This issue is interesting for another innovation in that the plates contained plate markings in the corners of the sheets with a different number in an oblong border for each value in the upper left and lower right corners and the number “1” in a solid circle in each adjacent corner. These plate markings were probably intended to help identify different plates in later printings, however the quality was of such a high standard and the issue was around for such a comparatively short period (8 years), before being replaced by the locally produced “postage & revenue” series of 1882, that only the one set of plates was ever needed. It is interesting to note that engraved plate numbers did not become a regular feature of NZ stamps until the KGV series of 1915, so this issue appears to have been well ahead of it’s time in a number of ways.
