NEW POSTAGE STAMPS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1931, Page 8

NEW POSTAGE STAMPS

AIR MAIL SERIES SOON. SETS FOR THE ISLANDS. - New aerial post stamps for New Zealand and a complete change of the series now being used i nthe' Island, do- j pendencies are now being prepared.! There is also a possibility that the 1/3 stamps recently issued may he with- ■ drawn. [ It is proposed to issue a set of tbi ,0 e | aerial post stamps, of the denominations of 3d, 4d, and 7d, the fees charged or correspondence posted for carriage ; by the overseas air services. The proposed stamps will have an appropriate design, the work of Mr Martin, a W el-j lington artist, but the plates will be made in England. A special stamp for the payment of air mail fees in New Zealand was prepared previously, hut has never been | placed on issue, and will now be sup- ' erseded by the set of three. J It is also intended to withdraw the | pictorial sets now being used in Rarotonga, Niuef Aitutaki, Penrhyn, and substitute one set comprising seven values for the Cook Tslancls, and another similar series for Niue. The new stamps will be issued in 3d, Id, 2d, 2,}d, 4d, 6d, and 1/- values, the difference between the two Sets being 01 the borders of the central design. For stamps of higher denomination the present practice of overprinting the New Zealand stamps will continue. Pictorial Designs. The designs which have been chosen will he as follow: J 2 d, landing of Captain Cook, with his vessel in the background, and a group of natives under coeoaimt trees ashore; Id, Captain Cook ill naval headdress: 2d. a double Maori canoe; 2ld. natives working cargo between the shore and a schooner at anchor, with a cargo shed and cocoa nut palms in the foreground ; 4d, the port of Avarua ; fid, R.M.S. Monowai, which connects Rarotonga with the rest of the world, seen by moonlight; 1/-, his Majesty in mufti. As with the air stamps, the plates will ho manufactured in England and the stamps printed at the Government Printing Office. No announcement has vet been made as to whethei it is in tended that a new set of stamps should be issue for Samoa. AH these changes -are independent, of the competition for a new series of pictorial stamps for New Zealand which is at present being conducted. Recent Issue Criticised. 1 | The 1/3 stamps which were placed on sale a few months ago have been roundly condemned by philatelists. Of an armorial, design,, which the “New Zealand Stamp Collector” alleges is inaccurate, the stamp is printed in a dull yellow, which the philatelic journal, having remarked upon the difficulty of 1 aderma+ely describing it. calls “unripe lemon.” ’Plie secretary oP the Christchurch Philatelic Society, Mr TV. Peers, has ; written to the Prime Minister stating that his society declares that it is “the world’s worst example of a stamp sold for postal purposes,” and asking that ic be withdrawn. Replying on helm If of the Prime Minister, the HOll. TV. A. Veiteh wrote stating that he would be glad to go into the matter with he Postmaster-General.