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A SCARCE "NWPI" OFFERING: 3rd WATERMARK 3d OLIVE KANGAROO: OVERPRINTED "NORTH WEST PACIFIC ISLANDS" DIE II MINT HINGED - SUBSTITUTED CLICHÉ - STANLEY GIBBONS 96a (DIE II); + 25% PREMIUM FOR TYPE (b) OVERPRINT = TOTAL CV£137.5 ($275AU)
The DIE I & II 3rd Watermark 3d Olive Kangaroo was first printed in August 1915 off the J.B. COOKE Plates (earliest known 'date of use' is 8 October 1915) then printed by T.S. HARRISON from 1918. HARRISON initiated a new printing from December 1922 in the DIE IIB state known as the HARRISON PRINTINGS. These marsupials were used as the 'registration fee' and for the 'commercial paper rate' to foreign countries as well as the 'airmail fee' from December 1921. The 3d Kangaroos were replaced by the 3d King George V stamp in 1924. Overall, there were some 19 printings totalling 52,097,280 stamps. The NWPI OVERPRINT was applied to the 3rd Watermark 3d Olive around 5 months after the first printings.
THE DIE II 3d OLIVE IS MUCH SCARCER THAN ITS DIE ONE SIBLING. The non-punctured Die II, OLIVE in the 3rd Watermark, is listed at $1,100 for MUH!! compared to $175 for the MUH Die I stamp. THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH SPECIALISTS’ CATALOGUE “KANGAROOS” (ACSC 2021) states that these were printed from just two Plates. An UPPER Plate (Plate 1) and a LOWER Plate (Plate 2). Each Plate had 120 stamps on in two panes of 60 each with 10 horizontal rows of 6. Plate 1 comprised 105 Die I stamps and only 15 Die II Stamps. All Plate 2 Kangaroos were printed in the Die I state. Therefore: Only 15 x Die II 3d Olives were printed in every 240 stamps. The Plate 1 units printed in DIE II are all found on the LEFT PANE at positions: L37 & L38, L43-47, L49-51 & L55-59 (see Plate scan below for these locations). Stock up on these (being careful not to confuse the 'narrow top ball of 3' ONLY with DIE II as this is always narrow in the Die IIb STATE). Importantly, none are being printed anymore and the genuine DIE II 3d OLIVE is very scarce - especially OVERPRINTED "NWPI".
EARLY HISTORY: The first German post offices opened in German New Guinea, in the Bismarck Archipelago and the North Solomon Islands in 1888 and used stamps of the German Reich issued between 1875 and 1887 (denominations in an oval or imperial eagle series). On the mail, they were cancelled with a round datestamp bearing the name of the town in the upper part and a five arm star in the lower. "DEUTSCH/NEU-GUINEA" appeared in the middle of datestamps some years after. In 1897 and 1898, six stamps of Germany were overprinted with the name of the colony, printed diagonally on two lines. In 1901, stamps were issued with the name of the colony printed on them picturing 'the German imperial yacht’. In September 1914, at the beginning of World War I in Europe, Australian troops invaded German New Guinea. In October and December 1914, the remaining stocks of German colonial stamps were overprinted with two mentions. On the upper line, "G.R.I." for Georgius Rex Imperator in honour of King George V, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. The second line was a new denomination expressed in the Australian pound subdivisions (pence and shillings). From January 1915 to 1925, stamps used in New Guinea and Nauru were overprinted “N. W. PACIFIC ISLANDS". These stamps were taken from stocks of the Kangaroo and Map series and the George V series of Australia. That part of the world in which these stamps were used consists of ex-German New Guinea, that is, the North Eastern portion of that Island, the Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty group, and several other small Islands in the neighbourhood of New Guinea, also the Bougainville and BUKA Islands in the Solomon group, and for a short period in 1914 and 1915, the Island of NARU. The ADMIRALTY ISLANDS are a group of about 40 Islands to the N. E. of Guinea and were discovered by Schouten in 1616 and named by Carteret in 1767. Some are volcanic, while others are Coral Islands. They were annexed, along with New Britain, by Germany in 1885 and are now a part of the Bismarck Archipelago. The Bismarck Archipelago was the name given Officially by Germany to New Britain, New Hanover and several smaller islands. In 1884 they became a German dependency and in 1921, along with New Guinea, the islands were placed under mandate to Australia.
AUSTRALIAN FORCES: landed at "HERBERTSHÖHE" a settlement on the island of New Britain, on 11 SEPTEMBER 1914. By the end of the following two weeks, all of the German colonies in the neighbourhood were effectively occupied. The Australians changed the names of several places, however it was thought to be expedient, reverting to the native names or names which were current before the German occupation. For example, HERBERTSHÖHE BECAME KOKOPO, Fredrich Wilhelmshafen became MADANG; Berlinhafen was changed to EITAPE, New Pommern to NEW BRITAIN, New Mecklenburg to NEW IRELAND, and so on. Other names such as RABAUL, MANUS, KIETA in use during the German occupation, but were of native origin, were retained. A military administration was set up, with headquarters at Rabaul, under a military Governor (appointed in November 1914). This new government continued until May 1921 and through that time, transitioned from a military regime to a ‘mandatory’ of the ‘League of Nations”. During this time, the territory was called NEW BRITAIN, from the name of the Island on which the chief settlement stood. In May 1921, when a civil administration was set up for the first time, it was announced that the new name of “TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA” was to be used. At no time was the area known as N.W. PACIFIC ISLANDS. Interestingly, the stamps of the Commonwealth overprinted “NWPI” were never meant to describe use in New Guinea. The major part of the territory is not an Island and no part of the group is North of the Equator.
OVERPRINT HISTORY: The overprint was first made in Melbourne and the stamps were intended for other ex-German colonies in the Pacific mainly; The MARSHALL Islands, MARIANNE Islands and the CAROLINE Islands and were to have been issued at JALUIT in the Marshall Islands. THEY were the NW Pacific Islands. But by the time the issue was ready, the Islands had passed into the hands of the Japanese and therefore the stamps became redundant before being circulated! It was decided to send the stamps to Rabaul for use in that part of the former German colonies which still remained in Australian ‘possession’. Even though the overprint was not really relevant to the area, it was used due to an Australian reluctance to use our un-overprinted stamps and the significant pressures faced by the Commonwealth Printing Office at the time.
The new military Governor took the overprinted stamps with him to Rabaul in Late 1914 and they were placed on sale for the first time in January 1915. The first stamps included 10,080 1d Red KGV and 8,160 of the 2½d Indigo Kangaroo. The overprinted stamps continued through to the Spring of 1925 when they were withdrawn and replaced by the first 'permanent issue' for Papua.
The 3rd WATERMARK NWPI Kangaroos were issued from January 1916 through to September 1922. The denominations overprinted comprised: 2d GREY; 2½ INDIGO; 3d OLIVE; 6d ULTRAMARINE; 9d VIOLET; 1/- EMERALD/BLUEGREEN; 2/- BROWN; 5/- GREY&YELLOW; 10/- BRIGHT PINK/LILAC&GREY & the 1916 £1 BLUE/PALE BLUE&BROWN. This LOVELY 3d OLIVE IS DIE II WITH HINGE DISTURBANCE and full original gum. STANLEY GIBBONS (2022) LISTS NWPI DIE II (SG:96a) @ £110 + 25% premium for Overprint Type (b) TOTAL £137.5 ($275AU).
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