1915 King George V Recess Print
|
|
Cat. |
Mint Unhinged |
Mint Hinged |
Fine Used |
1½d |
Grey |
27a |
$13.50 |
|
$7.20 |
|
$2.70 |
|
2d |
Violet |
27b |
$36.00 |
|
$18.00 |
|
$40.50 |
|
2d |
Yellow (from 1916) |
27c |
$27.00 |
|
$12.60 |
|
$40.50 |
|
2½d |
Blue |
27d |
$45.00 |
|
$18.00 |
|
$13.50 |
|
3d |
Brown / Chocolate |
27e |
$54.00 |
|
$21.60 |
|
$4.50 |
|
4d |
Yellow |
27f |
$27.00 |
|
$13.50 |
|
$81.00 |
|
4d |
Violet (from 1916) |
27g |
$45.00 |
|
$17.00 |
|
$4.50 |
|
4½d |
Green |
27h |
$76.50 |
|
$40.50 |
|
$40.50 |
|
5d |
Blue (from 1922) |
27i |
$54.00 |
|
$31.50 |
|
$3.60 |
|
6d |
Red |
27j |
$36.00 |
|
$18.00 |
|
$2.70 |
|
7½d |
Brown |
27k |
$54.00 |
|
$36.00 |
|
$40.50 |
|
8d |
Blue (from 1921) |
27l |
$54.00 |
|
$31.50 |
|
$67.50 |
|
8d |
Brown (from 1922) |
27m |
$112.50 |
|
$63.00 |
|
$6.75 |
|
9d |
Olive Green |
27n |
$90.00 |
|
$45.00 |
|
$9.00 |
|
1/- |
Orange |
27o |
$90.00 |
|
$45.00 |
|
$4.50 |
|
|
|
|
Set of 15 |
27p |
$773.80 |
|
$397.50 |
|
$344.15 |
|
The King Edward VII stamps had only been on issue for six
months when he died in 1910 and King George V ascended the throne. It was
quickly decided that a new set of stamps should replace the Edward VII
stamps, but it was five years before the new set was issued. There were
various reasons for the five year delay - difficulty finding a designer,
difficulty sourcing appropriate inks, and the perfectionist nature of the
then Postmaster-General Sir Heaton Rhodes, himself a keen philatelist.
Rhodes was keen to return to the simplicity of the 1855 Chalon Heads and
the English 1840 penny black and twopence blue stamps.
Unlike
previous issues, recess and surface printings were issued from the start,
the surface printings used to reduce printing costs of lower value stamps.
The initial issue contained the 1½d, 2d violet, 2½d,
3d, 4d yellow, 4½d, 6d, 7½d, 9d and 1/- stamps. The
1½d, 4½d and 7½d stamps were new values introduced for
parcel post and it was not thought necessary to have 5d and 8d values. All
the careful planning came unstuck when a halfpenny tax was imposed on all
mail other than newspapers during the First World War. As the new issue did
not have 5d or 8d stamps, the Edward VII issue stamps continued in use
until 1922 when 5d and 8d recess print stamps were finally introduced.
However, within a week of issue of the 8d blue it was realised that the
colour was too easily confused with the 2½d stamp, so the stamp was
reprinted brown as the 7½d brown stamp had been withdrawn by that
stage. This ought to have made the 8d blue stamp very rare, but pressure
from stamp collectors forced the post office to continue selling the
stamps.
In 1915 the tax on receipts was increased to 2d. The 2d
violet stamp was too dark for pen cancellations to show up, and so the
colours of the 2d violet and 4d yellow were swapped in 1916. Many used
copies of the 4d yellow were cancelled after it was withdrawn and 1915
cancellations are hard to find.
The
recess print stamps have a different design to the surface and local print
stamps which are listed separately. The recess print stamps (left image)
have diagonal shading on George V's face and neck, while the surface
print stamps (middle image) have horizontal shading. The background on the
surface prints has a clear diagonal pattern, while the recess print stamps
have a very fine and complex pattern of alternating arcs with a criss-cross
hatching over the top giving the appearance of almost solid shading. The
local print (right image) is very coarsely drawn with a diagonal pattern
very similar to the surface print stamps, but with rather poorly spaced
diagonal shading lines on the face and neck.
Bibliography
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand (Volume I)
Edited by R. J. G. Collins and H. T. M. Fathers B.A. B.Sc.
Published 1938 by The Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume II
Edited by R. J. G. Collins FRPSNZ and C. W. Watts FRPSNZ
Published 1950 by The Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume VI
Edited by D. E. G. Naish FRPSNZ and K. J. McNaught FRPSNZ FRPSL
Publsihed 1975 by The Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume VIII
Edited by B. G. Vincent FRPSNZ
Published 1998 by The Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated (ISSN 0-9597883-1-X)
If you have any questions or comments please contact us - we'd love to hear from
you.
This page was last updated on 15 Oct 2024
All content and images copyright © 2008 - 2024 StampsNZ