1961 Christmas
| | Cat. |
Mint Unhinged |
Mint Hinged |
Fine Used |
2½d |
'The Adoration of the Magi' by Albrecht Durer |
119a |
$0.55 |
|
$0.45 |
|
$0.45 |
|
| |
|
First Day Cover - 16 October 1961 |
119b |
|
|
|
|
$4.50 |
|
| ... 2½d (119a) |
Following the success of the first Christmas issue in 1960, a second
Christmas stamp was issued in 1961. This stamp features 'The Adoration
of the Magi' by Albrecht Durer.
Before the feast of Christmas
was celebrated, the coming of the three wise men was a great Church
festival. Their visit to Bethlehem was important because it was the first
time that Jesus was shown to people outside the village. The wise men were
thought to represent all mankind. In early art they appear as a young,
middle-aged and old man. By the fifteenth century they are also of three
races. Since they came from the East - a region of great riches - they are
robed in silks and attended by turbaned servants, hunting dogs, and pet
monkeys. Eventually people came to think of them as kings, so they appear
wearing jeweled crowns.
The stamp was issued in mid October so that
it was available before the cutoff date for overseas Christmas postage.
Bibliography
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume VI |
Edited by D. E. G. Naish FRPSNZ and K. J. McNaught FRPSNZ FRPSL |
Publsihed 1975 by The Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated |
Pages 203 - 204 |
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume VIII |
Edited by B. G. Vincent FRPSNZ |
Published 1998 by The Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated (ISSN 0-9597883-1-X) |
Page 750 |
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