NEW ZEALAND STAMPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19420, 31 August 1926, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND STAMPS.

It was probably inevitable that the :drst comment from, abroad on the new issue of New Zealand stamps should be unfavourable. The firm of dealers criticising the stamps finds in them only one virtue, that if they are withdrawn, as they should be, they will become rare and valuable. ! As to their value, that is a question for the collector and the people who cater for him. Anyone else who has seen specimens of this new issue will readily agree that the rarer the stamps are, the better for the credit of the issuing. nation. The ideal thing would be to have them something more than rare —non-existent. The verdict of the British firm is that "the King's likeness is probably the worst which has ever appeared on a postage stamp." It is true, and ""'or anywhere else" might have been added, for even avowed caricatures generally do the subject more justice. The promptitude i with which the comment has appeared shows that, sins in the shape of post-. age stamps cannot be concealed. They go abroad to proclaim the guilt of the country issuing them. So far only the two shilling and three shilling denominations have appeared in all their ugliness. These values do not usually gain great currency. If the promised penny stamp even equals in crudity those which have preceded it, New Zealand will receive an unhappy advertisement over a much wider area. Every letter going abroad will bear evidence of want of taste, which will be attributed to all New Zealand, however undeserved this judgment may be. In all the circumstances the Postal Department should meet the expectations of the British firm of dealers, withdraw the issue and resolve not to he responsible again for anything deserving such complete condemnation.