Postage Stamps.

Hokitika Guardian, 31 October 1922, Page 3

Postage Stamps.

NEW ZEALAND COLLECTIONS. ;

KXHTBTTKB IX AYICL! JXGTOX j WELLINGTON, Oft 28. j An interesting collection of .stnnips • is on exhibition in McGregor Wright’s galleries, in connection with the I’hila- i telic Conference. Many of the stnnips | are interesting to the expert, because; although apparently the same, they ' have different water marks, or different dates of printing. Hut there are many to attract the layman, to whom ; one stamp is very like another. VICTORY STAMPS. Sets of Victory stamps of many different. countries are to he seen, all most artistically arranged with little ; illustrative sketches drawn by the secretary, Alt’ Collins. There are the New Zealand .Victory stamps—those , lor Samoa with the name over-print-ed—Jamaica, with a picture of a troop ; skip departing, Barbados, Bahamas, St lvetts-Xevis. Belgium, with King Albert’s head, in a “tin” hat, Switzerland, and Crmtuay, which has chosen ; the American Statue of biberty as its j design. Newfoundland chose the badge of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment for its design, and the stamps arc marked with the names of battles in which the regiment wnk engaged—Sulvn Bay, Cambrni, etc. ; A set of Cook Island stamps is inter-

esting as showing different stamps for each island.—Aitutaki. Niue, etc., though the Rnrotongan are now generally used for all. “KING’S DEATH MASK.”

Aii interesting exhibit is ,-i stamp named the “King’s Death Mask.” said to have been issued by the ex-Queen of Serbia after the murder of the King. A collection of stamps pictured war scenes and showed much occasions as the Declaration of Independence in America, scenes on battlefields of Serbia, Hungary, Turkey, etc. Some stamps show pictures of Turkish artillery and trenches. A collection of war stamps includes those used in the Crimea and South African campaigns, as well as the Great 'War. and a number of censor stamps. New Zealand stamps of all dates are to be seen, including the pictorial set issued in 1898-90. MATtI,Y ENGLISH. Old English stamps, including the first issued in 1840, form part of the exhibit, also an envelope with the mark used before stamps were printed, which is of interest in that it is addrressed to the secretary of the New Zealand Company in London before stamps were issued here, and an early letter sent to New Zealand in 1843. are to be seen.

Rets of the stamps of all countries are of course on view, and it is interesting to note .sets of Tuscany and Sicily, issued before Italy became a united kingdom. Among the Canadian stamps are the “All Red” issue, and one commemorating Queen Victoria’s jubilee.

The first Samoan stamps were issued by the, “Express” office, and a stamp also issued by a company is that of Christmas Island .a very elaborate pictorial one. . A El! IA I, STA All’S. Aerial stamps are also to be seen, and it is rather amusing to notice that small countries such as Lithuania have elaborate sets, while Great Britain has never issued one, the envelopes simply being marked. France has no special stamp, but the aerial mail company Iras i“sucd its own. Newfoundland printed a special stamp on the arrival of the first trans-Atlantic airship. Some philatelic errors which have made stamps valuable to a collector are shown, and one of the Christchurch Exhibition, of which only two sheets were issued, when the colour was changed, forms a valuable exhibit.