved and printed entirely within New Zealand.
        This was also the first commemorative stamp set issued in New Zealand. The stamps were only on sale for the duration of the exhibition and could only be bought from the post office at the exhibition. One-third of the revenue from stamp sale went to the organisers.

 

½d - Arrival of the Arawa Canoe.                                       1d - Maori Canoe Carving.

2014 For King and Empire - 1914

World War I Commemorative Book Series.

Forward to 2015 The Spirit of ANZAC - 1915.

          "100 years ago, the shape of New Zealand began to change forever, as we followed King and Empire to serve in the First World War. What was meant to be a ‘great adventure’, soon affected every New Zealander at home and abroad, with 18,500 New Zealanders never to return. To commemorate this important centenary and honour those who served, New Zealand Post is issuing official stamps and legal tender commemorative coins."
         That was the opening statement for this issue from the NZ Post website. This is the beginning of a complex series of issues spread over five years. I am unsure how these five sets will fit together so this post might be changed or replaced at some point as I learn more.
         The main feature of this issue is a presentation book containing 10 special pages/sheets. The Melville Mirfin story is honoured in this special commemorative book, featuring never-before-seen imagery of the Great War through Mirfin’s eyes. Melville was a soldier who went to fight in the war. A photo of Melville in uniform can be seen on the 80c stamp to the left.

1901 Universal - 1909 Dominion.

 Definitive Tour.

Back to 1898 Pictorials.                                     Forward to Edward VII Definitives.

        The Universal/Dominion design remained the New Zealand 1d definitive for 25 years. During that period it appeared in three major designs. This post is intended to discuss these three designs but not get into the large range of paper, and perf varieties. These special varieties are beyond the interest of most collectors so they are beyond the subject of this blog.

         We will view each of these three issues as I tell the story behind them and then we will consider the main theme of these stamps and discover who or what 'Zealandia' is. Finally, I will give you some tips on how to tell these three issues apart. Once you know what to look for it is easy and I will be using enlarged detail illustrations to show you.

2014 All blacks

         Representing us in our national sport, the All Blacks are a point of pride for most New Zealanders. Show your support to the All Blacks with these special stamps re-issued to reflect the upcoming changes to domestic postage rates (effective 1 July 2014).  From NZ Post web site.
         Allan came up to visit our farm over the weekend and we sat down to discuss the direction of this blog. One of the things decided was to feature all new issues. So in light of this I have decided to show this set and link it to other rugby stamps produced by New Zealand.

 

2014 Endangered Seabirds.

New Zealand’s unique marine environment is home to a diverse range of seabirds, giving New Zealand the title of ‘seabird capital of the world’. That was a title from the NZ Post web site, personally I've never heard it before. Five of our most endangered seabirds are featured on this unique stamp issue that uses thermo chromic ink to reflect the disappearing nature of these precious birds.

Putting aside the rather gimmicky use of the thermo chromic disappearing birds, these stamps are nice to look at. Good pictures, a larger format and the part word 'dangered' in red. What lets them down is the other information/writing in the stamps are at times hard to see because of similar coloured backgrounds.

                                    

      80c – Antipodean Albatross.                                                   $1.40 – New Zealand Fairy Tern.

1909 Edward VII Definitives.

 Definitive Tour.

Back to Universal / Dominion.                                 Forward to George V Definitives.

          King Edward VII (b.9th November 1841 – d.6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom, the British Dominions and Emperor of India from the 22nd of January 1901 until his death on the 6th of May 1910. Before finally becoming King, Edward held the title of Prince of Wales, and has the dubious distinction of being heir apparent to the throne longer than anyone else in British history. He was caught in a similar situation to the current Prince of Wales, having a mother as queen, lasting well into her 80s. Like Prince Charles will be today. Edward was an older man himself before he became King.
           Because the 1898 Pictorials had only just been issued when he ascended to the throne, New Zealand stamps bearing the King's head were not issued until November 1909, and even then they were not distributed widely until stocks of the pictorials had been exhausted. In the end the stamps bearing his image were only on sale for six months before he died. Once issued, most values remained on sale until 1915, and the five penny and eight penny stamps were still in use in 1920, ten years after King Edward's death. The one penny dominion was still in use until 1926.

           The Imperial Conference of 1907 granted the self-governing colonies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland the status of Dominion. This recognized these territories as autonomous communities within the British Empire, and established them as equals to the United Kingdom, making them essentially independent members of the Commonwealth of Nations. In many ways, this issue was a celebration of New Zealand's new-found independence and "Dominion of New Zealand' appears proudly at the top of each stamp.

2014 Health Issue.

Back to 2013 Health Issue.                       Forward to 2015 Health Issue.

To View this issue in our main Health Stamp Collection.
2014 Health Issue



Teaching children to grow their own fruits and vegetables not only benefits their health and well-being, it gives them positive attitudes towards healthy foods as well as a sense of pride and accomplishment. The 2014 Children’s Health stamp issue celebrates these foods that fuel the New Zealanders of tomorrow.

The 2014 Health Issue is special in that it marks the 85th year since Health Stamps were first issued. The series has come a long way and changed a lot since then. Health Stamps have contributed greatly to children's health over the years and continues to do so with every stamp sold this year providing 10c for Health.

2014 Legendary Landmarks.

          When I discovered that Allan had missed this 2014 stamp issue from early July, I asked him why. He said he had not intention of putting it on this blog as it 'wasn't a real stamp issue.' This issue came out as a sheet rather than as single stamps so Allan thinks it is aimed at collectors and not many will end up on common letters, therefore he does not consider it a postage stamp. I said "I'll do it." He replied, "Be my guest." So here it is.      
          Many towns and cities throughout this country have their special unique icons that reflect their character. The NZ Post Legendary Landmarks stamp issue takes a look at just 18 of these. From the well-known landmarks like the Lemon & Paeroa bottle and the Ohakune carrot, to the lesser-known Mossburn deer and the truly kiwi Taihape gumboot, these landmarks can tell you about the local history and the town’s identity without saying a word.

For those who are interested - 1998 Town Icons.

Revenue Use of Postage Stamps Around 1900.

         During our research for this current series of posts on the stamps from 1873 to 1907 we came across a number of items on which stamps had been used for revenue purposes. These have been displayed in the various posts but we have decided to put them all together here so they can be compared on one page.

First off a bit of background. In 1880 it was decided to combine the payment of postage and 'revenue' - such as government fees and import duties into a single set of stamps. All previous issues of stamps had only been usable for postage purposes or for revenue purposes. Apart from the 'Postage and Revenue' inscription, most of the second sideface stamps were modified designs from the 1874 issue stamps they replaced and are very similar. The key to telling these two issues form one another is the 1874 series carries the word "Postage" while the 1882 series carries the words "Postage & Revenue."
This opened the way for a very diverse range of documents to have 'postage' stamps attached, as can be seen in the items below. Mainly they relate to the transfer of larger amounts of money without using the money itself but there is one document, the application for a Hotel Liquor Licence included here as well.  Further down is some examples of newspaper wrappers too. If we come across any others of interest we will add them to this post. 

1900 4d Lake Taupo Invert.

        This stamp, issued August 1899 is the 4d Lake Taupo / Mt Ruapehu. The lake is New Zealand's largest lake situated in the centre of the North Island, the stamp design incorporates, Mount Ruapehu (2,797 metres) in the distance. The tree depicted is a cabbage palm, common throughout much of New Zealand.  This stamp was a reproduction, at a slightly smaller size, of the 1898 1d stamp designed by J Gaut.

See our post on the 1898 Pictorial Issue.

4d - Lake Taupo / Mt Ruapehu.

A normal mint example.

1898 New Zealand's First Variety. (Error)

       Is this an error or a variety?

       New Zealand's best-known stamp error - the name of the lake was misspelt with an ‘i’ (Wakitipu)  instead of an ‘a’ (Wakatipu.) It caused considerable interest when issued and further printings were made to satisfy the purely philatelic and speculative demand. The consequence was that in its mint form, the error is more common than the correct spelling. Most of those who bought the stamp retained them unused and genuinely used copies are not common. You can see a used copy on the cover further down but it is in very poor condition.

See our post on the 1898 Pictorial Issue.

   

1898 2½d - Lake Wakitipu/Wakatipu error.

The error is on the left and the correct spelling on the right. 

1898 The First Pictorial Issue.

Definitive Tour.

Back to Sideface Issues.                          Forward to Universal / Dominion.

       This fascinating stamp issue holds a special interest for stamp collectors as it was among the world's earliest pictorial definitive issues. The issue followed the lead of New South Wales where a similar pictorial issue had just been released. 

        The decision to break away from featuring stamps with Queen Victoria's portrait was a bold one and not without some risk of offending public opinion. A design competition was held that attracted over 2,400 entries. The selection criteria - 'to include a representation of characteristic or notable New Zealand scenery in the design and a stamp issue symbolic of the land.'

           The quality of the winning designs was so great that a decision was made to print the issue using the more expensive recess printing method, with the anticipation that costs would be covered many times over by sales to stamp collectors. The stamps were engraved in England along with initial printings and subsequently printed in New Zealand from new plates supplied from England. The issue featured the same denominations as the Second Side-faces with a new 9d stamp added for overseas parcels, and two and five shilling stamps added for parcels, fiscals and telegrams.

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.