In 1929 H L Richardson of Wellington, who had designed the George V stamp series was commissioned to design a new set of 'Duty' stamps.
Issue information
His design incorporated the New Zealand Coat of Arms, however because of the confined space he depicted his own interpretation of the subject, which varied considerably from the version authorised by Royal Warrant in 1911. An error was also made in the design whereby the New Zealand flag was depicted instead of the Union Jack.
The whole of the 'Arms' set of stamps was fully authorised for postal use, and all values to £1 were regularly so used.
With so many similar looking stamps there were cases of denominations being mixed up, therefore several of the higher values were overprinted with their value in black. The 5s value was also overprinted with the word 'Official', in one variety vertically and in another horizontally, for Public Service use.
Acknowledgments
New Zealand Post would like to acknowledge the following for their assistance and guidance in bringing together this stamp issue:
Historical 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/
Product Listing for Arms Postal Fiscals
| Image | Title | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 1s 3d 'Lemon Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
1s 3d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 1s 3d 'Orange -Yellow Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
1s 3d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 1s 3d 'Orange - Yellow with Black text Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1955. |
1s 3d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 1s 3d 'Orange - Yellow with Blue text Arms Type' gummed stamp. Issued in July 1956 with blue lettering in place of the black. |
1s 3d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 2s 6d 'Brown Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
2s 6d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 4s 'Red-Brown Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
4s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 5s 'Green Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
5s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 6s 'Rose Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
6s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 7s 'Pale Blue Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
7s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 7s 6d 'Grey Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
7s 6d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 8s 'Indigo-Violet Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
8s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 9s 'Brown-Orange Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
9s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 10s 'Carmine - Lake Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
10s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 12s 6d 'Claret Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1935. |
12s 6d |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 15s 'Sage Green Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
15s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £1 'Pink Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
£1 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 25s 'Pale Blue Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
25s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 30s 'Brown Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1935. |
30s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 35s 'Orange-Yellow Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
35s |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £2 'Purple Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
£2 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £2/10 'Red Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
£2/10 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £3 'Green Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
£3 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £3/10 'Rose Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1935. |
£3/10 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £4 'Blue Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1935. |
£4 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £4/10 'Grey Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1935. |
£4/10 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single £5 'Blue Arms Type' gummed stamp. First issued 1931. |
£5 |
Technical information
| Date of issue: | 1 April 1931 |
|---|---|
| Designers: | H L Richardson, Wellington |
| Printers: | Government Printing Office, New Zealand |
| Stamp size: | 24mm x 27mm |
| Sheet size: | 80 stamps per sheet |
| Process: | Surface printed - Typography |
| Perforation gauge: | 14; The 1s 3d and 5s 'Official' also appeared in 1956-61 with perforated 14 x 13.5 |
| Paper type: | Various paper types, with single or multiple NZ and star watermark. |