Niuafoʻou (Tonga) 1996 "XIII Congress of international union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric science"


U N D E R     C O N S T R U C T I O N 

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Issue Date 14.09.1993
ID Michel: 303-304, Scott: Stanley Gibbons: Yvert: UPU: N/A Category: pR
Designer Derek Miller
Stamps in set 2
Value T$1 - Prehistoric humans and animals: Cro Magnon man, Mammoth, Sabretooth Tiger and more.
T$1 - Anticient humans
Size (width x height) 50mm x 35mm
Layout Mini-Sheet of 6 stamps (3 stripes of 2 stamps)
Products FDC x1
Paper
Perforation 12.25 x 12
Print Technique Offset, multicolor
Printed by Walsall Security Printers of London, UK
Quantity
Issuing Authority Post office of the Goverment of Tonga
Prehistoric humans and animals on FDC of Niuafoʻou 1996

On September 1st of 1995 the Post office of the Goverment of Tonga on behalf their Niuafo'ou Island, issued the set of 2 stamps "XIII Congress of international union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric science".
These stamps shows some scense of prehistoric and anticient humans life.

Four days later, on September 5th, Post Authority of Tonga issued similar stamp set with the same title: "XIII Congress of international union of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences".
Joint issue of Niuafo’ou and Tonga 1996
Joint issue of Tonga 1996 (MiNr.: 1429-1430, Scott: 929a-b) and Niuafo’ou (MiNr.: 303-304, Scott: 190).



Products

Tonga did not issue any imperforated stamps from this set, the only imperforated szuff known are genuine plate proofs, and come from the Walsall Security Printers archives.
FDC Mini-Sheet Used Cover
Prehistoric humans and animals on FDC of Niuafoʻou 1996 Prehistoric humans and animals on stamps of Niuafoʻou 1996 Prehistoric humans and animals on stamps of Niuafoʻou 1996
Monochrome Proof [1] Plate Proof [2] Specimens [3]
Prehistoric humans and animals on stamps of Niuafoʻou 1996 Prehistoric humans and animals on stamps of Niuafoʻou 1996 Prehistoric humans and animals on stamps of Niuafoʻou 1996
Notes:

[1] Monochrome Proofs were done on thin card and in black and white by Walsall Security Printers of London UK, and were used to check the design.
The monochrome proofs were, usually, produced in amount of 20, then sent to Tonga for the officials to check. When accepted, they were sent to stamp magazines to illustrate the upcoming new issues.

[2] The Plate Proofs printed one sheet of plate proofs first, this sheet was taken for checking and approval by Walsall Security Printers company and the officials of Tonga.
After it passed the necessary checks, this imperforated proof sheet was placed in the printers archives and was left imperforated. All other sheets issued were perforated.
The Tongan plate proofs are genuine proofs done by the printers for checking purposes then kept until recently in the printers archives.

[3] The "SPECIMEN" overprint in black was the normal specimen overprint done for most sets ot Tonga from 1981 to 1997.



References:
  • [R1] Technical details and stamps presentation: Stamp designer Derek Miller



Acknowledgement:
  • Many thanks to fellow collector Mr. Peter Brandhuber from Germany, for sharing some scans his collection.
  • Many thanks to Mr. Greg Jorgensen from Australia, who sells philatelic materials from archive of Walsall Security Printers on the Internet under nickname tonga2, for explanations about their printing process.


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