New Zealand Circle

About the stamp

1988 The first issue

The first round kiwi stamp, known as the green round kiwi, was issued on 19 October 1988. It was New Zealand's first round stamp. On the booklet, which contained six stamps, there was a short description:

The stamps in this booklet were printed by the Intaglio Process.

The printing plate was engraved in Canada and the stamps were produced by Leigh-Mardon Ply. Limited, Melbourne.

This is the first Intaglio stamp produced by Leigh-Mardon and the first engraved stamp issued by New Zealand Post Limited.

This was followed by eight issues. Some notable ones are below.

1999 The Last Sunset

This issue was released to commemorate the last day of the 20th century. Like the previous 1997 issue, it was printed in purple. Golden suns feature in the selvage. The 'last day cover' featured a sunset and the time it occured in New Zealand Standard Time.

2011 Round Kiwi

The 2011 Round Kiwi also includes designs on the selvage – small gray ferns.

2018 Round Kiwi

This is the only issue to have different species of kiwi. They are not engraved, and have a different composition in the border.

References

1. Stamps NZ / New Zealand Stamp Catalogue - Round Kiwi / https://stampsnz.com/round_kiwi.html

2. Wikipedia / Kiwi (bird) / https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)

3. Wikipedia / North Island Brown Kiwi / https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Island_brown_kiwi

4. NZPost / 2018 Round Kiwi Set of Cancelled Stamps / https://collectables.nzpost.co.nz/2018-round-kiwi-set-of-cancelled-stamps/