Uncirculated Quality NZ$1 Tribute Coin
The Stamp and Coin Cover incorporates a base metal $1 coin (30mm) struck by The Perth
Mint in uncirculated quality. Issued as legal tender of New Zealand, the coin’s reverse
depicts a portrait of Sir Edmund Hillary and his signature. The design includes a silver
fern, a symbol of New Zealand, and a representation of Mt Everest. The reverse also
includes the inscriptions SIR EDMUND HILLARY 1919-2008 and A LIFETIME OF
ACHIEVEMENT.
Five Special Commemorative Stamps
The coin is housed on a superbly illustrated envelope featuring five stamps from a
special commemorative series:
50c – Sir Edmund Hillary
New Zealand’s favourite son was an ordinary man
who achieved extraordinary things, who tackled everything from aircraft navigation to
beekeeping, mountain climbing to jet-boating, and international diplomacy to becoming the
only living New Zealander to appear on a $5 note.
$1.00 – Mt Everest
It was the climb to the top of Mt Everest that earned
Sir Ed his title – Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. On 29 May 1953, he
and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first in the world to achieve this feat, the only two
of that British expedition to reach the summit.
$1.50 – Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Sir Ed’s explorations didn’t end with
Everest. He climbed 10 other peaks in the Himalayas between 1956 and 1965, and in 1958 led
a New Zealand group taking part in the British Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Sir Edmund
Hillary’s group was the first to reach the South Pole overland since Amundsen in 1911 and
Scott in 1912, and the first to use motor vehicles.
$2.00 – Himalayan Trust
Sir Ed’s work in Nepal was perhaps his greatest
achievement. In 1960 he established the Himalayan Trust, a non-profit organisation
dedicated to improving the conditions and lives of the Nepalese, a people in desperate need
of schools and medical services. In four decades he helped to establish more than 30
schools, two hospitals and 12 medical clinics, as well as two airstrips to make it easier
to bring in supplies.
$2.50 – Knight of the Garter
In 1995, Sir Ed was appointed to the Order of the Garter, the highest possible achievement
in the United Kingdom honours system. He also received a number of other honours, including
the Indian Government’s second-highest civilian honour, the Polar Medal (for his part in
the Trans-Antarctic Expedition) and the Order of New Zealand. He also became an honorary
citizen of Nepal, the first foreign national to receive such an honour from the Nepalese
Government.
Issue Date: 5 November 2008
Each stamp is cancelled with a special postmark dated 5 November 2008, the date this
outstanding tribute is launched.