An Internet |
New Zealand Mail and Postie's Choice Stamps |
Generic SeriesANI - Animals Series CAD - Cats and Dogs Series XMA - Christmas Series ROS - Roses Series NGE - North Island Generic Series SGE - South Island Generic Series ZGE - New Zealand Generic Series Regional SeriesNLD - Northland Series AKL - Auckland Series HOW - Howick Village Series FRC - Franklin Country Series HUN - Huntly Series WKT - Waikato Series HAM - Hamilton Series CAM - Cambridge Series OTO - Otorohanga Series WTO - Waitomo Series NPL - New Plymouth Series HAW - Hawera Series COR - Coromandel Series BOP - Bay of Plenty Series ROT - Rotorua Series TAU - Taupo Series WRA - Wairoa Series HAB - Hawkes Bay Series EKE - Eketahuna Series TAR - Tararua Country Series HUV - Hutt Valley Series WLG - Wellington Series NEL - Nelson Series PIC - Picton Series BUL - Buller Series WLD - Westland Series HAS - Hanmer Springs Series KAI - Kaikoura Series CHC - Christchurch Series ASH - Ashburton District Series GER - Geraldine Series CSI - Central South Island Series WNK - Wanaka Series AWT - Arrowtown Series QTN - Queenstown Series QAW - Queenstown, Arrowtown and Wanaka Combined Series COT - Central Otago Series DUN - Dunedin Series GOR - Gore Series SLD - Southland Series Advertising SeriesBCH - Beach Hop Series FSA - Food Safety Series MAM - Maritime Museum Series QLT - Quilting Series RES - Resene Series |
About this siteThis site is intended to be a reference catalogue, checklist and guide to the identification of stamps issued by the New Zealand private postal service and stamp issuer New Zealand Mail, also formerly known as Stamps at Work, Black Sheep Stamps and Postie's Choice. The reason I am compiling this catalogue on-line is that I have not been able to find a comprehensive catalogue of these stamps anywhere else, either on-line or published in book form. BackgroundUnder the Postal Services Act 1998, New Zealand Post lost its monopoly of the carriage of mail for profit. Since then, numerous businesses and companies have been registered as postal operators and are thus able to, among other things, issue adhesive postage stamps. Only about half a dozen such companies have done so, and the purpose of this catalogue is to list those stamps issued for such purposes by New Zealand Mail Limited, and its previous incarnations. As far as I have been able to find out through research at the Companies Office and the Register of Postal Operators, at least three separate companies have operated this postal service. First was Postie's Choice New Zealand Limited, a company incorporated on 18th June, 1998, which was added to the register of postal operators on 17th July, 1998, and removed from the register of postal operators on 20th December, 2002. Next was Stamps at Work Limited, a company incorporated on 23rd August, 2001, which was added to the register of postal operators on 20th December, 2002, and removed from the register of postal operators on 14th June, 2004. The slot on the register of postal operators appears to have remained empty for some months following this. SAW Mail Limited was incorporated on 5th May, 2004, and was added to the register of postal operators on 24th September, 2004. The company name was changed to New Zealand Mail Limited at the Companies Office on 22nd October, 2004, and this change was recorded on the register of postal operators on 28th October, 2004. Note on validity and on "international" stampsNew Zealand Mail Limited has an access agreement with New Zealand Post, which enables New Zealand Mail Limited stamps to be accepted as prepayment for mail posted into the New Zealand Post system. Stamps issued by Stamps at Work, and later issues of Postie's Choice, are also still valid for postage as the various versions of the Postie's Choice "sheep" logo are registered as postal identifiers in the name of New Zealand Mail Limited. However, the original Postie's Choice "P.C." logo does not appear to be registered and stamps only featuring the abbreviation "P.C." are therefore unlikely to be accepted as valid for postage. The $1.50 and $2.00 stamps issued by New Zealand Mail Limited are referred to on their web site as "International Stamps", but they are also seen used for payment on large letters posted within New Zealand. Please note that stamps of New Zealand Mail Limited's sister company, Universal Mail New Zealand Limited, are not within the scope of this catalogue. Note on dates of issueThese stamps are not well publicised and the date of issue of each set is not recorded anywhere that I can find. However, most of these stamps show a serial number consisting of a two or three letter code (recently this code has always been NZM), a month and year (typically in the format 12/07 or similar), and a serial number. In most cases I have assumed that the month and year gives a printing date and consequently an earliest possible date of release. However the actual date of issue of any such stamp could be weeks or even months later. For stamps without serial numbers, or where there is a question about the validity of a printing date, a note is given before the table showing the stamps, printing dates and serial numbers. Note on numbers issuedNo information as to numbers issued of these stamps is available, but on the New Zealand Mail Limited web site it is stated that the minimum print run for a customer is 10,000 stamps. Therefore, as the stamps are often issued in booklets of ten different stamps, as few as one thousand may exist of any particular stamp. |