1999 and 2011 celebrated The New Year under the Chinese lunar sign The Year of the Rabbit. In both years New Zealand issued stamps to mark this event. Following on with my series of Chinese New Year issues I will be looking at both these issues in this post. When we reach the Year of the Rabbit for a third time I hope to include that issue here too.
See my complete collection of Chinese New Year Issues.
The next two values of course show the usual drawing or painting on the third value ($1.90), again this time a rabbit and finally the last stamp ($2.40) is the link to New Zealand with the famous icon, the Christchurch Cathedral. Of course most of you will know that this beautiful building, the pride of Christchurch, was destroyed in the recent earthquakes which hit this city.
I have been unable to find a mint example of the miniature sheet. It will be included here if I actually do find one. Meantime is cancelled version does fairly well.
See my complete collection of Chinese New Year Issues.
2011 The Year of the Rabbit.
The third year of NZ Post's second cycle of Chinese New Year signs was the Year of the Rabbit. Again modern stylised stamps were used followed the four stamp pattern set in 2010. The first stamp (60c) shows the Chinese character which reflects the awareness and alertness of the rabbit. The second value ($1.20) shows the paper cut design, this time of a rabbit.
60c - Year of the Rabbit. $1.20 - Rabbit Paper-cut.
$1.90 - Rabbit Drawing. $2.40 - Christchurch Cathedral.
The next two values of course show the usual drawing or painting on the third value ($1.90), again this time a rabbit and finally the last stamp ($2.40) is the link to New Zealand with the famous icon, the Christchurch Cathedral. Of course most of you will know that this beautiful building, the pride of Christchurch, was destroyed in the recent earthquakes which hit this city.
I have been unable to find a mint example of the miniature sheet. It will be included here if I actually do find one. Meantime is cancelled version does fairly well.
1999 The Year of the Rabbit.
In 1999 New Zealand continued issuing a stamps set which didn't completely fit the idea of the Year of the Rabbit, only depicting a rabbit on one of the six stamps. But along side this set they did produce two miniature sheets. One released with this set and one released later that year in August for the China’99 International Stamp Exhibition.
1999 Popular Pets First Day Cover.
Labrador Puppy - 40c Netherland Dwarf Rabbit - 80c
Tabby Kitten - $1.00 Lamb - $1.20
Welsh Pony - $1.50 Budgies - $1.80
This first miniature sheet is the one released with the Popular Pets Issue. I know have said it before, but I really like the design of this sheet with the signs moving around to feature a new one in the centre each year. The stamps showed the puppy, the rabbit and the kitten but I did notice that a toy rabbit made it into the stamp with the kitten.
The China’99 exhibition was held at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing from August 21 to 30. As the last large scale international philatelic show to be held in China in the 20th century, it was also an opportunity for New Zealand Post to promote the development of postal services and philatelic business in China and around the world. They used a similar miniature sheet to the one which had been used earlier in the year but this time only two stamps were used, the puppy and the kitten with a drawing of a rabbit in between. I am a bit surprised that it didn't include the rabbit stamp as well.
Technical information - 2011 Year of the Rabbit.
| Date of Issue: | 12 January 2011 |
|---|---|
| Number of stamps: | Four gummed stamps |
| Denominations: | 60c, $1.20, $1.90, $2.40 |
| Stamps, miniature sheet and first day cover designed by: | Asiaworks, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Printer and process: | Cartor Security Printing, France by offset lithography |
| Number of colours: | Four process colours |
| Stamp size and format: | 30mm x 40mm (vertical) |
| Paper type: | Tullis Russell 102gsm red phosphor gummed stamp paper |
| Number of stamps per sheet: | 25 |
| Perforation gauge: | Stamp sheets: 14; Miniature sheets: 13.25 x 13 |
| Special blocks: | Plate/imprint blocks may be obtained by purchasing at least six stamps from a sheet. Barcode blocks are available in both A and B formats |
| Period of sale: | Unless stocks are exhausted earlier, these stamps will remain on sale until close of business 11 January 2012. |
Technical information - 1999 Year of the Rabbit.
| Date of Issue: | 10 February 1999 |
|---|---|
| Designer: | Lindy Fisher, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Printer: | Southern Colour Print, New Zealand |
| Stamp Size: | 30mm x 40mm; Miniature Sheet Size: 100mm x 135mm |
| Sheet Size: | 100 stamps per sheet |
| Process: | Lithography |
| Perforation Gauge: | 14 |
| Paper Type: | 103 gsm red phosphor coated |
Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
You can visit their web site and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/
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