AUSTRALIAN  STAMP  WEBSITE NEW GUINEA 1888 - 1949 A Simplified List Under Revision: 20 July 2026 - Search Years - 1888 1897 1901 1914 1915 1918 1925 1926 1927 1931 1932 1934 1935 1937 1939 1942 Previous Group Main Menu Notes & Abbreviations Next Group GENERALLY New Guinea is the world's second-largest island. It is located in the south-western Pacific Ocean, approximately 150 km from mainland Australia. It was part of the German colonial empire, becoming a German protectorate in 1884, known as German New Guinea. Between 1921 and 1942, it was an Australian Mandate. From 1942 to 1945, World War II caused all civil administration to be suspended due to Japanese invasion and subsequent Allied military operations. Between 1945 and the mandate was converted to United Nations Trust Territory, remaining under Australian administration. In 1949, New Guinea was amalgamated with Papua, to form the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. STAMP HISTORY From 1890, German stamps were used in German New Guinea. From 1897 the German stamps were overprinted "Deutsch- / Neu-Guinea". In 1901, new stamps inscribed "Deutsch- Neu-Guinea" used. Under Australian Occupation from 1914, stamps of Germany & Marshall Islands were overprinted G.R.I. In 1915, stamps of Australia, overprinted "N. W. / PACIFIC / ISLANDS", were used. Detail In 1925, the first stamps inscribed "Territory of New Guinea" were issued. From 1942 to 1944 under Japanese Occupation, stamps of Japan and New Guinea overprinted "大日本 plus an anchor image", were used. In 1945, following Japan's surrender, Australian Stamps were used, up until the 1949 amalgamation with Papua to form "Papua & New Guinea". 1888  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea German Numeral & Eagle Stamps: Inscribed "DEUTSCHE REICHS-POST" 1888-1891 - Stamps issued in Sheets of 100. 1 3pf.  Green 2 5pf.  Mauve 3 10pf.  Red 4 20pf.  Blue 5 25pf.  Chestnut 6 50pf.  Olive 7 2m.  Mauve 1890  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea German Numeral & Eagle Stamps: Inscribed "REICHSPOST" 1890-1898 - Stamps issued in Sheets of 100. 1 3pf.  Brown 2 5pf.  Green 3 10pf.  Red 4 20pf.  Blue 5 25pf.  Orange 6 50pf.  Brown 1897  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea German Eagle Stamps: Inscribed "REICHSPOST" with German Overprint "Deutsch- / Neu-Guinea" 1897-1899 - Stamps issued in Sheets of 100. 1 3pf.  Brown 2 5pf.  Green 3 10pf. Red 4 20pf.  Blue 5 25pf.  Orange 6 50pf.  Chocolate 1901  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea German Stamps: Inscribed "DEUTSCH-NEU-GUINEA" (Yacht Series) 1901-1914- Stamps 1-9 issued in Sheets of 100, Stamps 10-13 issued in Sheets of 20. 1 3pf.  Brown 2 5pf.  Green 3 10pf.  Red 4 20pf.  Blue 5 25pf.  Black & Red/ yellow 6 30pf.  Black & Orange/ buff 7 40pf.  Black & Red  8 50pf.  Black & Purple/ buff 9 80pf.  Black & Red/ rose 10 1m.  Red 11 2m.  Blue 12 3m.  Black 13 5m.  Red & Black 1914  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Australian Occupation of German New Guinea: German Stamps with Australian "G.R.I." Overprint. G.R.I. is an abbreviation of "Georgius Rex Imperator" (George, King, Emperor) 1914 - Stamps 1-11 issued in Sheets of 100.  Stamps 12-15 issued in Sheets of 20.  Stamps 16-17 issued in Sheets of 100. 1 1d. on  3pf. Brown 2 1d. on  5pf. Green 3 2d. on  10pf. Red 4 2d. on  20pf. Blue 5 2½d. on  10pf. Red 6 2½d. on  20pf. Blue 7 3d. on  25pf. Black & Red/ yellow 8 3d. on  30pf. Black & Orange/ buff 9 4d. on  40pf. Black & Red 10 5d. on  50pf. Black & Purple/ buff 11 8d. on  80pf. Black & Red/ rose 12 1s. on  1m. Red 13 2s. on  2m. Blue 14 3s. on  3m. Black 15 5s. on  5m. Red & Black 16 1d. OS on  3pf. Brown 17 1d. OS on  5pf. Green New Guinea Australian Occupation of German New Guinea: German Marshall Island Stamps with Australian "G.R.I." Overprints 1914 - Stamps 18-26 issued in Sheets of 100.  Stamps 27-30 issued in Sheets of 20. 18 1d. on  3pf. Brown 19 1d. on  5pf. Green 20 2d. on  10pf. Red 21 2d. on  20pf. Blue 22 3d. on  25pf. Black & Red/ yellow 23 3d. on  30pf. Black & Orange/ buff 24 4d. on  40pf. Black & Red 25 5d. on  50pf. Black & Purple/ buff 26 8d. on  80pf. Black & Red/ rose 27 1s. on  1m. Red 28 2s. on  2m. Blue 29 3s. on  3m. Violet-Black 30 5s. on  5m. Red & Black 1915  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Australian Occupation of German New Guinea: Marshall Island "G.R.I." Stamps with 1d. Australian Surcharge 1915 - Issued in Sheets of 100.   1 1 over  2d. on 10pf. Red 2 1 over  2d. on 20pf. Blue   New Guinea Australian Occupation of German New Guinea: KGV stamps with "N. W. Pacific Islands." Overprint  1915 - Issued in Sheets of 30.  3 ½d.  Green 4 1d.  Red 5 1d.  Violet 6 2d.  Orange 7 2d.  Red 8 4d.  Orange 9 4d.  Violet 10 4d.  Blue 11 5d.  Brown New Guinea Australian Occupation of German New Guinea: Kangaroo stamps with  "N. W. Pacific Islands." Overprint 1915 - Issued in Sheets of 120. 12 2d.  Grey 13 2½d.  Blue 14 3d.  Olive 15 6d.  Blue 16 9d.  Violet 17 1s.  Emerald 18 2s.  Brown 19 5s.  Grey & Yellow 20 10s.  Grey & Pink 21 £1.  Brown & Blue 1918  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea North West Pacific Islands: Overprinted "One Penny" 1918 - Issued in Sheets of 120  1 1d. on  5d. Brown KGV Head 2 1d. on 1s. Green Kangaroo & Map 1925  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: Issue 1 23 January 1925 - Issued in Sheets of 30   1 ½d.  Orange 2 1d.  Green 3 2d.  Claret   4 3d.  Blue 5 4d.  Olive-Green 6 6d.  Brown-Ochre 7 9d.  Dull Purple/Violet New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: Issue 2 6 April 1925 - Issued in Sheets of 30    8 1s.  Dull Blue-Green    9 2s.  Brown-Lake 10 5s.  Bistre 11 10s.  Dull Rose 12 £1.  Dull Olive-Green New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: Overprinted "O S" 6 April 1925 - Stamps issued in Sheets of 30. 13 1d.  Green 14 2d.  Claret 15 3d.  Blue 16 4d.  Olive-Green 17 6d.  Bistre 18 9d.  Violet 19 1s.  Dull Blue-Green 20 2s.  Brown-Lake 1926  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: New Value 1926 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 1 1½d.  Orange-Vermilion 1927  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: Revised Colour July 1927 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 1 6d.  Yellow-Brown 1931  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: New Value & Revised Colour, Overprinted "O S" April 1931 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 1 1½d.  Orange-Vermilion 2 6d.  Yellow-Brown New Guinea Native Village Huts Definitives: Overprinted "AIR MAIL" plus a Bi-plane image 8 June 1931 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 3 ½d.  Orange 4 1d.  Green 5 1½d.  Orange-Vermilion    6 2d.  Claret    7 3d.  Blue   8 4d.  Olive-Green   9 6d.  Light Brown   10 9d.  Violet   11 1s.  Dull Blue-Green 12 2s.  Brown-Lake 13 5s.  Olive-Bistre 14 10s.  Bright Pink 15 £1.  Olive-Grey New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives with Dates: 1921 - 1931 2 August 1931 - Issued in Sheets of ? 16 1d.  Green 17 1½d.  Vermilion 18 2d.  Claret 19 3d.  Blue 20 4d.  Olive-Green 21 5d.  Deep Blue-Green 22 6d.  Bistre-Brown 23 9d.  Violet 24 1s.  Pale Blue-Green 25 2s.  Brown-Lake 26 5s.  Olive-Brown 27 10s.  Bright Pink 28 £1.  Olive-Grey New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives with Dates: Overprinted "O  S" 2 August 1931 - Issued in Sheets of ? 29 1d.  Green 30 1½d.  Vermilion 31 2d.  Claret 32 3d.  Blue 33 4d.  Olive-Green 34 5d.  Deep Blue-Green 35 6d.  Bistre-Brown 36 9d.  Violet 37 1s.  Pale Blue-Green 38 2s.  Brown-Lake 39 5s.  Olive-Brown New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives with Dates: Overprinted "AIR / MAIL" plus a Bi-plane image 2 August 1931 - Stamps issued in Sheets of ? 40 ½d.  Orange 41 1d.  Green 42 1½d.  Vermilion 43 2d.  Claret 44 3d.  Blue 45 4d.  Olive-Green 46 5d.  Deep Blue-Green 47 6d.  Bistre-Brown 48 9d.  Violet 49 1s.  Pale Blue-Green 50 2s.  Dull Lake 51 5s.  Olive-Brown 52 10s.  Bright Pink 53 £1.  Olive-Grey 1932  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives: No Dates 30 June 1932 - Stamps issued in Sheets of 30.? 1 1d.  Green 2 1½d.  Claret 3 2d.  Vermilion 4 3d.  Blue 5 4d.  Olive-Green 6 5d.  Deep Blue-Green 7 6d.  Bistre-Brown 8 9d.  Violet 9 1s.  Blue-Green 10 2s.  Dull Lake 11 5s.  Olive 12 10s.  Pink 13 £1.  Olive-Grey New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives: No Dates, Overprinted "O  S" 1932 - Stamps issued in Sheets of ? 14 1d.  Green 15 1½d.  Claret 16 2d.  Vermilion 17 3d.  Blue 18 4d.  Olive-Green 19 5d.  Deep Blue-Green 20 6d.  Bistre-Brown 21 9d.  Violet 22 1s.  Pale Blue-Green 23 2s.  Dull Lake 24 5s.  Olive-Brown New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives: No Dates, Overprinted "AIR / MAIL" with a Bi-plane Image 1932 - Stamps issued in Sheets of ? 25 ½d.  Orange 26 1d.  Green 27 1½d.  Claret 28 2d.  Vermilion 29 3d.  Blue 30 4d.  Olive-Green 31 5d.  Deep Blue-Green 32 6d.  Bistre-Brown 33 9d.  Violet 34 1s.  Pale Blue-Green 35 2s.  Dull Lake 36 5s.  Olive-Brown 37 10s.  Pink 38 £1.  Olive-Grey 1934  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives: No Dates, Additional Values 14 September 1934 - Issued in Sheets of 30.   1 2½d.  Green 2 3½d.  Aniline Carmine   New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives: No Dates, Additional Values, Overprinted "O  S" 14 September 1934 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 3 2½d.  Green 4 3½d.  Aniline Carmine New Guinea Bird of Paradise Definitives: No Dates, Additional Values, Overprinted "AIR / MAIL" with a bi-plane image 14 September 1934 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 5 2½d.  Green 6 3½d.  Aniline Carmine 1935  STAMP ISSUES Airmail Postage Bulolo Goldfields: Issue 1 1 May 1935 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 1 £2.  Bright Violet 2 £5.  Emerald-Green New Guinea King George V Silver Jubilee: Bird of Paradise Overprinted "HIS MAJESTY'S JUBILEE. 1910 - 1935" 27 June 1935 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 3 1d.  Green 4 2d.  Vermilion 1937  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Coronation of King George VI 18 May 1937  - Issued in Sheets of 40. 1 2d.  Scarlet 2 3d.  Blue 3 5d.  Green 4  1s.  Purple 1939  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Airmail Postage Bulolo Goldfields: Issue 2 1 March 1939 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 1 ½d.  Orange 2 1d.  Green 3 1½d.  Claret 4 2d.  Vermilion 5 3d.  Blue 6 4d.  Yellow-Olive 7 5d.  Slate-Green 8 6d.  Bistre-Brown 9 9d.  Violet 10 1s.  Pale Blue-Green 11 2s.  Dull Lake 12 5s.  Olive-Brown 13 10s.  Pink 14 £1.  Olive-Green 1942  STAMP ISSUES New Guinea Japanese Occupation of New Guinea: Territory of New Guinea stamps Overprinted 大日本 with an "Anchor" image.   大日本 translates to: Greater Japan. 1942-1944 - Issued in Sheets of 30. 1 Typical Japanese Overprint In 1949 New Guinea was amalgamated with Papua to form Papua & New Guinea. 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