With 2022 finished, its time to take a look at the 2023 stamps from New Zealand. The year starts February 1 with New Zealand author and journalist Katherine Mansfield. The set follows in the philatelic footsteps of New Zealand’s numerous celebrations of women, like the 2022 Women in Science. From there New Zealand Post quickly flows into another movie/fantasy set, this year Avatar. The rest of 2023 program is tentative, and will be subject to change, but so far this is what should be expected:
- Fish and Game (February)
- Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Diary (March)
- Forests and Birds 100 Years (April)
- King Charles III (May)
- Pacific Language Week (June)
- Midcentury Toys (July)
- 1873 Newspaper Stamp 150th Anniversary (July)
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (August)
- Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 (September)
- Waka Ama (September)
- Christmas 2023 (October)
- Kiwi Pets (November)
- Year of the Dragon 2024 (December)
It’s an interesting program, but the Matariki, the Māori New Year seems to be missing. The last two years featured outstanding artwork from Dave Burke (2021)
and KE Design (2022)
I’m hoping to see it pop up around June, so don’t forget to check in. The best way to stay up to date is through my weekly newsletter. It’s free and lists any new stamps and articles posted through the week. You also get subscriber only content. It comes out Sunday evening (depending on your time zone, it may be early Monday morning).
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I also post notices on the main 2023 Programs page, so you can always give it a quick scan for updated countries.
February
Katherine Mansfield 1888-1923
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, 4 sheets of 20, logo pairs, presentation pack (A & B pairs not shown)
offset lithography
- ‘I want to be all that I am capable of becoming
- ‘I’m a writer first and a woman after’
- ‘Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others’
- ‘To be alive and … a ‘writer’ is enough’
Katherine Mansfield was a pioneer in the modernist movement.
A broadly defined multinational cultural movement (or series of movements) that took hold in the late 19th century and reached its most radical peak on the eve of World War I. It grew out of the philosophical, scientific, political, and ideological shifts that followed the Industrial Revolution, up to World War I and its aftermath. For artists and writers, the Modernist project was a re-evaluation of the assumptions and aesthetic values of their predecessors. Modernism | Poetry Foundation
Illustration by Duncan McPhee for Mansfield’s short story Bliss
The Poetry Foundation has a brief, but illuminating bio on Mansfield and how WW1 deeply affected her outlook on the world:
In France during the summer of 1915, Mansfield spent time with her brother Leslie, reflecting on their family and life in New Zealand. Tragically, Leslie was killed during training for service in WWI; “blown to bits” while demonstrating how to throw a hand grenade, remarked Mansfield. Following his death, she drew upon the memories of New Zealand discussed with her brother in writing some of her most well-known work, including Bliss and Other Stories (1920), The Garden Party, and Other Stories (1922), and her novel The Aloe (1930). Katherine Mansfield | Poetry Foundation
New Zealand TV produced a documentary on Mansfield in 1986. You can watch it on the NZ On Screen website free, and without any geoblocking issues. Just click on the green badge below.
Designer: Caitlin McArthur, NZ Post
Congratulations to Caitlin on her first stamp design.
McArthur describes herself as a “… Designer, Storyteller and Design Thinker passionate about human-centered design”. She worked with Katherine Mansfield House and Garden and the Alexander Turnbull Library to create this celebration of Mansfield’s life.
Release date: February 1, 2023
March
Avatar
6 stamps, 6 miniature sheets, 7 FDCs, 6 sheets of 20, presentation pack, (logo pairs, A & Bs not shown)
offset lithography
Designer: Chris Jones, Graphetti
Release date: March 1, 2023
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy
6 stamps, presentation pack, limited edition presentation pack, 3 FDC, 6 maxi cards, cancel, A & B barcode, sheets of 20, Hairy pin
Four process colours plus spot overgloss
Hairy Maclary was a children’s book series created by Dame Lynley Dodd. The first book, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy was published 1983.
- Hairy Maclary – a terrier (of sorts)
- Hercules Morse – a mastiff
- Bottomley Potts – a Dalmatian
- Muffin McLay- an English sheepdog
- Bitzer Maloney – a greyhound
- Schnitzel Von Krumm – a dachshund
Lynley Dodd – Penguin Books Australia
Designer: Hannah Fortune
Release date: March 1, 2023
April
Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday – Celebrating 100 years of conservation 1923-2023
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, 4 sheets of 20, 4 maxi cards, 4 greeting cards, presentation pack (A & B pairs not shown)
offset lithography
New Zealand Post offers this set as towels as well:
Kāpiti Island is home to the Forest & Bird sanctuary. It’s roots as a sanctuary predate the establishment of Forest and Bird. Although set up in 1897 as a bird sanctuary, it wasn’t until the 1920s when Ernest Valentine (Val) Sanderson returned home from WW1, that the island became a proper protected land.
“We have robbed the birds of tremendous areas of bush on the mainland. Are we not patriotic enough to give them a last secure resting place on this small island, seven miles by one mile in area, in order that our children and children’s children may see and learn what New Zealand was really like when their daring forefathers first set foot in this land of ours?” Captain Ernest “Val” Sanderson wrote in 1922. A History of Forest & Bird | Forest and Bird
The Catlins, Otago
Waitākere Ranges, Auckland Walks and hikes in Auckland | Aucklandnz.com
Buller Plateau, West Coast
Designer: Rachel Walker Rachel Walker (walkerillo.com)
Rachel Walker (AKA Walkerillo) is renowned for watercolour, spray paint, pen and ink artworks that draw on her awe of the natural world. Her drippy, energetic style is both loose in form and precisely detailed — capturing the attitude and beauty of birds, sea creatures, reptiles and wild animals. About Rachel Walker — Rachel Walker (walkerillo.com)
Release date: April 5, 2023
May
King Charles III
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, presentation pack, 4 sheets of 20
offset lithography
Designer: Hannah Fortune
Release date: May 3, 2023
King Charles III Coronation
6 stamps on souvenir sheet
Designer: NZ Post
Release date: May 8, 2023
June
Great Walks
Definitives
5 stamps, booklets, FDC, cancel, A and B Barcode blocks
offset
- $3.30 Emerald Lakes, Tongariro Crossing
- $4.00 Island Bay, Wellington
- $4.60 Routeburn Track
- $5.30 Te Urewera, Lake Waikaremoana
- $6.90 Abel Tasman National Park
Designer: NZ Post
Release date: June 7, 2023
July
Mid-century Toys
9 stamps on a sheet, FDC, cancel
offset
- $2.00 WWII hospital ship – homemade toy from WW2 period
- $2.00 Hercules tractor – modeled on the Hercules Steel Products tractor
- $2.00 Fun Ho! car – Fun Ho!, formed in 1935, is still in business Fun Ho! Toys – Home (funhotoys.co.nz)
- $2.00 Lines Bros. dump truck – Lines Bros produced tinplated toys, dolls.
- $2.00 Luvme teddy bear – Luvme Toy Manufacturing Co. Ltd was formed in 1939
- $2.00 Train
- $2.00 Paper doll
- $2.00 H. E. Ramsey Mary Lou doll
- $2.00 Pedigree Māori doll – from the 1960s
Designer: Helen Perkins
Release date: July 5, 2023
August
Pets of New Zealand
4 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, sheets of 20 (also available a and b barcodes)
offset
- Cavalier King Charles spaniel Spencer
- Zita the cat
- Kea the parrot
- Oh-good the sheep
Designer: Hannah Fortune
Release date: August 2, 2023
1873 Newspaper Stamp
1 stamp on souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel
offset
In December of 1864, a 1d rate was imposed on the delivery of newspapers in New Zealand. Throughout the following decade, the rate was removed, replaced and changed several times, until finally rate of ½d was introduced on 1 January 1873. In conjunction with the reduction in price, a special newspaper stamp was issued for payment of this fee.
1873 Newspaper Stamp (nzpost.co.nz)
Designer: Caitlin McArthur
Release date: August 2, 2023
November
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 20th Anniversary
6 stamps, 6 souvenir sheets, 3 presentation packs, 6 maxi cards, 6 sheets of 20, 6 pins, also available are a number of framed prints
offset
Designer: Sacha Lees
Release date: November 1, 2023
December
Lunar New Year
4 stamps, 24-carat gold foil souvenir sheet, 4 FDCs, presentation pack, 4 sheets of 20, also available stickers, pinback, medallions, barcode and logo blocks, framed stamps
offset
Designer: YMC Design
YMC (ymcdesign.co.nz) YMC has designed the past 3 Lunar New Year stamps, starting with the Ox in 2021.
Release date: December 6, 2023
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