New Zealand
Fossils, dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals on stamps and postmarks of New Zealand
Contents:
New Zealand is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—that of the North Island,
or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and numerous smaller islands.
New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of
Australia
across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of
New Caledonia,
Fiji and
Tonga.
Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal,
fungal and plant life.
The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic
uplift of land and volcanic eruptions.
New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.
Population of the county is about 4,7 million.
In 1840, Maori Chieftains entered into a compact with
Britain,
the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while
retaining territorial rights.
The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and
supported the UK militarily in both world wars.
[R1]
Postage stamps have been issued in New Zealand since
July 1855 with the "Chalon head" stamps figuring Queen Victoria.
The design was based on a full face portrait of the Queen in her state
robes at the time of her coronation in 1837, by Alfred Edward Chalon.
The stamps were initially hand cut from sheets, but from 1862 on, these
sheets started being fed through automatic perforating machines.
The Chalon heads were used until 1874, when they were replaced with lithographed
stamps that showed Queen Victoria in side profile.
New Zealand was the first country in the world to prototype and install stamp vending machines; one was
installed in the General Post Office, Wellington in 1905.
[R2]
Official stamps of New Zealand related to Paleontology: fossils, dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals
Notes:
[1] Plant fossil shown on one of the "Antarctic research" stamps of New Zealand
1984, MiNr.: 889, Scott: 791.
[2] On October 10,
1993, only
three month after release of "Jurassic Park" movie, three commonwealth countries:
Australia,
Canada and New Zealand issued stamps with prehistoric animals.
Commemorative postmarks of New Zealand related to Paleontology: prehistoric animals
Legend is here
Notes:
[C1] Dinosaur vertebrate on postmark of New Zealand that used on FDC.
[C2] The silver postmark used on FDC from
"Limited Edition Pack" which included a numbered gummed miniature sheet
specifically designed for this edition, a signed first day cover, a
full set of stamps, colour separations of the $2.80 stamp and
insightful commentary by renowned New Zealand geologist and
palaeontologist Dr Hamish Campbell.
Some other commemorative postmarks of New Zealand to consider: contributors to Paleontology
Legend is here
21.12.2001 "Centenary of the first British Antarctic Expedition - Robert Falcon Scott" [Sp] [CO1] |
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Notes:
[CO1]
Robert Falcon Scott CVO (6 June 1868 – 29 March 1912) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer
who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery expedition of 1901–1904
and the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition of 1910–1912.
Scott and his companions died on the second expedition.
When Scott and his party's bodies were discovered, 16kg of
Glossopteris
(an extinct beech-like tree from 250 million years ago)
fossils from the Queen Maud Mountains
were found next to their bodies, which they had dragged on hand sledges.
These fossils were promised to
Marie Stopes
(shown on
UK stamp in 2008)
to provide evidence for
Eduard Suess's idea that Antarctica
had once been part of an ancient super-continent named Gondwanaland (now Gondwana).
More details are
here.
References:
- [R1] New Zealand:
Wikipedia,
WikiTravel,
FlagCounter.
- [R2] Postal History and Philately of New Zealand:
Wikipedia,
Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of New Zealand are here
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to Dr.
Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University,
for the draft page review and his valuable comments.