New Zealand’s Revenue Stamps

Revenue stamps were introduced in New Zealand with the first series of imperforate long type Queen Victoria stamps inscribed stamp duty in 1867, and were finally removed from sale in early 1958 when the final series (the 1957-8) of social security wage tax were replaced by PAYE (pay as you earn) tax deductions effected by one’s employer. During the almost 90 year use of revenues in New Zealand perhaps the most ubiquitous were the 1880 long type Queen Victoria stamps and the largest sized were certainly the Victorian beer duty stamps – these needed to be large because they had to be affixed over the beer barrel bungs before they were sold by breweries.

During this time a number of stamp duty stamps were able to be used for postal purposes and were quite properly the high denomination stamps of the New Zealand 1882 second side face series of ten stamps that ranged from ½d to 1/-. These New Zealand stamps were the first to be inscribed postage and revenue. Previously all New Zealand’s stamps had been inscribed only withpostage and these could not be used for revenue purposes. The 1953 coronation set of 5 stamps was the last to be inscribed postage and revenue.

Fig 1: 1867 die I imperf 4/4d, die I 12/6d, and die II 6d.

The initial 1867 Queen Victoria stamp duty stamps were issued imperforate. They range in denomination from 1d to £10 with a range of colours of both the background and the denominations. These were printed from original dies or die I. Many of these denominations are exceptionally scarce whether mint or fiscally used and can command prices in excess of $2500 each.

Also issued from 1867 were similar but perforate die I stamp duty stamps ranging in denomination from 1d to £50. Again they had a range of coloured backgrounds and denominations – some being the same as the earlier imperforate stamp duty stamps. Denominations above £1 command good prices.

A new die (die II) was used for later printings of the 1867 Queen Victoria stamp duty series and denominations ranging from 1d to £50 can be found on this issue of perforate stamps. The difference between the two dies can be discerned by looking at the value panel at the top of the stamps.

Die I value panels are taller and have closely spaced vertical lines whilst die I1 value panels are shorter and have the vertical lines more widely spaced. A more distinct difference is that, in die I there is a clear coloured dot in the top right comer, to left of the fern which is absent on die II stamps. Also, on die II stamps the two white dots in the coloured circular ring between STAMP DUTY and NEW ZEALAND are larger than those on die I stamps.

Specially printed imperforate high value stamp duty stamps in this design were printed as required in gold with their denominations in blue ink. Such values up to £35,00 are known and whilst each is probably unique they may sell for several hundred dollars each. The 1867 stamp duty type may be found inscribed COUNTERPART, FINE PAID or NOT LIABLE as well as a range (from 1% to 10%) of Ad Valorem (for estate duty purposes) values indicated as 10p ct. and TEN/PER CENT in the panels above and below the Queen’s head. The Ad Valorem stamps are scarce.

In 1880 a new design of Queen Victoria stamp duty stamps replaced the 1867 series. These were only issued perforate and had two distinct value panels – again above and below the central vignette of Queen Victoria; however unlike in the earlier series these were white voids on to which the denominations were printed resulting in a much cleaner looking design overall.

This design can be found with denominations ranging from 4d to £1000 and whilst many are relatively common and hence cheap there are some that command four figure sums. There is much to interest collectors in this issue apart from trying to attain completeness! For example; three denominations (£15, £40 and £50) each have more than one length of denomination lettering in the upper panel and these differences result in eight different stamps to collect – not three!

After scanning a £50 (the length of FIFTY is 10mm in the upper panel) 1880 stamp duty type for illustrating this article a huge plate variety was noticed, but only after seeing it enlarged on a computer screen! An additional frame line runs to the right of the stamp’s outer frame at the right and turns underneath the design at the base and continues until reaching the U of POUNDS. As a colleague said: There must be HUGE potential for research in that area. A normal example is shown for comparison below.

The 1880 stamp duty type can be found with other inscriptions such as FINE PAID, or NOT LIABLE. Alternatively they may be found overprinted with COUNTERPART. DENOTING. FINE PAID or with PASSPORT FEE. Whilst the latter two types may be expensive to acquire the others may not be.

So far so good – now for some complications! It is relatively easy to collect New Zealand revenues as single stamps and for those who wish to there is ample scope to collect them with different perforations as well as on different papers, but just try collecting them on document! That is where one starts to need panadol tablets as this requirement causes headaches – big time!

Fig 2: 1880 £50 (with variety) used on piece and normal.

Apart from the size of the documents (foolscap) – if one can obtain them – most revenues are at best able to be collected only on piece. This is because many lawyers’ offices need space in their offices. When a legal document no longer has any use the lawyers find it expedient to discard them, but in order to save personal details from going public many an office clerk has been told to cut off the stamps and then destroy the rest of the legal document.

So is it easy to acquire New Zealand stamps in relatively good condition? Yes and no! Barring the likes of beer duty stamps, which because of their nature of intended use are normally expected to be found damaged, many can be found damaged and again many are not!

Going back to the original legal document, in the early days of New Zealand these were painstakingly written out by hand on parchment. This has a rather greasy feel and stamps do not adhere terribly well to such surfaces. The Victorians overcame this problem by affixing the relevant revenue stamps on to a piece of (often coloured) paper (see figures 2 and 5). This was then affixed to the parchment/document by punching a piece of silver foil through one or more stamps as well as gluing the piece to the parchment and affixing a monogram to the reverse of the parchment/document. This prevented the foil thread from becoming free, because any legal document that did not have the requisite stamps affixed was deemed to be null and void until they were affixed. Three different monograms may be relatively easily found (each bearing VR, EVIIR or GVR).

Fig 3: New Zealand VR, EVIIR and GVR monogram seals usually found on the reverse of documents with foil punched revenues.

Sometimes various New Zealand revenue stamps can be found with one or more vertical (or sometimes horizontal) slits. This occurred after soaking the stamp(s) when the silver foil was removed from the document.

To further help complicate matters many New Zealand 1867 die I and die II Queen Victoria stamp duty stamps are found with trimmed perfs! Perforated stamps were trimmed to avoid the stamps’ perforations becoming caught up with stamps on another document as any movement of the documents with any stamp being entangled may have resulted in the stamp(s) being prised loose from the document. This could entail a costly replacement stamp needing to be affixed prior to the document being able to be legally acted upon.

One must take care not to confuse a trimmed perforate die I stamp duty with an imperforate die I stamp duty stamp. Trimmed die I and die II 1867 stamp duties and trimmed 1880 stamp duties are relatively bountiful and are worth a fraction of those that are not.

From 1931 a new series of NZ revenue stamps replaced the Queen Victoria stamp duty stamps – these were the arms type issue. Whilst these were also inscribed stamp duty they were also valid for postal purposes. Most of the arms type stamps up to £2 may be reasonably readily acquired postally used as well as of course fiscally used. In general the arms type stamps above £ will most probably be seen fiscally used.

Fig 4: 1931 1/3d lemon and 1967 $10 arms type stamps.

New Zealand changed to decimal currency in 1967. The 1960 definitives were essentially reissued with the same designs but in their decimal currency equivalent. Most of the high value arms type postal fiscals were removed from sale in 1967 as by then there was little use for these stamps other than for postal use. The £2 violet, £3 green, £4 light blue and £5 dark blue arms type stamps were the only ones replaced by their decimal equivalents ($4, $6, $8 and $10) in 1967. These stamps continued to be sold by the New Zealand Post Office until it was replaced by New Zealand Post in 1987. The arms type stamps had an almost 60 year life span before they were finally withdrawn from sale.

Different types of cancels were employed to try to prevent fraudulent reuse. Many were pen cancelled. Pen cancelled stamps as we know can be cleaned and then reused. Ink cancelled stamps can also be somewhat painstakingly cleaned and reused but these are less frequently seen. Some revenue stamps were embossed – it was hoped that the embossing would prevent any subsequent re use of the stamp(s) if they stamp(s) were also cleaned. Ironing soon smoothes out the surface but often leaves a residual creasing in the paper. The best method of cancelling any stamp to prevent later reuse is of course punching holes in them! The date of cancelling and punching the revenues should be the same. New Zealand revenues may be found with punch holes or with pen cancels and in general these are worth about half of those stamps which have good cancels and are unpunched.

Fig 5: A trimmed 1867 die II £1 affixed to a piece then embossed, cancelled and foil punched onto document.

Whilst I like the challenge of doing jigsaws – the 3 dimensional ones are even more challenging! – I would hate to try and correctly replace the punched pieces (or chads as the Americans would say) from a stamp. After all they are only the size of perforation holes and they would need to correctly align and match the stamp design if they were to remain undetected!

Fig 6: A pair of 7/- arms type stamps punched and cancelled with the same date.

Finally, another problem that may be associated with some New Zealand revenue stamps and may be associated with one particular area of New Zealand. New Zealand is renowned for its geothermal area in the central North Island around Rotorua. Unfortunately the sulphurous atmosphere (from the released hydrogen sulphide gas) around Rotorua is not always beneficial for one’s stamps – be they postage andlor revenue stamps.

Not all is lost, as only some New Zealand stamps relatively easily show the side effects of this gas. New Zealand’s orange 1935 2d whare, or Maori meeting house, is perhaps the best example of it having been in the Rotorua district for too long – these turn brown. As the 2d is a fairly inexpensive stamp it is not really harmful to one’s pocket to replace it.

A revenue stamp that may cause some concern if it was exposed to the atmosphere in New Zealand’s geothermal area is the King George V 1/- Mortgagee Indemnity Fee stamp. Initially this was issued in an orange vermilion colour in the late 1920s and was later replaced by a yellow version. Recently an olive brown coloured 1/- Mortgagee Indemnity Fee stamp passed across this writer’s desk. At some stage it had been exposed to the geothermal air in a North Island town! Whilst they are only cheap stamps to replace oxidised stamps such as shown in figure 7 should be best avoided if at all possible.

Fig 7: King George V 1/- Mortgagee Indemnity Fee stamps: yellow and orange vermilion types, and an oxidised orange vermilion variety.

Collectors seeking additional information about New Zealand revenues may refer to The Postage stamps of New Zealand – volume 6 published by the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand; Kiwi – Tasman 1999-2000 New Zealand stamp catalogue (out of print).

Acknowledgements: This writer wishes to thank Mowbray Collectables (www.mowbraycollectables.co.nz) and Don White of the Dunedin Stamp Centre for their help with illustrations and Dave Elsmore for his comments.