New Zealand: Chalons - 1855-1873

Just a quick point about catalogs used by us 'colonials' - We use Stanley Gibbons (SG) primarily for the basic numbering of our stamps - Campbell Paterson (CP) is used for in-depth specialisation etc.
Unfortunately not many of us use Scott (although I do possess a few pertinent Scott pages for NZ). So apologies to our American audience for that in advance.

Dave

The first stamps used in New Zealand are known as 'Londons' - as they were printed in London, England - by Perkins Bacon (PB).
These were the only Chalons printed outside of the country. Subsequent printings were produced within the colony by J. Richardson (on contract to the government) and John Davies (the Government printer).

Numbers printed initially were quite low :

1d Qty. printed = 12,000 - 50 sheets
2d Qty. printed = 66,000 - 275 sheets
1/-Qty. printed =   8,000 - 33⅓ sheets

Of the 1/- 34 sheets were actually printed but a part sheet only sent out to make up the 8,000 requested.
PB kept the rest for their archives.

They were printed in September of 1854 and shipped to NZ that year along with a printing press, plates, reams of paper, glue, inks, obliterators etc etc
Everything that the local colonial government would need to start printing their own stamps.

The ship (the Simlah) duly arrived into Port Nicholson (Wellington) early 1855 where it was later trans-shipped to Auckland (the Capital at that point in time).

Here are examples of the original values issued : SG1, SG2 & SG3



Lovely aren't they? (unfortunately not mine!)

Dave

Excellent thread, Dave (DK )! It didn't take you long to start making substantive contributions, which is great.

Unfortunately, I do not have my NZ Chalon Head stamps with me here in England, so I will not be able to scan and post images until the time that I am next in California.  Under the current circumstances, that will not be for some time yet.

I did just notice, however, that the date when these beauties were first issued was 18th July 1855, which means that the 165th anniversary will be one week from today. That's a happy thought!

Could you possibly double-check that link?  I tried following it twice and ended up at a page saying "Your query returned no results for object records." for Canterbury Museum.  Any additional searching I did came back with either no results or results that were too broad.   

(And, of course, there's always the chance that the problem is on my end.)

Thanks in advance!

Dave & Dave (DK and Philatarium):

When I tried the link, I got the same result: no record found.  I think it does need to be checked.

Within a few months of the stamps first being released to the public, it became evident that the supplies from London were not going to last very long, such was the demand (1d & 2d certainly - the 1/- not used until 1857!).

1d was the Soldiers and Sailors concessionary rate
2d was the inland rate for most provinces (Canterbury was an exception)
1/- was used for registration and heavier items (over ½ ounce etc) and new routes that required extra payment (thru' France etc). Commonly used by Solicitors (Attorneys/Lawyers) and 'official' persons sending documents thru' the mails.

This is where a Mr. J. Richardson enters the frame when he undertook the first printing of postage stamps in New Zealand. The Colonial Secretary’s Office in November 1855 gave him an order to print stamps in values of one penny, two penny and one shilling in 'a quantity equal to what had been obtained from England.’ On 13 December 1855 some 29,000 one penny stamps, more than double the number ordered, had been delivered and accepted by the Colonial Treasurer. At this time Auckland was the seat of Government and Richardson must have been known as a capable printer to secure such a con­tract.

According to the records he was the "one person in the town (Auckland) competent to print postage stamps".

His printings - between November 1855 and February of 1862 - are affectionately referred to as 'Richardsons' or 'Richardson Printings'.

Not a lot is known about him, although I have obtained various snippets of info, of which I am trying to compile together some form of timeline of events around him. I do not have an image of him to share unfortunately.
He was a printer and stationer and seller of books & music. He advertised himself in the Auckland papers of the times - examples here below :





Dave

The next Chalons to be found in the catalogs are those printed locally by J. Richardson

He didn't think too much of the provided 'Large Star' paper so obtained his own.
(He did actually produce a mini-trial run of a sheet or two on the 'large star' paper but these printings are very rare).

For ref. The 'Castle' front

SG7



So, with his dislike of the supplied paper out of the way, he first used a 'blue' paper and shortly thereafter used various white papers.
(although there are reportedly various white papers used the below 2 groups are widely referred to) :
 
These white papers are either of 2 main types : thick, soft (HM) or thin, hard (VM) paper.

Blue paper
These were printed between November 1855 (the 1d) - until 1857 when Richardson started using the white papers aforementioned.

1855 (Dec.)
No wmk.
Imperf.
Blue paper
Recess printed by J. Richardson, Auckland
SG4-6



SG4, SG5 & SG6



Dave

White Paper

These were either on a quite thick, soft paper with a Horizontal Mesh (HM) or a thin, hard paper with a Vertical mesh (VM).
These were printed between 1857-1862 by Richardson.

Note: The first printings on white paper included the following values :

1d, 2d & 1/-

These were extended in 1859 when a 6d value was added due to a change in postal rates to the UK.

SG8, SG8a, SG9, SG10 & SG11



SG16 & SG17



Dave

In 1859 a new plate was produced by Perkins Bacon to meet the demand for the new 6d rate.
It duly arrived and was put into production immediately by the authorities. Richardson was again the printer.

A few shades in this group - 4 are identified by SG but CP lists a few more :

1859
No wmk.
Imperf.
White paper
Recess printed by J. Richardson Auckland

SG 12 - 15

SG12, SG13, SG14 & SG15



Dave

(NB Shades can be a little tricky to show on computer screens but hopefully there is a subtle difference seen here).

Hey Jim.

Please do. That is what this is all about. Sharing, and discussing our hobby.

I haven't mentioned the 'overlaps' that Richardson produced. Nor the reasoning behind them.
Perhaps you could cover that small period in time for us.

Dave

PS Just a quick mention of Jim's and my Avatars.

Jim's is an example of SG2 in pair - A 'London' print by Perkins Bacon.
Mine is a very mis-perforated pair of SG79 Davies print perforated 13 in Dunedin.

Just in case any of you were wondering ....

Dave

NB Yes - we do own these ones!  

as promised, here is an example of SG3 showing the distinct bluing that occurred through a reaction (presumably) of the ink with the paper. You can usually see it in the value tablet from the front but it is most obvious when looking from the back. Note the white patches where the ink is absent...

It's a slightly untidy stamp but I'm loathe to trim it as that would seem to be a shame.

That must be one of the most outstanding examples of the 'bluing' effect that I have ever seen. Remarkable copy.
And NO, do not even dare to trim that copy. Leave that to the dealers who think that they know best!!

Lovely array of the 6d Richardsons too.

Aren't they a fantastic example of the Victorian technology of the time.

The Chestnut shades (last row in your image) show up nicely. They too have a range of shades within themselves ....

Dave

NB The PB BN '14' is of course from Nelson.

Thanks blaamand

Yes thats right. Although it is thought that several types of foolscap paper was used by Richardson (both blue & white papers) the white papers are commonly referred to as having 2 types :

Thick, soft - with a Horizontal Mesh (HM)
Thin, hard - with a Vertical Mesh (VM)

These are actually easily recognisable once you have seen the two types together - side by side
Mesh can be seen when the stamp 'curls' due to moisture presence (ie when you hold it in your hand and apply some breath).

The thick, soft is just that - thick & soft - unlike later papers used. It has a rough feel to it and is very easily thinned. A lot of examples out there are damaged due to thinning.

The other type - thin, hard is also as described - thin & hard - really noticeable when you have one of each type in front of you. There are some really nice shades of colour in this group. Very clean & crisp.

It must be said here that there are always exceptions to any rule and I reproduce for you here a piece from the CP Catalog explaining things :



Dave