First Recorded Type 6 Officially Sealed Label on Cover

This cover was recently purchased on the internet. It is the first that I have seen on a cover, although there is the possibility of another reported by Andrew Dove.

The cover is registered from Mapua (Tasman Bay) to Dunedin. Postage and registration is paid with 4 x 1d Dominion stamps cancelled with  2 x “MAPUA 23 MR 26” G-class datestamps and one for the registration label. Label applied to bottom of cover, endorsed “torn” and initialed by two officers. The flap of the cover is also sealed with five selvedge pieces from a stamp sheet, one with part sheet number N58…

The Type 6 Officially Sealed label has Mail 76 (old No. P.O. 134) outside the frame of the label, bottom left.

The four other recorded Type 6 labels are undated. The challenge is to find more of these Type 6 labels on cover. While it is conjectured that these followed the type 5 labels, they are likely to be dated 1924. Because Mapua is a small Post Office, old supplies of labels were probably used.

Reference: “Post Office “Found Open – Officially Sealed Labels Part 3: 1903 – 1920 Types 4, 5 and 6 Labels” Alan Craig, Lindsay Chitty; The New Zealand Stamp Collector Vol. 97 Number 4, Dec. 2017.