New Zealand crypto stamps started off with a journey through 14 classics from 1898 and leapfrogged  to 2024’s Lunar New Year. Within 2 years, they covered a lot of New Zealand’s history and a significant shift in design styles.  The 1898 stamps were, and still are, among NZ’s most popular and loved stamps, and remain hugely collectable. 

“These stamps are important to Aotearoa New Zealand as they were one of the world’s earliest pictorial definitive issues, and a huge departure from the usual portrait designs of monarchs and heads of state that were available beforehand.” 
NZ Post’s first-ever digital stamps sell out within two hours – NZ Post Collectables

 The 2023 crypto stamps were well received and sold out in 2 hours. It’ll be interesting to see how the future NFTs shake out for NZ given the popularity of the early releases. It’ll would be exciting to see the post office employ artists to create unique works for new issues. Modern designs that showcase Aotearoa’s modern face. That would create quite a stir. 

 As usual, I’ve included lots of extra details about the stamps, including info on the original artists and engravers. Hope you enjoy reading about them, as much as I enjoyed writing this article. 

Cheers
Catpaw

2023

June

Crypto #1 – 1898 Pictorials
Series One

Status: sold out

Original designs were done by:

• Henry William Young ( 1840-1903) 1/2d stamp. He worked for New Zealand Graphic and Star Printing Works. 
• J Gaut 1d,. Australian born artist who visited New Zealand sometime in the 1860s.  He spent about 10 years living in the country, painting the landscape and people. Douglas Jenkin’s website has a fascinating writeup on this artist. The appearances and disappearances of Joseph Gaut | douglas lloyd jenkins: (wordpress.com) Worth the time to read. 
• W R Bock the 2d, 3d, 9d and 1s values

The originals were engraved, like almost all early stamps. The work was done by Waterlow and Sons, England (unnamed engraver) and printed with the recess method. 

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Release date: June 10, 2023

This set of stamps were the first that didn’t feature Queen Victoria, as was the basic standard since the first releases in 1855. New Zealand held a competition for the first non royal stamps and over 2,000 entries were received. 

The decision to break away from featuring stamps with Queen Victoria’s portrait was a bold one and not without some risk of offending public opinion. A design competition was held that attracted over 2,400 entries. The selection criteria – ‘to include a representation of characteristic or notable New Zealand scenery in the design and a stamp issue symbolic of the land.’
1898 The First Pictorial Issue. (virtualnewzealandstamps.blogspot.com)This is an excellent site to learn more about the stamps. Good reference spot to bookmark.

The winning designs were picked by Charles Decimus Barraud,, artist and pharmacist who died a year after the stamps release; architect and town planner Samuel Hurst Seager who made his mark on New Zealand’s history as one of the designers of the unique New Zealand bungalows; Assistant Secretary and Inspector of the Post Office T. Rose; Wellington Technical School director  Arthur Riley; and Samuel Costall, a well respected printer.

Mount Cook 1/2d
New Zealand’s highest point. Current height is 3,724 metres (12,218 feet).

Copies: 2,898
Rarity: Common
Edition Type: First Edition

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Lake Taupo 1d
Largest lake in New Zealand

Copies: 2,898
Rarity: Common
Edition Type: First Edition

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Pembroke Peak 2d
Southern most point on west coast South Island. 7,000 feet high.

Copies: 1,898
Rarity: Uncommon
Edition Type: First Edition

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Milford Sound 2s

South Islands

Copies: 1,898
Rarity: Uncommon
Edition Type: First Edition

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White Terraces 4d
The White and Pink Terraces were destroyed June 10, 1886 in a volcano eruption. The images were based on existing photos and paintings created before the explosion.

Copies: 1,498
Rarity: Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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Pink Terraces 9d

Copies: 898
Rarity: Ultra Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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Lake Wakatipu
Second largest lake in New Zealand
The original stamp contained a spelling mistake that is duplicated on the digital re-print. The lake is misspelled Wakitipu. A corrected stamp was released a month later. According to Virtual New Zealand, interest in the original error was very high, so New Zealand post ran a reprint of the error stamp. This led to a surplus of the error, so the mint version isn’t worth much, but fun to have. Actual used editions are not so common and the real collectable. 

Copies: 598
Rarity: Secret Rare
Edition Type: First Edition 

December

Crypto #2 – 1898 Pictorials
Series Two

Status: sold out

Original designs were done by:

• E Howard  4d, 6d and 8d
• E T Luke  2 1/2d, 5d, 2s and 5s stamps.

The originals were engraved by Waterlow and Sons, England (unnamed engraver) and printed with the recess method. These stamps were part of the original 1889 Pictorial release. 

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Release date: December 2, 2023

Kiwi 6d 
Kiwi (Apterygidae)

Copies: 1,898
Rarity: Uncommon
Edition Type: First Edition

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Mount Cook 5s
Interesting bit of history: Sir Edmund Hilary cut his climbing teeth on this mountain.

Copies: 1,898
Rarity: Uncommon 

Edition Type: First Edition

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Otira Gorge 5d

The gorge is surrounded by 2,797 meters high mountains. 

Copies: 1,498
Rarity: Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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War Canoe and Crown 8d
Boating NZ has a few things to say about this issue. MARITIME STORIES IN STAMPS – Boating New Zealand (boatingnz.co.nz)

Copies: 1,498
Rarity: Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) 3d
The now extinct Huia was once a prized for it’s beautiful feathers. It was driven into extinction by 1907, from over hunting, habitat clearances and collectors who hunted them down in large numbers for museum collections.  Also called the wattle bird. 
“Its plumage was a glossy black with metallic green and blue-violet reflections, especially on the head.” Huia – Heteralocha acutirostris (oiseaux.net). It was this bird’s inclusion in New Zealand’s 2023 Bird of the Year contest. Because it was already extinct, a kerfuffle broke out about whether it should be in the contest. 

It was picked as the Bird of the Century in 2023. The bird had a serious cultural significance to the Māori people who viewed it as a sacred bird. 

Before the arrival of Europeans, the huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) was already a rare bird, confined to the mountain ranges of the lower North Island. Its blue-black plumage was similar to the tūī’s, but the white-banded tail feathers were unique among endemic birds and were prized by Māori. A European craze for huia feathers led to increased hunting, and by the 1920s this beautiful bird was extinct. Hunting hastened the demise of a species that was already declining as a result of habitat loss and predation by rats, cats and stoats. Huia: Tuia Mātauranga Curiosity Card | Story | DigitalNZ

Copies: 898
Rarity: Ultra Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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Kea (Nestor notabilis) and Kākā (Nestor meridionalis)  1s
Two parrots endemic to NZ.

Copies: 898
Rarity: Ultra Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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Lake Wakatipu 2 1/2d
Contains the same spelling error.

Copies: 598 
Rarity: Secret Rare 
Edition Type: First Edition

2024

February

Year of the Dragon

Designer: YMC Design 
YMC also designed the previous 3 Lunar NY stamps for New Zealand. 

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Release date: February 16, 2024

Longevity Noodles

Editions: 1,888
Rarity: Uncommon
Edition Type: First Edition

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Garden of Prosperity 

Copies: 1,688
Rarity: Rare
Edition Type: First Editio

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Land of Good Fortune 

Copies: 1,688
Rarity: Rare
Edition Type: First Edition

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Festive Fireworks

Copies: 888
Rarity: Ultra Rare
Edition Type: First Editio

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Miniature Sheet

Copies: 688
Rarity: Secret Rare
Edition Type: First Editio

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Medallion

Copies: 688
Rarity: Secret Rare
Edition Type: First Edition