The round Kiwis are back

Kiwi is another name of New Zealand. Found nowhere else in the world, this small flightless, nocturnal bird is New Zealand's national symbol. Its uniqueness makes it appear everywhere in New Zealand, including its postage stamps.

The famous round kiwi stamps of 33mm diameter were issued in 1988 (as seen below) and became an instant hit all over the country. This stamp was initially produced in a green colour, in booklets of six stamps; later printings in sheet format were in red, blue and purple. The first three printings of this stamp were by Leigh-Mardon by intaglio with the red and blue printings in sheets of 24 stamps. The purple printing was produced by Southern Colour Print by lithography in sheets of 36 stamps. The stamp was engraved by G T Prosser of the British American Banknote Inc. Canada from a design completed by Allan Mitchell.

The round stamps were issued in many denominations thereafter on a number of occasions. To celebrate the passing over from one millennium to the next, New Zealand Post issued a 1999 Last Sunset cover, featuring a round Kiwi stamp with a gold sun overprinted in the selvedge. What made this feature particularly interesting for collectors was that the round purple Kiwi stamp was no longer available for sale, and only a small quantity of these stamps has been overprinted to mark this occasion. In March 2000, the round gold colour kiwi stamp of $1 denomination was issued in the sheet form.

Now after 23 years of its first appearance and almost 11 years after the last print, the New Zealand postal authorities have decided to bring back the round kiwis once again on huge public demands as these stamps have almost been drilled into the life of ordinary New Zealander.

A mint strip of three gummed round kiwi stamps brings delight to the ordinary people and stamp lovers and philatelists all over the world. The stamps come in three colours and three different denominations. The black stamps values $1.20, the grey one is priced $1.90 and the blue round stamps is priced at $2.40.

Besides the mint strip of three stamps, the stamps also come in sheet of 10 stamps and set of three Plate blocks. A FDC bearing the mint strip of three stamps is priced $ 6.00

So good luck to the New Zealanders for embracing the round kiwi stamps once again and for philatelists to add to their existing collection of older round kiwi stamps issued between 1988-2000. 

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Vintage stamps of New Zeland in my collection

New Zealand issued its postal stamps on 18 July 1855. These stamps were 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 and 2 pennies and 1 shilling and were printed in Britain. When Queen Victoria died, King Edward VII, was crowned. New Zealand stamps with his picture were issued in 1909.

In 1915, New Zealand issued a set of 15 stamps bearing the head of King George V, of which I have two stamps (left column above).

1926, a set of three stamps was issued known as King George V Admirals. The red stamp (centre column above) was known as Red Field Marshal, while the other two stamps (not in my collection) were known as Blue Admiral of the Fleet and Purple Admiral of the Fleet.

In 1938, two sets of stamps were issued bearing head of King George VI. The first set consisted of 13 stamps, of which I have two (right column above). The other set consisted of four stamps of which I have none.

In 1953, after coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, three sets of stamps were issued by New Zealand. The first set six stamps showed head of the Queen facing left, of which I have four stamps (fourth row). The second set of four stamps showed the portrait of the Queen with sash facing right, of which I have two (last row). The third set of four stamps showed the Queen on a horseback.

I have some more stamps, which I will share later.

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First postage stamps of Nauru

Nauru, measuring just 21 square kilometers, is the smallest island independent country of the world located in the South Pacific Ocean region. The present Republic of Nauru was once the Pleasant Island, located some 300 kilometers of Banaba Island in Kiribati. 

The history of Nauru dates back to some 3000 years inhabited by the Micronesian and Polynesian. A British mariner and whale hunter John Fearn is said to be the first outsider from the western world to have landed at Nauru as far back in 1798 and it was he who named it as the "Pleasant Island". This visitation opened this tiny island to the rest of the world and the island traded food for alcoholic palm. 

Nauru was annexed as a colony by the German Empire in the 19th century (1888 to be exact) and since then changed many hands. The Germans called the island Nawodo or Onawero. After WW-I, Nauru was administered by Australia, New Zealand and the Great Britain under the mandate of the League of Nations. The Japanese captured Nauru during the WW-II. In 1947, under a trusteeship of the United Nations, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom became the U.N. trustees of the island. Nauru became self-governing in January 1966, and following a two-year constitutional convention, it became independent in 1968.

Why Nauru, a small island, had been interest to so many countries? Well it is the phosphate deposits on this tiny island that attracted everyone to it. The mining of phosphate started as early as 1907. The deposits made Nauru one of the richest countries, till the deposits ran out in the 1980s. Nauru, which once boasted of a country with the highest per capita income in the world, is now struggling to survive with no worthwhile resources to feed its people. With a population of around 10,000 approximately, the literacy rate is 96%.

The stamps above (top line) were printed in 1916 (top), the first ever stamps of Nauru. Actually these were British stamps with overprint Nauru. A total of 11 such stamps were issued with Nauru overprint. The two stamps underneath (left) are a part of a set of three stamps issued in 1984. The stamp on the right was issued in 1978 on the eve of Christmas.

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Stamps of Gilbert and Ellice Islands

Perhaps not many would remember the name of Gilbert and Ellice Islands since these have merged into new countries decades ago. The Gilbert & Ellice Islands comprise a group of islands spread over two million square miles north of Fiji in the Pacific Ocean. Early in World War II the northern part of the groups was captured by the Japanese (Tarawa on 1oth December, 1941). The European population was withdrawn but some control was maintained at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands until Tarawa was recaptured by the Americans in November 1943. Ocean Island was held by the Japanese until August 1945.

These Islands became a protectorate of the Great Britain in 1892. Later these become a British Colony in 1916. On 1 January 1976, these islands were separated into two different colonies. The Gilbert Islands became part of the Kiribati in 1079, while the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978.

The first stamps of the Islands were issued in 1911 as the regular mail service was inaugurated. Before that the mail was subject to ships arriving into the Islands. The first stamp was in fact a Fijian stamp with the overprint GILBERT & ELLICE / PROTECTORATE. The George V stamps were issued in 1912 with the own name of the Islands. The same stamps were replaced with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II of England as seen above.

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A page from my stamp album - Australia

The postal history of Australia dates back to 1 January 1901, when the six self-governing colonies of present day Australia formed the Commonwealth of Australia and the postal, telegraph and telephone services became the responsibility of the newly formed Commonwealth. However, prior to this formation, the six colonies have been issuing their stamps independently. These colonies included the Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and the New South Wales. New South Wales issued its first stamp in 1850.

The first stamp of Australia appeared on 2 January 1913 with the issue of one penny Kangaroo and Map. This was the first definitive stamp with the sole nomenclature “Australia”.

The earliest stamps of the Australia that I have are that with the profile of King George V, issued on 8 December 1913 (top left corner of the page from my stamp album above). These stamps continued for the next 23 years. The next king to appear was King George VI (second column of my album). When Queen Elizabeth II took over the reins of British monarchy, her profile appeared on the Australian stamps as well (numerous stamps on my album). With the introduction of the decimal system on 14th February 1966, the face value of stamps changed to cents as can be seen on some of the stamp above.

The last definitive stamp featuring the monarch appeared on 1 October 1971. Since then, the designs of all Australian definitive values have focused on fauna, flora, reptiles, butterflies, marine life, gemstones, paintings, handicrafts, visual arts, community and the like. From 1980, a stamp has been issued annually to commemorate the monarch's birthday. Australia's first commemorative stamp was issued on 9 May 1927 to mark the opening of the first Parliament House in Canberra. Australia's first airmail-designated stamp appeared on 20 May 1929. The first self-adhesive commemoratives appeared in 1993.

Till 1977, the portraits of only monarchs appeared on Australian stamps. However, since 1977, the profile and portraits of other celebrities also made their view to Australian stamps. One such stamp that I have is that of Henry Lawson in the bottom of third column from the left.

Related Link: Three Half Pence or One Half Pence (My Philatelic World)

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