CORONATION STAMPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 118, 20 May 1937, Page 23

CORONATION STAMPS

THE EMPIRE'S ISSUES

HEAVY DEMAND

PLENTY FOR COLLECTORS

Now that they have acquired the Dominion's three special Coronation stamps and the-three that have been overprinted for use in Niue, philatelists in New Zealand will be looking out for specimens of the Coronation stamps from other parts of the Empire. There will be rather: fewer I of these than there were Silver Jubilee stamps two years ago—about 190 all told as compared .with 249. Since the Coronation stamps are being printed in very much larger quantities than -the Silver Jubilee issues, they are hardly likely to appreciate so much in value. Nevertheless the demand for them is already very great, both on the part of the world's large army of philatelists, so much/augmented during the last'few years, and on the part .of speculators. The demand, for first-day covers—ai recent development in philately—has been enormous, and the postal business transacted on May 12 and 13, especially in some out-of-the-way places in the Empire, has probably broken-' all : .-■. - ■, <•■■■. ■■.

In addition to these nine Coronation stamps (three New Zealand,-three Niue, and three Cook Islands), there are about 180 others from various parts of the Empire, the majority of which were placed on sale in their countries on or about May 12, and which, with a few exceptions, will, like the New Zealand issue, remain on sale until the end of the year, unless supplies are previously exhausted.

Great Britain has sprung somewhat of-a..surprise-..and broken all precedents by issuing a special Coronation stamp bearing the portraits of both, the King and the Queen. This:,is a penny-halfpenny stamp—the cabled statement the other day that it was a twopence-halfpenny one being an error. At the same time Britain's first King George VI stamps have also appeared, these being part of a permanent issuer to replace the George V and Edward VIII stamps and are not special Coronation stamps. The five hundred million special Coronation stamps which have .been printed should be enbiigh' to satisfy all. wants, but stocks, large as they are', are not expected to last longer than aboutsix weeks'. THE EMPIRE'S CONTRIBUTION.

Canada, which has made philatelic history by being, first in the field with a permanent issue of King George VI stamps, is to have a special Coronation stamp, as well. This will be of the value of three cents, and will be on sale, SO: it is believed, for a very short period only. Australia is not issuing any special Coronation stamps in the strict < sense of the words, but the appearance of part of her permanent new issue with Royal portraits coincides with the time of the Coronation. ';,

No information has been received out here as yet regarding India's intention about special Coronation stamps, and it is thought quite probable that none will be issued.

Bi-lingual pairs will have to be collected from South Africa and from South West Africa. South Africa's set consists of four values, id, ljd, 3d, and Is; but South West Africa has no fewer than seven stamps in its Coronation set, id, Id, lid, 2d, 3d, 66, and Is. This is the largest of all the Coronation sets. :

Southern Rhodesia has a set of four stamps, with Royal: portraits and a picture of the Victoria Falls. THe values are id, 2d, 3d, and 6d.

Nauru, New Guinea, and Papua each have a special set, the design (some* what similar to the Great Britain Edward VIII stamps), being the same for each of these three, islands, but with

a difference vi.'the name at the top There are four stamps in each 'set, the values being as follows:—Nauru, lid, 23, 2Jd, Is; New Guinea, ;2d, 3d, sd, Is; and Papua, Id, 2d, 3d, sd. Eight or nine thousand sheets of each value, with 30 stamps on each sheet, constitute the initial printing. THE CROWN COLONIES. A uniform design has. been'adopted for the Coronation stamps for the remainder of the Empire. Forty-five Crown Colonies are each having a set of three Coronation stamps. These stamps will be of approximately the same size and shape as the now familiar 1935 Silver Jubilee issue, oh which was a design of Windsor Castle. But whereas the Silver jubilee stamps were printed in two colours, the Coronation stamps have been printed in single colours by the recess process. They can hardly, therefore, be quite as attractive. The design of these Coronation stamps includes portraits of both King George VI and the Queen in a setting of Coronation emblems, including the Crown, Orb, Sword of State, and Sceptres. The date of the Coronation is inscribed at the top of the design, and the name of. the issuing territory appears at the base of the stamps, with duty labels, in the lower corners. The following is a complete list of the 135 Coronation stamps issued for tho 45 Crown Colonies: — Aden, Id, 2.Jd, 3Jd; Antigua, Id, lid, 2Jd; Ascension, Id, 2d, 3d; Bahamas, ,Jd, IJd, 2Jd; Barbados, Id, lid, 2Jd; Basutbland, Id, 2d, 3d; Bechuanaland, Id. 2d. 3d; Bermuda, Id, ljd, 2id; British Guiana, 2c, 4c, 6c; British Honduras, 3c, 4c, sc; British Somaliland, la, 2a, 3a; Cayman Islands; id, lid, 2id; Ceylon, 6c, 9c, 20c; Cyprus, jp, lip, 2p; Dominica, Id, lid, 2jd; Falkland Islands, id, Id, 2Jd; Fiji, Id, 2d, 3d; Gambia, Id, lid, 3d; Gibraltar, id, 2d, 3d; Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Id,' lid, 3d;<Gold Coast, Id, 2d, 3d; Grenada, Id, ljd, 2Jd; Hong Kong, 4c, 15c, 25c; Jamaica, Id, ljd, 2Jd; Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika, sc, 20c, 30c; Leeward Islands, Id, lid, 2id; ■ Malta, id, lid, 2Jd; Mauritius, sc, 12c, 20c;'Montserrat, Id, lid, 2id; Newfoundland, 2c, 4c, sc; Nigeria, Id, ljd, 3d; Northern Rhodesia, lid, 2d, 3d; Nyasaland, id. Id, 2d; St. Helena, Id, 2d, 3d; St. Kittes and Nevis, I'd, lid, 2id; St. Lucia, Id, ljd, 2id; St. Vincent, Id, lid, 2id; Seychelles, 6c, 12c, 20c; Sierra Leone, Id, 2d, 3d; Solomon Islands, Id, lid, 3d; Straits Settlements, 4c, Be, 12c; Swaziland, Id, 2d, 3d; Trinidad, lc, 2c, 8c; Turks Islands, Jd, 2d 3d; Virgin Islands, Id, lid, 2id. This is Aden's first appearance -as a stamp-issuing colony. Hitherto it has been content to use Indian stamps for postage purposes, but henceforth it is to have stamps of its own. Apart from ■the Coronation stamps, it is to have a permanent issue, the main feature of the design on which is an Arab dhow. This permanent issue has already made its appearance, but three, values of it will be temporarily withdrawn during the currency for the remainder of the year of the Coronation issue.