New Zealand Post was delighted to commemorate the historic cinematic event with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring stamp issue.
Issue information
The only stamps to be officially approved by the film's director Peter Jackson. This was a beautifully presented issue, combining actual scenes from the film with imagery evoking the mythology and magic of its setting in legendary Middle-earth.
Miniature Sheet
Each of these six miniature sheets contained a different image from the set, displayed in an illustrative panel. The miniature sheets portrayed the origin of each stamp image, derived from the scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring film.
Peter Jackson's movie trilogy, based on the reknown J.R.R. Tolkiens's The Lord of the Rings was filmed entirely in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Using over one hundred and fifty different locations, including thirty Department of Conservation sites, filming stretched from Te Anau to Matamata. The two thousand strong cast and crew, worked solidly from October 2000. The shoot endured through snow, hail, floods, ferocious winds and unrelenting sunshine on New Zealand's picturesque mountains, rivers, valleys, lakes and hill country.
Sheetlet
A sheet of ten 40c stamps from The Fellowship of the Ring issue were displayed within a decorative border.
Self-adhesive Stamp Booklet
An illustrated booklet of self-adhesive stamps that were attractive and convenient to collect. Each booklet featured four 40c stamps, two 90c stamps, and one each of the rest of the stamp designs in the set - 80c, $1.30, $1.50 and $2.00.
First Day Covers
The two first day covers were unaddressed envelopes which featured unique pictorial designs, and the gummed and self-adhesive stamp sets respectively. The stamps were date stamped to commemorate the first day of issue of the official The Fellowship of the Ring stamps.
Maximum Cards
A set of six postage paid postcards which showed pictorial designs derived from scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring film, and with the relating gummed stamps and the date stamp.
Stamp Sheets
Six sheets of 25 gummed stamps were also available, each featured a different stamp design from the full set 40c, 80c, 90c, $1.30, $1.50 and $2.00.
Presentation Pack
The pack told you more about the background to the official The Fellowship of the Ring stamp issue, and was a prestigiously presented compilation of some of the products that were available. The pack included: the first day cover with gummed stamps, the self-adhesive stamp set, and the six miniature sheets. These were all archival quality mounted.
Product Listing for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Click on image to enlarge.
Technical information
Date of issue: | 4 December 2001 |
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Number of stamp: | Six |
Denominations and designs: | 40c Gandalf and Saruman, 80c The Lady Galadriel, 90c Sam and Frodo, $1.30 The Guardian of Rivendell, $1.50 Strider, $2.00 Boromir, son of Denethor |
First day covers and self-adhesive booklet designed by: | Sacha Lees, Weta Workshop, Wellington |
Printer and process: | Stamps and self-adhesive booklet: Southern Colour Print, Dunedin by offset lithography |
Number of colours: | Four process colours |
Stamp size and format: | Gummed: 25mm x 50mm (vertical and horizontal); Self-adhesive: 26mm x 37mm (vertical and horizontal) |
Number of stamps per sheet: | 25 |
Number of stamps per sheetlet: | 10 x 40c |
Number of stamps per booklet: | 4 x 40c, 2 x 90c, 80c, $1.30, $1.50 and $2.00 |
Paper type: | Gummed: De La Rue 103gsm red phosphor stamp paper; Self-adhesive: JAC Non DC PSI B1000 PSA stamp paper |
Perforation gauge: | 14.25 x 14 |
Special blocks: | Plate/imprint blocks could be obtained by purchasing at least two stamps from a sheet. Barcode, value blocks and logo blocks could be obtained by purchasing at least two stamps from a sheet. Barcode blocks were available in both A and B formats for sheet stamps. |
Period of sale: | These stamps remained on sale until 3 December 2002. |