Introduction

Postage stamps were invented in Great Britain. The first stamp was issued on 6 May 1840. This stamp was called the Penny Black.

On 8 May 1840 the Two penny Blue stamp was issued. The most famous of these two stamps is the Penny Black as it was the one most used at that time and more of them were around to later be saved in stamp collections.

Before stamps were invented, people used to write on large sheets of paper and fold them several times. Then they wrote on the outside of the sheet of paper the name and address of the person the letter was for. The more sheets of paper the letter was written on, the more the letter cost to deliver. Envelopes were not used because an envelope would count as a sheet of paper. Letters were paid for by the recipient, not the sender, which meant although the item had already been sorted and had travelled the chargeable distance, acceptance and payment for the letter was at the sole discretion of the person it was addressed to.

Letters that had to travel a long way in the days before stamps were issued cost more to send than letters that didn't go far.

It was a British man called Rowland Hill who worked out that it did not cost the Post Office very much to carry letters long distances. The thing that cost the most was the sorting of the letter at the Post Office when first posted, and then having someone deliver it in the town it was addressed to. Rowland Hill proposed that all letters should cost the same to send no matter how far the letter was going. He recommended the price all people should pay to send an ordinary letter was one penny and two pennies for larger letters. Then Rowland Hill invented an adhesive stamp to be stuck on the letter to identify that postage had been paid.

When other countries saw how good this idea was, they soon issued their own stamps. As Great Britain was the first country to issue stamps, British stamps are the only stamps that are not required to bear the country's name.

New Zealand issued postal stamps on 18 July 1855, 15 years after the British ones came out. The New Zealand stamps are called the 'Full Face Queens' because the picture on them was a front view of the head and shoulders of Queen Victoria wearing the robes she wore when she was crowned Queen. There were three stamps in the Full Face Queen set. They cost 1 penny (1d), 2 penny (2d), and 1 shilling (1s) and were printed in Britain. Other values were added to the set later.

The first New Zealand stamp that was designed in New Zealand was a half penny stamp issued on 1 January 1873. This stamp is called the 'Newspaper' stamp, as it was used to pay for newspapers being sent through the post. The stamp design shows a sideview of Queen Victoria's head and because of this it is one of the early New Zealand stamps known as Sidefaces.

New Zealand was the first country in the world to put advertising on the back of stamps. A number of Sideface stamps had advertising messages printed on the back (gummed side) in 1893. But people complained because they thought that licking the ink was unhealthy, so the Post Office stopped using advertising on the back of stamps.

New Zealand was also one of the first countries to introduce a 'penny universal' stamp. The idea of the 'penny universal' was that all countries should charge a standard amount for postage as this would make it easier sending letters from one country to another. New Zealand's 'penny universal' stamp was issued on the first day of the 20th century. It showed a woman in long robes standing in front of a globe and, in the background, a mailboat passing Mount Egmont/Taranaki. When it was issued, one person said that the design looked like a school teacher trying to teach geography to a dull class while holding a cane in her hand. Even so, huge numbers of these stamps were printed over the years. New Zealand Post Offices opened specially for one hour on New Year's Day 1900 to sell the 'penny universal' stamps. It was hoped that this would lead the world into setting a standard amount for postage to and from every country. The idea was taken up by many countries - but not Australia which threatened to return any letters carrying only the penny stamp!

 Pictorials

New Zealand was also one of the first countries in the world to put pictures of the countryside, birds, and animals on its stamps.

Stamps that have pictures of birds on them have always been popular, and New Zealand has a large number of birds such as kiwi which are unique. For these reasons, New Zealand has issued a lot of stamps featuring birds. Between 1985 and 1989 Janet Marshall, an artist well known for her drawings of birds, designed a series of ten stamps with birds on them and these were a big hit, even though two of them cost $5 and $10 each.

Pauline Morse, also well-known for her bird illustrations, designed another set of 12 bird stamps issued between 1988 and 1995.

Stamps like these that have birds, animals, the countryside or any other picture on them are called pictorials. The first pictorials were issued on 5 April 1898.

On these first pictorial stamps were pictures of New Zealand mountains, lakes, a Maori war canoe, and native birds. One of these stamps, the 2½d stamp showing Lake Wakatipu, is quite famous as a mistake was made during the design of the stamp and, on the stamp, the lake was called Lake Wakitipu. Many of the stamps with the spelling mistake were purchased and kept by collectors. Today unused 2½d Lake Wakatipu stamps are more rare than the incorrect version of the stamp with the lake spelt Wakitipu.

 Kings and Queens

The first stamps issued in New Zealand had a picture of Queen Victoria on them and pictures of the King or Queen of New Zealand have been on a lot of New Zealand stamps since then. It is possible to collect New Zealand stamps and have stamps that show royalty from Queen Victoria to the future kings, Prince Charles and Prince William.

When the King or Queen died, a new stamp showing the new King or Queen was usually issued. For example, when Queen Victoria died, a new King of New Zealand, King Edward VII, was crowned. New Zealand stamps with his picture were issued in 1909.

When King Edward died suddenly in 1910, the next King was King George V. However, because the Post Office first had to use up a lot of stamps that had just been issued with a picture of King Edward on them, it was not until five years later, in 1915, that New Zealand stamps showing King George's picture were issued.

On 7 May 1935, a set of three stamps was issued to mark the fact that King George had been King for 25 years. These stamps had a picture of King George and Queen Mary, his wife, on them. Because a very thick postmark was used at that time, not many clear, used stamps of this type are about and so these stamps are quite valuable.

With the coronation of King George VI in 1937, the New Zealand Post Office issued three stamps that carried King’s picture. If you use a magnifying glass, you can see that King George was wearing the uniform of an Admiral of the fleet, a sash of the Order of the Garter, and there is a Sovereign's badge of the Order of the Garter hanging from his collar.

After the death of King George VI his daughter Elizabeth became New Zealand's Queen.

On 25 May 1953 stamps were issued to mark Queen Elizabeth's coronation. The 2d stamp showed Buckingham Palace, the 3d stamp carried a picture of the Queen and her crown, the 4d stamp showed the stage coach that carried Queen Elizabeth to and from Westminster Abbey where she was crowned, the 8d stamp had a picture of Westminster Abbey on it, while the is 6d stamp showed the royal crown and the royal sceptre.

The first visit to New Zealand by a British Sovereign took place when Queen Elizabeth II visited in 1953 and the Post Office issued two special stamps to mark the event. The 3d stamp, had a picture of the Queen on it and the 4d stamp showed the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip.

In 1954, the Post Office issued a large set of Queen Elizabeth II stamps. The most expensive of these stamps cost 3,5 and 10 shillings and had a picture of Her Majesty wearing the uniform of a Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

New Zealand stamps have also pictured other members of the Royal family. To name just a few, on the 1946 Peace stamp was a picture of the King and Queen with Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth, while the 1952 New Zealand Health stamps had a picture of Prince Charles on the 2d stamp and Princess Anne on the 1½d stamp. The New Zealand Health stamps issued in 1963 had a picture of Prince Andrew on them while Prince Edward was shown on a 1973 stamp.

In 1981, the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana was marked by the issue of two stamps. One showed the couple and the other was a picture of St. Paul's Cathedral where they were married. Princess Diana, Prince Charles, and their children were also featured on the 1985 New Zealand Health stamps. One 25c stamp showed Princess Diana and her son William, another 25c stamp showed Princess Diana and her son Henry, while the 35c stamp showed the whole family, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, William and Henry.

Another royal family that appears on a New Zealand stamp is Prince Andrew, his wife Sarah, and his daughter Beatrice. They featured on the 1989 Health stamps.

In 1990 a special miniature sheet was produced to commemorate 150 years of postage stamps. The five stamps depicted all the monarchs of New Zealand From Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II, including Edward VIII who abdicated the throne.

 Exhibition Stamps

Over the years many stamps have been issued to mark the opening of important events such as big exhibitions.

A set of four stamps was issued in 1906 to mark the opening of a big international industrial exhibition in Christchurch. One of these stamps was a 1d stamp printed in the colour claret. But the Post Office decided that this colour was too dark and the stamp was reprinted in the colour vermillion. Through a mix up, one sheet of 60 claret-coloured stamps was sold at the Exhibition post office and these stamps are now very rare and very valuable.

Another exhibition for which a stamp was issued was the Auckland exhibition in 1913. Because the Post Office didn't have enough time to design a special stamp for the exhibition, ordinary postage stamps were over-printed with the words 'Auckland Exhibition 1913'.

 War Stamps

New Zealand's first war stamp was the stamp issued to mark the fighting of New Zealand troops in the Boer War in South Africa. This stamp was issued on 7 December 1900.

When World War I started, the New Zealand Post Office over-printed a number of ½d stamps bearing a picture of King George V with the words 'War Stamp'. Many countries overprinted their stamps like this in wartime, either to get the people's support for the war or to raise money to pay some of the costs of fighting the war. At the end of World War I the New Zealand Government decided that a special stamp set should be issued to celebrate the end of the war. These were called the Victory Stamps and on the 1½d was a picture of a Maori warrior, Maori carving and some native plants. Strangely, people in Great Britain were able to buy this before New Zealanders as the stamps were sold in London in November 1919 but were not sold in New Zealand until January 1920.

The next war stamps to be sold in New Zealand were ANZAC stamps issued in 1936 to mark the 21st anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops on Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey in April 1915. The stamps were sold for double their face value with the extra being used to help soldiers returning from the war.

Then, with the ending of World War II, a special Peace Issue of 11 stamps designed by famous New Zealand stamp designer James Berry was issued on 24 October 1946. These stamps included a tribute to the Army, the Navy and Merchant Navy, the Air Force, and to people who helped the war effort at home. Also included were stamps showing Parliament Buildings, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Royal Family.

 Commemorative Stamps

Over the years, many stamps have been issued in New Zealand to mark special events or dates. One of the first was a set of five stamps issued on 1 October 1936 to mark the Empire Conference of the Chamber of Commerce which was held in Wellington that year. The stamps included scenes showing New Zealand's main exports in the 1930s, such as wool, butter, sheep, and apples. These stamps were so popular that many of the more expensive stamps in the set sold out after the first week.

In 1940 it was New Zealand's centennial - 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, between the Maori chiefs and Queen Victoria’s representatives. The centennial was marked by the issue of a special set of 12 stamps. In the set were stamps that showed some of New Zealand's history. The stamps were: ½d, showing the arrival of the Maoris; 1d, showing Cook's re-discovery of New Zealand; 1½d, showing the Kings and Queens who had ruled New Zealand in the previous 100 years; 2d, showing Tasman's discovery of New Zealand; 2½d, showing the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi; 3d, showing immigrants arriving at Petone; 4d, picturing progress in transport over the years; 6d, marking the first shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand; 8d, showing the Maori Council; 9d, picturing goldmining in New Zealand; and 1 shilling, showing a giant Kauri tree.

The centennial of New Zealand provinces were also marked by the issue of stamps. In 1948 a set of four stamps was issued to mark the centennial of the Province of Otago and, in 1950, a set of five stamps marked the centennial of the Province of Canterbury.Over the years there have been many stamps issued to mark the centenary of many events and organisations.

 Health Stamps

The popular Health stamp series has been issued every year since 1929. Part of the money from the sale of Health stamps goes towards the running of Health camps. The first Health stamps had the word CHARITY written on them but the word on the stamps was changed to HEALTH in 1932. This is probably because, with an Act of Parliament (the Finance Act 1929) saying that Charity stamps could not cost be more than 2d in face value, in order to charge more than 2d for the stamps, the word Charity had to be changed to Health.

Except for 1929, 1930, 1939, 1940 and 1941, different designs have been used on the stamps each year.

Some of the most well-known health stamps are the Red and Blue Boys which were the two stamps in the 1931 set. This set is quite rare because it was issued when New Zealand and the world economy were very low and, for this reason, not many of these stamps were sold.

The 1938 stamp showing children at play is interesting because it shows one of the children as being left-handed. This was because the design was made by using two photographs of the same boy. But the designer turned the photograph back to front in order to help the picture fit onto the stamp and, so, instead of winding up the engine with his right hand, the boy is winding it up with his left hand!

 Scenic Stamps

Each year from 1972 the New Zealand Post Office has issued a scenic or tourist set of stamps to show some of the beauty of our country.

These sets have become very popular. One of the most famous of these sets was issued in 1983. It was called Beautiful New Zealand and was very popular with overseas collectors.

Another very popular set was the set of stamps issued in a scenic booklet in 1992. The ten stamps when joined together showed a beautiful New Zealand scene but when separated, each stamp is a little picture of things like a waterfall, a glacier, hills, fern trees, the seashore, and a pohutukawa tree.

 Government Life Stamps

When the Post Office was first set up in New Zealand in 1840, Government departments were allowed to send their letters through the post without having to pay anything. Later, special stamps were issued to Government departments to put on their letters. These were simply ordinary stamps overprinted with the word 'Official'.

One Government Department that always had to pay postage was the Government Life Insurance Department. In 1891 special stamps were issued for this department and they showed a lighthouse with the words 'State Security' written on the rays from the lighthouse.

Then, in 1947, James Berry designed some new Government Life Insurance Department stamps and on these were pictured New Zealand lighthouses and the famous Eddystone beacon off the Cornish coast in Great Britain.

The final set of Government Life stamps were designed by Allan Mitchell of Wellington and had on them an outline picture of a lighthouse.

New Zealand Government Life Insurance stamps were withdrawn from use on 30 September 1989 when Government Life became the Tower Corporation.

More about Government Life Stamps

 Christmas Stamps

Since 1960, the New Zealand Post Office has released special Christmas stamp issues for the busy Christmas postal season.

Christmas stamps have featured Christmas scenes, churches in New Zealand, the flowering pohutukawa tree at Christmas time, and the words of Christmas carols. The stamps have also shown the way New Zealanders celebrate Christmas such as at a Christmas Day picnic and surfing.

 Other Stamps

The first 'Air Mail' stamp was issued in 10 November 1931 even though there was no regular airmail service at the time. These stamps showed a typical New Zealand scene with an aeroplane flying over a lake. A further stamp was soon overprinted with the words FIVE PENCE to raise the value of the stamp to use on special Christmas airmail flights.

Then, to mark the first official airmail flight from New Zealand to Australia on 17 February 1934, another stamp was overprinted TRANS-TASMAN AIR MAIL "FAITH IN AUSTRALIA".

The Post Office stopped issuing air mail stamps at the end of 1939.

'Express Delivery'stamps were issued on 9 February 1903. 'Express Delivery' was a service where payment of a special fee would mean that your letter would be specially delivered as soon as possible after it was received at the Post Office in the town the letter was addressed to. The same stamp was used for 36 years until, on 16 August 1939, a new design showing a speeding car went on sale.

Because of World War II, the 'Express Delivery' service was stopped from December 1941 but the stamps stayed on sale until 30 June 1948.

'Postage Due' stamps were issued on 1 December 1899 to put on letters that had been posted without the right postage on them. When a letter had a 'Postage Due' stamp on it, the post office people at the town the letter was going to knew how much had to be collected from the person the letter was going to. The design of the 1899 'Postage Due' stamps was a fancy green frame with the value of the stamp inside the frame in large red figures. This design was changed and new stamps issued in 1902 because the 1899 issue had been printed in a hurry and wasn't of very good quality.

 Collecting New Zealand Stamps

During the last 50 years there has been a big change in the design of New Zealand stamps. Most New Zealand stamps used to have a picture of the King or Queen's head on them and, except for the colour and the value of the stamp, they all looked the same. Today, New Zealand stamps are all quite different and feature all sorts of things, from animals, to cars, ships, flowers, birds, pretty scenes and people.

Being inexpensive, bright, well-made, and quite beautiful, New Zealand stamps are very popular with collectors throughout the world.

The best way to learn about New Zealand stamps is to collect them. Collecting stamps is enjoyable, relaxing, and can be quite thrilling, especially when you find a stamp you have spent a long time searching for.