SURCHARGED STAMPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 108, 9 May 1941, Page 8

SURCHARGED STAMPS

TWO NEW ISSUES

CONSERVING PAPER

The Dominion's new penny and twopenny, stamps are already on sale. Strictly speaking, however, they are not new stamps but are the King George VI stamps, in use before the Centennial stamps were issued, ...overprinted with new values. The green halfpenny has \been converted by a neat surcharge in black into a; penny stamp, arid the brown threehalfpenny

into a twoenny stamp. There has been no special date for the issue of these new stamps: they are being placed on sale at the. various offices as required. The reason for their issue has to do with the war, with the necessity to conserve and not to waste paper. Prior to the issue of the Centennial stamps at the beginning of last year there were in hand huge stocks of King George VI stamps • embracing three values—halfpenny, penny, and threehalfpence, and it was originally intended to revert to the use of these an.d the pictorial set at the beginning of this year and to withdraw the Centennial set. However, in order not to waste paper, it was decided to continue with the use of the Centennial stamps until stocks were exhausted, gradually replacing them with the King George VI stamps and with the pictorial issue. In the meantime postal rates have been altered. Halfpenny stamps are practically only required for newspaper postage, and a threehalfpenny stamp is more or less a white elephant. Originally the latter was intended for the Empire mail service, but the war put an end to that low rate. Hence the decision to convert most of the large stocks of existing halfpenny and threehalfpenny stamps :nto something more useful—penny and twopenny stamps.

For the ■ present, therefore, New Zealand's postage stamps will be rather a mixed lot. Two varieties of halfpennies will be in use—the unsurcharged K^ing George VI type and, until stocks are exhausted, the Centennial halfpenny. There will be two similar varieties of penny stamps on sale, the King George and Centennial types. Three kinds of twopenny stamps will be in use, the converted threehalfpenny King George type, the Centennial twopenny, and the orange twopenny of the pictorial set. Gradually however, all the Centennial stamps are being used up. Stocks of some values are already exhausted, and. in the- case of values above twopence stamps of the pictorial set are taking their place. Stocks of some 'of the little-used values of Centennial stamp will, nevertheless, last for some time yet.