Welcome to New Zealand Stamp Images, a site on New Zealand philately: New Zealand postage stamps, airmails and postal history covering the reigns of Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V and George VI.

Search site for items of interest.

We have articles on topics such as New Zealand first flight covers, blitz perfs, health stamps and the classic New Zealand Queen Victoria stamps, the Chalon heads. There is also a major study of the Horseshoe Route which was set up in June 1940 during World War II and became the major air mail route between the UK and New Zealand until closed after Japan entered the war

Each article illustrates a particular point and sometimes raises questions. In addition, we describe New Zealand's early air mail history through examples of commercial airmail covers, not just first flight covers.

The pages in each article are linked by arrows with other links to enable you to access more information or to follow the article in an order of your choosing.

Site map of New Zealand stamps, postal history, early airmail history

The starting page of each article is in bold. Dates refer to creation or last major revision (e.g. including new scans). Recent major revisions are marked . Minor revisions are made continually.

The full face queens (FFQ, Chalon heads) 5 Jan 15

• London and Richardson prints 1855-1861 30 Apr 18
• Davies imperforate issues 1862-1864
• Provisional papers and perforations 1862-1864 21 Jul 15
• Perforated issues 1864-1871
• New colours 1871-1873 21 Jul 15
• Postal history: letters to/from Great Britain 29 Jun 10
• Hausburg and Jolliffe reprints 29 Apr 10

Queen Victoria first sideface, 1874

• Halfpenny newspaper stamp 1873 22 Jul 16
• Postal history: letters NZ to England, 1876-1879 1 May 09

Queen Victoria second sideface, 1882

• Recut dies of 1d, 2d and 6d
• Major flaws
• Postal history: letters to/from United Kingdom 13 Jan 09
• Adverts on back, 1893

1898 first pictorials, London prints 14 Aug 14

• Local issues, 1899 14 Jun 18
• Official overprints, 1907 14 Jun 18
• Reduced size, 1907 14 Jun 18
• Fiscal cancellations 14 Jun 18

Penny Universal plates

• Waterlow trial plates
• Penny Dominion 15 Oct 14

King Edward VII definitives 7 Jun 18

• Christchurch & Auckland Exhibitions

King George V recess printed definitives 11 Dec 21

• Recess printed officials
• Fourpence 11 Dec 21
• Fivepence
• Surface printed
• Surface printed officials 5 Jun 18
• Booklets 9 Dec 16
• 1920's Commemoratives (Victory, Map Stamp, Dunedin Exhibition) 6 Apr 18
• 1930's Commemoratives (Silver Jubilee, ANZAC, Commerce) 31 Jan 13, ANZAC plates 13 Dec 08

1929 Health issue 1 Dec 23

• 1930 Health issue 26 Dec 21
• 1931 Health issue (Smiling boys) 2 Nov 19
• 1932-1933 Health issues 6 May 20
• 1934 Health issue 26 Feb 22
• 1935 Health issue 22 Aug 19
• 1936 Health issue 6 Jun 23
• 1937 Health issue 15 Nov 21
• 1938 Health issue 15 Nov 21
• 1939-1942 Health issues 6 Jun 23
• 1943 Health issue 10 Apr 21
• 1944-48 Health issues 26 Nov 21
• 1949-50 Health issues 9 Jan 22
• 1951 Health issue 2 Nov 2019

1935 second pictorials

• Blitz perforations 8 Jan 10
  • Blitz plates 8 Jan 10
• ½d 15 Nov 21
• 1d dies and plates 10 Feb 22
• 1½d 20 Jul 21, 2d 19 Feb 22
• 2½d 10 Mar 17, 3d, 10 Mar 17 4d 2 Apr 18
• 5d 11 Mar 17, 6d 11 Mar 17, 8d 27 May 21, 9d
• 1/- 28 May 21, 2/- 25 Jul 16, 3/- 8 Jan 10

King George VI Definitives 9 Dec 08

• GVI Definitive Officials 8 Mar 17
• Pence plates 2 May 18, Shilling plates 8 Mar 17
• GVI Coronation 1937 14 Dec 08
• 1940 Centennial issue 8 Jun 19
1940 Centennial official 5 Oct 18
• 1946 Peace issue 24 Apr 19
• 1948 Otago and 1950 Canterbury Centennial 30 Nov 18

Early airmail history

New Zealand airmail stamps:the first issue,1931 15 Apr 21

• Highfield cover, 9 Nov 1931 29 Nov 24
• The 1935 issue
• Airmail Booklets 9 Apr 10

Experimental internal airmails, 1930-1932

• Christchurch - Dunedin, 6 Nov 1930
• Dominion Airlines, 1930-31
• Christchurch - Timaru: 10th Anniversary, January 1931
• Hawkes Bay Earthquake Emergency Flights, Feb 1931 9 Nov 15
• Gisborne Air Transport, 1931-32 10 May 10
• Kaitaia Aero Club service to Auckland, 1931
• Nov 12 Christmas flight (and return), 1931 11 Dec 18
• Christmas Eve flights, 1931 30 Nov 19
• Auckland - Gisborne, 10 Dec 1931 20 Aug 11
• Wellington - West Coast, 20 Jan 1932
• Air Pageants: Invercargill and Timaru, 1932
• Wellington - Dannevirke, 16 March 1932 9 Jun 16
• Auckland - North Auckland, 30 April 1932 14 Jul 13
• Hokitika - Okuru, September 1932 6 Jun 14
• Christmas Eve flights, 1932

Regular internal airmails 1934 - 1938

• South Westland, 1934 25 Apr 19
• East Coast Airways, 1935
• Union & Cook Strait Airways, March 1936 4 Dec 17
• Experimental Union extension to Invercargill, 1936
• Cook Strait extension to Hokitika, 1937 8 Sep 09
• Union Airways Auckland service, 1937
• East Coast extension, 1937
• Emergency Flights, June 1940 19 Nov 16

Connections via Australia and India 1911-1941

• Coronation Aerial Post to New Zealand, 1911 16 March 10
• Imperial Airways Eastern route 1927-1940
  • Baghdad-Cairo, 1921-27
  • Basra-Cairo, 1927
  • Imperial Airways: First London-Karachi, 1929
  • Imperial Airways: Later London-Karachi, 1929 23 Jun 10
  • Northerly Route and extension to Delhi, 1929 23 Jul 09
  • via Salonica, April 1930 17 Jul 09
  • Route via Italy 1931 - 1932 16 Jan 13
  • Competition from KLM, 1931-38
  • Extension to Calcutta,Rangoon,Singapore
  • Extension to Hong Kong, 1936-40
• NZ via Karachi 1929 - 34 16 Aug 17
• NZ via Adelaide-Perth 1929 - 15 Apr 21
• NZ connections with ANA and New England Airways 1930-34 21 Dec 16
• Experimental UK-Australia airmail, 1931 1 May 13
• Dutch flight to Australia, 1931 1 May 13
• Christmas airmail to UK, Kingsford Smith and Scotty Allan, 1931 and return 11 Dec 18
• NZ - Tasmania, 1931 - 1934 16 Dec 09
• NZ Airmail to Africa, 1932 4 Mar 12
• NZ Airmail to Persia, 1932
• Bega - Sydney - NZ, 1934
• Regular airmail Australia - UK, Dec 1934 7 Sep 10
  • Crashes: Scipio 1936, Cygnus, 1937, Calpurnia 1938, Belfast 1954 6 Dec 09
• Imperial Airways Eastern Route (- NZ), 1935 - February 1937 3 Aug 18
• Imperial Airways Eastern Route (- NZ), February 1937 - July 1938 16 Aug 22
• Empire airmail scheme, 1938-39 16 Aug 22
• US - NZ via Trans-Atlantic Airmail, 1939 28 Nov 17
• Early World War II: September 1939 - April 1940 16 Aug 22
• Survey flights between New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, 1939 4 Mar 09
• First Regular Tasman airmail (TEAL) April 1940 5 Nov 18
• Entry of Italy to WW 2, June 1940 25 May 18
• Early Horseshoe Route, June - August 1940 26 Nov 16
• Horseshoe Route to / from New Zealand 30 Aug 18
• Forces Mail, 1940-45 20 Jun 17
• End of the Horseshoe Route 9 Apr 20
• Air Mail Across Indian Ocean, 1944-45 24 Dec 16

Experimental Trans-Tasman airmails 1934 - 1938

• 1st official trans-Tasman airmail, Feb 1934 13 Mar 21
  • Ulm flight to NZ, Dec 1933 4 May 09
  • Auckland-Invercargill, December 1933 25 Apr 19
• Kingsford Smith airmail, March 1934
• 1st airmail from Australia & rtn, April 1934
• Goodwill airmail May 1934
• First airmail to New Guinea, 1933, July 1934 and 1938 3 Oct 09
• MacRobertson Air Race, October 1934
• Attempted Jubilee airmail 1935 1 Nov 18
  • Cancelled New Zealand - Australia flight, 1935
• Clouston-Ricketts record flight, 1938

New Zealand - US and Canada 1926-40 21 Jun 23

• Byrd Antarctica, mail to NZ 1930 1 Jul 23
• US - NZ via Hawaii, Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau, 1935 - 1939 18 Nov 16
• Pan American Airways to USA 1938 28 Apr 17
• First Regular US-NZ Airmail, July 1940 3 May 10
• First Regular NZ-US Airmail, July 1940 6 Dec 18
• NZ - US Pan Am Airmails: August 1940 - Oct 1941
• Other Airmail Services: New Zealand-US-UK, 1940-41 31 Jan 11
• Addition of Fiji to FAM 19, Nov 1941 12 Jul 21
• End of Pan American Service, December 1941 9 Nov 20
• New Zealand - US - UK: 1942-44 5 Apr 13
• New Zealand Prisoner of War Mail 11 Jul 20
• US Military Post Offices in New Zealand 6 Jan 11
• Airgraph Service 8 Jun 11

'Back of the book'

1867 revenues 1 Jul 21

• Law Courts & Land and Deeds: 1876-1881 1 Jul 21
• Penny Revenue: 1878
• Queen Victoria Longtype: 1880-1931 31 Aug 2021
• Counterpart, Denoting, Fine Paid, Mortgagee's Indemnity, Not Liable 20 Jul 21
• Life Insurance: 1891-1947
• Railway Newspaper Stamps: 1890-1925
• Railway Charges Stamps: 1925

Many sites dealing with New Zealand philately are listed in the links page.
My philatelic publications are listed here and my computer science publications here.
I can be contacted at nzsgb1 AT googlemail.com (Replace AT with the usual @.)

New Zealand Society of Great Britain &
British Air Mail Society

I look after the websites of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain and the British Air Mail Society. Both sites include a membership application form and a table of contents of their journals, The Kiwi and Air Mail News respectively.

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Visits since 20 Feb 2008

All scans were made by the author. Copyright © 2023 Robert Clark.
For personal, non-commercial, charitable and educational use only.