The unprecedented decision in 1890 to allow the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department to use a distinctive stamp of its own made the office unique in-so-far as no other life insurance institution in the world enjoyed such a privilege.
Issue information
Over the years the stamps were limited to the prepayment of postage on correspondence posted by the Government Life Insurance office for delivery within New Zealand but on 27 March 1969 this condition was relaxed and the stamps could be used on mail to both inland and overseas addresses.
1969 marked the centenary of the founding of the Government Life Insurance Office and a new series of stamps was issued to mark this occasion. Lighthouses, the symbol of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department, were again the subject depicted ion the stamps.
Stamp Bulletin
This stamp issue first appeared in New Zealand Post Stamp Bulletin No. 1 in November 1968.
Acknowledgments: 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/
Technical information
| Date of Issue: | 27 March 1969 |
|---|---|
| Designers: | J Berry, Wellington |
| Printers: | Bradbury Wilkinson, England |
| Stamp Size: | 1/2c, 3c and 15c: 25mm x 41mm; 2 1/2c and 4c: 41mm x 25mm; 8c and 10c: 24mm x 40mm |
| Sheet Size: | 100 stamps per sheet |
| Process: | Lithography |
| Performance Gauge: | Various |
| Paper Type: | Unwatermarked |