Ship Of State

Recess-printed, lithographed, typographed and overprinted, the attractive Lakatoi issues of British New Guinea and Papua are a complex series with myriad varieties

- Nicholas Oughton

The postage stamps of British New Guinea and Papua have enjoyed great popularity over the years, and much of this can be attributed to the territory’s earliest issues, the so-called Lakatoi series.

With their exotic, colorful portrayal of a Papuan scene, so very different from the drab designs of many other countries in the early years of the 20th century, the Lakatos created excitement among collectors from the moment they were released.

Having remained in use for more than three decades, they offer a wealth of material for collection, study, and display.

Postal services

Having established the territorial claim to British New Guinea in 1883, the colony of Queensland was responsible for providing basic amenities, including an embryonic postal system.

The annual report of its Post & Telegraph Department in 1885 stated that ‘Arrangements were made in August for the exchange of mails with Port Moresby’, and that ‘Correspondence from New Guinea…would bear Queensland stamps’. The postage rate for a letter was to be 2d per ½oz.

In 1886 a contract issued to Burns Philp & Co provided for a monthly shipping service from Sydney in New South Wales, via Cooktown in Queensland, to Port Moresby in British New Guinea.

In 1888 the records show that 5,721 letters were received and 934 dispatched from BNG, and new post offices began to be established.

Stamps from various issues of Queensland were used to pay for postage. Up to 1891, they are most often found canceled with the ‘NG’ eight-bar obliterator used at Port Moresby.

Lakatoi design