On 20 September 2025, philatelists and collectors will get the chance to purchase New Zealand’s rarest stamp, the Taupō Invert.

This unique specimen, a 4d Lake Taupō stamp from the 1902-07 Pictorials collection (which reused designs from the 1898 Pictorials), was printed with an inverted centre. Although this error would have appeared across a full sheet of 80 stamps, only one has ever been found.

The stamp was used in 1904 on a letter sent from Picton. It wasn’t discovered until 1930, when English farmer Jack Dennett came across it in his childhood collection. It sold the following year at auction for £161. The stamp did not reappear for sale until 1980 when it was sold to an American buyer by French stamp dealers for 110,500 francs (then about US$18,000).

It was subsequently referenced at a number of international shows and in sales lists until finally, in 1998, it was purchased by NZ Post for $125,000 to coincide with a centenary commemoration reprint of the 1898 Pictorials issue. It has been on long-term loan with The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa since 2010.

NZ Post Head of Stamps and Collectables Antony Harris says it’s an exciting moment for the philatelic community.

“It’s been a privilege for NZ Post to have cared for the Taupō invert for the past 27 years. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to facilitate a landmark event for stamp collectors with its public auction.”

The Taupō Invert will be auctioned by Mowbray Collectables in Wellington on 20 September 2025.