Papua New Guinea - Postal Stationary 1952-1969

December 09, 2021

Aerogrammes, Registered Letters & Stamped Envelopes

Following the issue of Papua New Guinea's first set of definitive stamps on 30 October 1952, a series of airletters / aerogrammes, registered letters and stamped envelopes were issued by the Post and Telegraphs Department, later the Philatelic Bureau. These are described in detail within Mark Franklin's Guide to the Stamps of Papua New Guinea (1970). The following chronological listing summarizes the information in that book, and includes representative samples. Each variety is allocated the label PS# for postal stationary, though they are elsewhere catalogued as W1+, RE#, Higgins & Gage FG# etc. Various dealers also provide lists of relevant items for sale, such as Steve Irwin in the UK and on eBay, though with the latter they are somewhat buried amongst other items such as first day covers and souvenir covers. Due to their fragility - printed on light gauge paper which would ease the folding process - they have not survived as a normal plain paper envelope would, and their scarcity is a result of that and the fact that the number issued was not always high.

No.

Date

Description

PS1	17 April 1953	10d Airletter. Sold: c.75,000. Blue lettering and print on blue paper. FG1.
PS2	9 September 1953	1/0 1/2d Registered Letter. Sold: 6,700. Brown lettering and print on pale brown paper. A detailed discussion and census of this 1953 Registered Letter can be found on Stampboards here. New letter rates were introduced on 1 October 1956, necessitating the addition of the 6 1/2d stamp pending the printing of the 1/7d envelope in 1959.
PS3	1954	10d Aerogramme. Sold: c.350,000. FG2. Blue lettering and print on blue paper. The word Airletter was altered from the 1953 item to Aerogramme in order to follow the new international standard. This was slowly released to post offices during 1954/55.
PS4	1 September 1959	1/7 Registered Letter. Reddish brown lettering and print on pale brown paper. Sold: 2,450. These were issued to accommodate the new postal rate. The old covers were used with the addition of the 6 1/2d stamp until sold out. It was withdrawn on 31 October 1961 and unsold copies destroyed. A detailed discussion and census regarding the 1959 Registered Letter RE4 can be found on Stampboards here.
PS5	17 October 1959	10d Aerogramme. Sold: 350,000. FG3. New design, with new standard red and blue borders.
PS6	20 September 1961	5d Stamped Envelope. Sold: 129,168. Light green stamp imprint on cream paper. Issued in short and long formats. First day of issue cover illustrated below. Withdrawn 31 August 1966.
PS7	16 April 1962	10d Overseas Service Aerogramme. Sold: c.632,000. FG4.
PS8	26 August 1963	10d World Health Organisation Aerogramme. Sold: c.26,400. First day of issue 26 August 1963. Also special postmark at Port Moresby for the conference 5-10 September 1963.
PS9	14 February 1966	9c Aerogramme. Sold: 701,500. Produced for the introduction of decimal currency, Subject to a number of printings in: 1) letterpress; 2) offset; and 3) letterpress taken from offset. Withdrawn 30 June 1969 and copies destroyed. An example is shown below with a special postmark for the first Qantas Port Moresby / Manila / Hong Kong Service on 14 September 1967.
PS10	14 February 1966	5c Stamped Envelope. Pale green stamp imprint on pale cream paper. Discussion of print variations on Stampboards here.
PS11	1 February 1969	10c Aerogramme. Sold: 190,000. Printed on new 2 flap design.
PS12	11 December 1969	10c Aerogramme. Printed on new 3 flap design. FG7.
PS13	27 October 1971	7c Stamped Envelope. Dark brown stamp design on pale cream paper.