City Centenaries

Centenary of Palmerston North - 3c
The design incorporates the city's coat of arms.  Palmerston North, NZ's second largest provincial city, with about 70 000 people, is situated alongside the Manawatu River 140 kilometres north of Wellington.  It is the major commercial centre for the south/central region of the North Island, servicing a large, highly productive farming area.  The site of the town was part of a block bought by the Government from the Maori owners in 1864.  The town was laid out the following year, and settlement began in 1866.

Centenary of the City of Auckland - 4c
The design incorporates the city's coat of arms.  Auckland, NZ's largest urban area, straddles the isthmus between the Hauraki Gulf on the east coast and the Manukau Harbour on the west coast of the North Island.  The settlement and later the province were named after the first Earl of Auckland, George Eden, who was Governor-General of India when the settlement of Auckland was founded.  The city was established in 1840 as the country's second capital, a status it lost in 1865 when Wellington was considered more central in a long country with transport difficulties.

Centenary of the Local Government of Invercargill - 5c
The design incorporates the city's coat of arms.  Invercargill was for more than a century the fifth largest urban area in New Zealand.  Its population is around 52 000.  It is the southernmost city in the country, and one of the southernmost settlements of any size in the world. The principal city of the province of Southland, it is sited on the Waihopai River.