NZ Post celebrates mistake that produced rare stamp

New Zealand Post celebrates a 99-year-old mistake -- the 1906 One Penny Claret -- in its latest stamp issue unveiled today.

The second in a three-part series to celebrate 150 years of stamps features an image of the rare and valuable One Penny Claret on the 45c stamp.

The first commemorative stamp produced in New Zealand, the One Penny Claret is sought after by collectors worldwide, and is a key part of New Zealand philatelic history.

It was originally produced to commemorate the International Exhibition of Arts and Industries in Christchurch in 1906.

After 240,000 stamps had been printed, the exhibition committee decided the colour was too dark and obscured the design.

It was decided the stamps would be destroyed and reprinted in brighter vermilion.

One sheet of the original Claret stamps was accidentally made available by exhibition authorities, and entered into public circulation.

Very few remain in private ownership within New Zealand, although several are held at the Te Papa collection in Wellington.

Stamps general manager Ivor Masters said New Zealand Post was excited to feature the One Penny Claret in its second series of stamps, chosen by the New Zealand Philatelic Federation for the period 1905-1955.

This series follows the successful issue last month of a collection covering the first 50-year period 1855-1905.

"By the 1950s a sense of what it was to be Kiwi had truly started to emerge, and the stamps covered in this series reflect that development," Mr Masters said.

"The image that came to symbolise our country's Health stamps worldwide -- the 1931 Health-Red Boy -- graces the 90c stamp, and the $1.35 stamp pictures the first trans-Tasman airmail flight, recognising this significant development in communication channels between New Zealand and the rest of the world."

A stamp released in 1946 to celebrate peace, which displays a beautiful image of the Southern Alps through a chapel window, is pictured on the $1.50 stamp, while the $2.00 stamp features one of four stamps issued in 1955 recognising the accession of Queen Elizabeth 2.

- NZPA