John Davies Prints
on 'NZ' Watermarked Paper
1864
The desire for New Zealand stamps to be printed on a paper with a distinctive connection to New Zealand resulted in the ordering, during 1863, of a supply of paper that would have the letters ‘NZ’ replacing the star watermark. The order was placed with Thomas De La Rue & Company, 29 April 1863, for 50 reams of paper and a pair of moulds ‘with the letters NZ repeated 240 times’. Two cwt of gum was shipped with the paper.
The paper was hand-made. In the side margins of the sheet was the watermark inscription “NEW ZEALAND POSTAGE” in double lined capitals. This was the only paper supplied by this company until 27 March 1867 when they despatched a supply of paper specially prepared for printing revenue stamps in doubly fugitive ink, but that later paper was not used for printing Chalon stamps.
Davies stated that this paper shipped in 1863 was of indifferent quality and a further supply of star watermarked paper, was ordered by April 1864. Fifty reams were despatched from London in April 1864.
1d Carmine-Vermilion
The shade of the 1d is carmine vermilion. Allowing for the differences in the texture of the paper, the shade is very similar to the 1863 issue on star watermark paper. The early printings were issued imperforate until the installation of a perforating machine at the Postmaster-General’s Auckland premises during about mid-1864.
Separations varieties reported include:
-
Roulette 7 (at Auckland): (SG 101)
-
Y Roulette 18 (at Nelson): (SG 106b)
-
Perf 13 (at Dunedin): (SG 104a).
-
First use of Government perf 12 ½ (at Auckland): (SG 106c)
Earliest recorded use of SG 97: 4 July 1864, cover with nine 1d stamps with a tenth stamp removed (Christies Robson Lowe sale, H. Gordon Kaye collection, 16 April 1991, Lot 45).
Examples of this value with any of the separations are scarce, the stamps perforated 13 (SG 104a) in Dunedin are rare.
*1d Carmine-vermilion Mint
SG 97
1d Carmine-vermilion Used
SG 97
1d Carmine-vermilion
Roulette 7 SG 101
Ex George Branam
1d Carmine-vermilion Mint & Used!
Left stamp used - Right stamp mint
SG 97
Top right hand corner showing scissor cut 95% way through for convenience - then ripped
2d Blue
The printed shades of the 2d value ranged from pale blue to deep blue, with Plate I showing obvious evidence of wearing. More than half of the sheets printed were perforated 12 ½ by the newly installed government machine at Auckland (SG 107). Initial problems with the machine gave rise to examples with double perforations.
Separations varieties reported include:
-
Roulette 7 (at Auckland): (SG 102)
-
Perf 13 (at Dunedin): (SG 105)
-
Government perf 12 ½ (at Auckland): (SG 107)
The earliest recorded use of SG 98: 4 August 1864, on a cover from Auckland to Christchurch. The earliest recorded use of SG 105: is a single used on 18 August 1864, from Dunedin, and the earliest recorded use of SG 107: on cover, 13 April 1864.
*2D Pale-blue
SG 98 (CP A2j(1)
*2D Pale-blue
Roulette 7 pair SG 102
*2D Blue
SG 98 (CP A2j(2)
*2D Pale-blue
Roulette 7 pair on piece SG 102
The NZ watermark paper was the first to require that the paper was placed correctly on the plate to avoid the watermark appearing inverted or reversed related to the printed stamps. Nevertheless, copies are known with watermark reversed, inverted, and inverted reversed.
In the latter half of 1864, the Government perforating machine gauging 12 ½ was installed in Auckland and examples of stamps printed on NZ watermark paper have been reported with these perforations. Printings on NZ watermark paper were the final issue on which the Dunedin perf 13 was used.
2d Pale-blue
SG 105 - CP a2j(1)x
Double Perforations!
2d Blue
SG 105 – CP a2j(2)x
*2d Pale Blue used pair
SG 105
2d Pale Blue mint pair
SG 107 - CP a2j(1)w
*2d Pale Blue used pair
Perf 13 SG 107
2d Blue
SG 107 - CP a2j(1)w
6d Red-brown
The 6d stamp (SG 99) is found in shades of red-brown, with some examples reported with blurred impression. Most of the sheets were perforated in Auckland, examples of double perforation are known. Surprisingly, no examples have been recorded of the perf 13 of Dunedin on this denomination, which was most used for mail overseas.
Separation varieties reported include:
-
Roulette 7 (at Auckland): (SG 103)
-
Government perf 12 ½ (at Auckland): (SG 108)
The earliest recorded use of SG 99 was the 12 March 1864 single cancelled Christchurch. The earliest recorded use of SG 108 was 9 September 1864, a cover from Picton to England with a single 6d and a pair of the 2d.
*6d Red-brown imperf
Mint SG 99
6d Red-brown imperf pair
Used SG 99
6d Red-brown
Roulette 7 (internal left-side)
SG 103
6d Red-brown imperf
Used SG 99
6d Red-brown Perf 12 1/2
Used SG 108
6d Red-brown perf 12 1/2
Used SG 108
6d Red-brown perf 12 1/2
Double Perfs
SG 108v
1/- Green
The 1/- value (SG 100) is found in shades of green and yellow-green. The latter colour is the scarcer stamp. A very small number of the yellow-green were perforated 12 ½ with the Auckland machine and is a very rare stamp (SG 109).
Sheets were perforated 13 at Dunedin with a rare variety being a pair imperforate between (SG 106a).
Separations varieties reported include:
-
Roulette 7 (at Auckland): (SG 104)
-
Perf 13 (at Dunedin): (SG 106)
-
Government perf 12 ½ (at Auckland): (SG 109)
The earliest recorded use of SG 100 was 1 September 1864 (W. Jolliffe, The History of New Zealand Stamps, Appendix B, C.L. Pack collection). The earliest recorded use of SG 106 was 18 August 1864, pair with Dunedin Duplex.
1/- Yellow Green unused
Imperf - SG 100
1/- Green used
Imperf - SG 100
1/- Green used
SG 100
1/- Yellow Green used
Imperf - SG 100
*1/- Green pair used
Imperf - SG 100
1/- Green pair used
Imperf - SG 100
The records of the number of stamps printed in 1863 show a total of 2,605,92028. The 20 reams of star watermarked paper supplied by Perkins Bacon in 1863 would have been sufficient to print 2,400,000 and the five reams that remained from the paper sent with the 3d plate provided another 600,000 stamps, a total of 3,000,000 stamps, or, using the 5% wastage factor, 2,850,000. Allowing for the fact that some of the stamps printed in 1863 were the 2d value printed on ‘thick soft white paper’, this means that it would have been necessary to start using the NZ watermarked paper in early 1864, prior to the arrival of the 50 reams of star watermark paper that was invoiced 1 April 1864.
1/- Yellow-green unused
Perf 13 - SG 106
1/- Green used
Roulette 7 - SG 104
1/- Green used
Perf 13 - SG 106
1/- Yellow-green used
Perf 13 - SG 106
*1/- Green used
Perf 13 - SG 106