RARE FIND IN STAMPS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 28 November 1927, Page 6

RARE FIND IN STAMPS

FIRST ISSUE TO COLONY. PAIR WORTH £l5O. (Special to '"Tribune”! Auckland, Nov. 28. A pair of the first penny postage stamps issued for New Zealand, valued at £l5O, has been obtained by an Auckland collector. The lucky philateist is Mr. A. Brodie, of 39 Hellaby’s Buildings. There are only about 16 copies ot the stamps in existence. They form a link with New Zealand's early history, the penny stamps having been limited to letters "sent or received by sailors- or soldiers of her Majesty’s Forces.” They were issued in 1855, having been designed and engraved by William Humphreys and printed by Perkins. Bacon and Co., of London, from steel plates. The first issue of stamps for New Zealand included penny, twopenny and shilling varieties. Of the penny stamps 12.000 were issued in 50 sheets of 240 each. The design is a “threequarter bust of Queen Victoria, crowned, with garter ribbon and royal robes, in low-necked dress, an engine-turned background within a double-lined circle.” The latest London catalogues have recorded the increase in value of the penny stamp at £3O to £6O each, and the joined pair is worth considerably more than two separate stamps. Another rare find of Mr. Brodie’s is a block of four New Zealand pennies, unused, imperforate, printed in Auckland in 1862, and worth £l5O. He also has copies of the first stamps printed in Auckland by J. Richardson in 1855. His collection is a most interesting one.