1955 Queen Elizabeth II (redrawn design)

Princess Elizabeth had a traditional royal childhood, she did not attend school but was tutored at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle by private tutors including Queen Mary, who taught her much about constitutional law and the role of the monarch. Whilst not excelling at academic subjects, Elizabeth developed an early interest in the arts and sport, especially in horse riding which she enjoys to this day.

Princess Elizabeth's teenage years were dominated by the Second World War. Like many London children she spent much of the war in the countryside to escape the nightly bombing raids.  Towards the end of the war Elizabeth became a junior officer in the army and learned the un-Queenly trade of an army driver and mechanic. In 1947 she went to South Africa on her first official tour and in that year married Prince Philip of Greece.

When Elizabeth was 25, her father King George VI died of lung cancer.  In a coronation service at Westminster Abbey in June 1953, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. At her request the service was broadcast live and millions of people huddled into crowded living rooms to watch the service on television.

The redrawn design was necessary because the denomination on the original Queen Elizabeth low values attracted criticism as being too small, while the colours of the original 3d and 8d were considered too similar.

Acknowledgments

Historical Information

Information included on this page sourced from The Postage Stamps of New Zealand published by the Royal Philatelic Society of NZ. Their web site offers further information useful to those interested in the stamps and postal history of New Zealand. Link: https://www.rpsnz.org.nz/

Stamp Bulletin

Bulletin scanned and provided by John Biddlecombe of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain. Their web site offers further information useful to those interested in the stamps and postal history of New Zealand. Link: http://www.nzsgb.org.uk/

Stamp Bulletin

This stamp issue first appeared in New Zealand Post Stamp Bulletin No. 8 on 21 June 1955.

Product Listing for 1955 Queen Elizabeth II (redrawn design)

Image	Title	Description	Price
	Single Stamp	Single 1d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. Orange: Issued 12 July 1956.	1d
	Single Stamp	Single 1 1/2d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp.  Brown: Issued 1 December 1955.	1 1/2d
	Single Stamp	Single 2d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. Green: Issued 19 March 1956.	2d
	Single Stamp	Single 3d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. Red: Issued 1 May 1956.	3d
	Single Stamp	Single 4d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. Blue: Issued 3 February 1958.	4d
	Single Stamp	Single 6d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. Purple: Issued 20 October 1955.	6d
	Single Stamp	Single 8d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. Brown: Issued 1 December 1959.	8d
	Single Stamp	Single 2d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. 2d provisional surcharge on 1 1/2d Brown: First issued 6 January 1958 - result of postage rate increase in 1958.	2d
	Single Stamp	Single 2 1/2d 'Queen Elizabeth II' gummed stamp. 2 1/2d provisional surcharge on 3d Red: First issued 1 September 1961.	2 1/2d