New Zealand postage stamps year 1873 – 1878 Used

New Zealand postage stamps year 1873 – 1878 Used

📮 New Zealand Postage Stamps — 1873 to 1878

🗓 1 January 1873 — ½d Newspaper Postage Stamp

• Issue: ½ penny (½d) Newspaper stamp featuring a side-view portrait of Queen Victoria.
• Significance: This was the first stamp both designed and printed in New Zealand (though plates were prepared in Wellington). Before this, stamps were mainly printed in England.
• Use: Designed primarily to prepay the postal rate on newspapers (hence called Newspaper Postage).

📌 This issue marks the transition from the earlier Full Face Queen issues (1855–1872) to the later Sideface portrait stamps used for general postage.

📬 1873–1875 — Early Queen Victoria Sideface Issues

From 1873 through 1875, stamps continued with the Queen Victoria sideface portrait in various perforations and watermarks:

• ½d values (rose/rose shades) with NZ watermark and perf. varieties were used in 1873–1875.
• This design continued the Sideface Queen series and replaced the earlier Full Face Queen issues.
• Multiple printings and variations exist, often differing by watermark or perforation.

🪪 1874 – 1878 — “NEW ZEALAND POSTAGE” Inscription Definitives

Starting around 1874, a broader set of definitive stamps was issued with “NEW ZEALAND POSTAGE” inscriptions and the Queen’s profile:

Typical denominations produced in this period include:

• 1d (one penny) – violet
• 2d (two pence) – rose
• 3d (three pence) – dark brown
• 4d (four pence) – purple-red
• 6d (six pence) – blue
• 1s (one shilling) – green

📌 These stamps were part of the standard definitive sets used for everyday postal rates during the mid-1870s.

🏅 1 July 1878 — Higher-Value Local Issues

• In 1878, higher-value stamps such as 2s (two shillings) and 5s (five shillings) were issued — these were the first NZ postage stamps both designed and wholly produced locally.
• These high-value definitives were important for larger postal charges and represented further maturation of NZ’s own stamp production.

📌 Summary of Key Stamp Types (1873–1878)