1898 Pictorials Series 2 – 1898 Pictorials

Seven further 1898 Pictorial designs – Kiwi, Mount Cook 5s, Otira Gorge, War Canoe, Huia, Kea and Kaka, Lake Wakitipu – as NFTs on VeVe, 2 December 2023.

NZ Post followed its June 2023 debut with a second VeVe drop on 2 December 2023: 1898 Pictorials Series 2 re-issues seven further designs from the 1898 Pictorial Definitives, the series that made New Zealand one of the first countries to put landscapes, birds and animals on its stamps instead of a monarch’s portrait. The originals, first issued on 5 April 1898, were chosen from around 2,400 competition entries and engraved and printed by Waterlow and Sons in England. The seven digital stamps and their tiers: Kiwi (6d) and Mount Cook (5s) at 1,898 each (Uncommon), Otira Gorge (5d) and War Canoe and Crown (8d) at 1,498 each (Rare), Huia (3d) and Kea and Kaka (1s) at 898 each (Ultra Rare), and the Lake Wakitipu (2½d) with its original spelling error at 598 (Secret Rare) — 9,186 NFTs in total on Immutable X, sold as a 6.00 USD blind-box waitlist. Together with Series 1 the two drops cover all 13 designs of the 1898 issue, plus both spellings of the 2½d.

Variants

Variant	Mintage	Rarity
Lake Wakitipu (2½d)	598	1
Huia (3d)	898	2
Kea and Kaka (1s)	898	2
Otira Gorge (5d)	1,498	3
War Canoe and Crown (8d)	1,498	3
Kiwi (6d)	1,898	4
Mount Cook (5s)	1,898	4

Image: NZ Post

History

New Zealand Post returned to VeVe on 2 December 2023 with the second instalment of its 1898 Pictorials re-issue, six months after the Series 1 debut of 10 June 2023. Series 2 completes the set: seven further designs from the 1898 Pictorial Definitives, again sold as a $6 blind-box waitlist that opened 30 minutes before the 8 AM PT drop.

Technical Specifications

Detail	Value
Date	2023-12-02
Tech	VeVe / Immutable X
List Price	$6 USD per NFT
Sale Format	Blind Box Waitlist
Designs	7
Total mintage	9,186

Original 1898 Pictorials Context

New Zealand was one of the first countries to put pictures of the countryside, birds and animals on its stamps instead of the customary portrait of a monarch. The first Pictorials appeared on 5 April 1898, chosen from around 2,400 entries in a public design competition. Waterlow and Sons engraved and printed the originals in England; later supplies were printed in New Zealand. Face values ran from a halfpenny to five shillings.

Stamp Designs and Tiers

Variant	Tier	Mintage
Kiwi (6d) - the flightless national bird	Uncommon	1,898
Mount Cook (5s) - Aoraki, over 3,700 m, the top value	Uncommon	1,898
Otira Gorge (5d) - Southern Alps, Mount Ruapehu inset	Rare	1,498
War Canoe and Crown (8d) - a Māori waka, first NZ stamp to recognise Māori culture	Rare	1,498
Huia (3d) - extinct since 1907	Ultra Rare	898
Kea and Kaka (1s) - two native parrots	Ultra Rare	898
Lake Wakitipu (2½d) - the original spelling error	Secret Rare	598

Unlike Series 1 there is no Common tier; the Uncommon count of 1,898 echoes the year of the originals. Across the seven designs the drop comprises 9,186 NFTs.

The Two Wakatipu Stamps

The 2½d was first issued with the lake misspelled Wakitipu and re-issued with the correct spelling on 5 May 1898. VeVe split the pair across the two series: Series 1 carried the corrected "Wakatipu", Series 2 the error stamp — in both cases as the Secret Rare tier of 598.

Relationship to Series 1

Series 1 comprised the ½d Mount Cook, 1d Lake Taupo, 2d Pembroke Peak, 2s Milford Sound, 4d White Terraces, 9d Pink Terraces and 2½d Lake Wakatipu. Together the two drops cover all 13 designs of the 1898 issue plus both spellings of the 2½d.

Platform Infrastructure

NZ Post's digital stamps live on Immutable X, an Ethereum L2 (StarkEx). NFTs are minted and traded through the VeVe marketplace and viewed in its mobile app with AR photo mode; tokens are not directly resolvable via Etherscan because they live on the L2 sidechain.

Curator note: drop date, designs, tiers and mintages come from VeVe's own blog post; crypto-stamps.org repeats the same figures. NZ Post's Collectables site documents the physical 1898 Pictorials and, on its Digital Stamps page, names only Series 1; the VeVe France re-post on Medium was not reachable (403) when reviewed. Single editorial source for the drop. Reviewed 2026-09-21.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Series 2 differ from the 1898 Pictorials Series 1?

Both are VeVe re-issues of the same 1898 issue, at the same 6.00 USD price and on the same Immutable X stack. Series 1 (10 June 2023) carried the ½d Mount Cook, 1d Lake Taupo, 2d Pembroke Peak, 2s Milford Sound, 4d White Terraces, 9d Pink Terraces and the corrected 2½d “Wakatipu”. Series 2 (2 December 2023) adds the seven remaining designs — 6d Kiwi, 5s Mount Cook, 5d Otira Gorge, 8d War Canoe and Crown, 3d Huia, 1s Kea and Kaka — plus the 2½d with the original “Wakitipu” spelling error. Series 2 has no Common tier: its largest tier is Uncommon at 1,898, against 2,898 for the Commons of Series 1.