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1930s Commemoratives

The only George V commemorative issue in the 1930s was the Silver Jubilee. The ANZAC and Commerce issues of 1936 were during the short reign of Edward VIII.

Silver Jubilee 1935

Recess printed stamps commemorating the Silver Jubilee of George V were issued on 7 May 1935. They show George V and Queen Mary. The plates were produced by Bradbury Wilkinson who also printed the stamps in London.

0.5d 1d 6d

The sheets were in 10 rows of 12. The watermark was NZ and star and the perforation was 11 x 11½. There were two ½d plates numbered 1 and 2, four 1d plates numbered 3, 4, 6 and 7 and one 6d plate numbered 5.

The total numbers issued were:

dot ½d: 4,800,000 dot 1d: 8,400,000 dot 6d: 320,000

The stamps were withdrawn on 22 June.

The first official airmail from New Zealand to Great Britain was planned for 17 May to commemorate the Silver Jubilee. Special covers were produced, but the flight had to be cancelled.

ANZAC 1936

These stamps commemorated the landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli during the First World War in April 1915.

0.5d 1d

The design was by L.C. Mitchell and the plates were produced and the stamps printed by the Australian Note and Stamp Printer in Melbourne.

The stamps were similar to the Health stamps. The ½d stamp cost 1d and the 1d stamp 2d with the extra money going to the NZRSA (New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association).

The paper was Wiggins Teape with the NZ and star watermark and the perforation was 11. The plates had 192 stamps in four panes of 48 while the issued sheets had 48 stamps in 6 rows of 8. The plate number appeared once in the corner of each sheet of 48, with its position differing in each of the four panes.

The total numbers sold were:

dot ½d: 1,840,810 dot 1d: 1,179,218

Chamber of Commerce 1936

Recess printed stamps commemorating the first meeting in New Zealand of the Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire were issued on 1 October 1936. The plates were produced and the stamps printed by the Australian Note and Stamp Printer in Melbourne.

0.5d 1d 2.5d

4d 6d

The paper was Wiggins Teape with the NZ and star watermark sideways. The perforation was 11. The plates had 192 stamps in four panes of 48 while the issued sheets had 48 stamps in 6 rows of 8. The plate number appeared once in the corner of each sheet of 48, in the same way as the ANZAC stamps. There were two plates of the 1d.

The total numbers sold were:

dot ½d: 3,500,000 dot 1d: 4,000,000 dot 2½d: 357,696

dot 4d: 354,768 dot 6d: 403,056

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The above information is taken from The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Vol 1, published by the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand in 1938. All scans were made by the author.