Nuphil Nu28, Franklin Mint Proof Metal, 1969 Cook Bicentenary FDC, # 216 of 800

Description

This is a listing for a
Nuphil Number Nu28
.
This is a Special James Cook Bicentenary Commemorative Proof Medal.
These Proof Medals were minted by the Franklin Mint, U.S.A for Nuphil Associates Limited of Christchurch, New Zealand to commemorative Captain James Cook's Bicentenary discovery of New Zealand.
This item is 50 Years Old.
Item # 241.
This is a First Day Issue of the Stamps, First Day Registered Cover with James Cook Bicentenary Commemorative Proof Medal enclosed.
This 1969 Captain James Cook Bicentenary Commemorative Proof Medal is part of a 3 piece cover set (
Nu28, Nu29 and Nu30
) produced by Nuphil honoring Captain James Cook.
I have all three covers and I am offering them separately.
The
Nuphil Nu28
"
James Cook Bicentenary Commemorative Proof Medal
" Cover is
Number 216 of only 800 produced
.
I am the original owner and purchaser of this set from Nuphil.
Included in this listing is the original Nuphil Associates Limited flier detailing the Franklin Mint's Captain Cook Bicentenary Proof Medal’s description.
The flier states the following:
"SPECIAL BICENTENARY MEDAL:
JAMES COOK
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK was one of the world's most celebrated navigators.
Leaving England in the Bark "Endeavour" in 1768, he rounded Cape Horn en route to Tahiti, taking a scientific expedition to observe the transit of the planet Venus.
He then sailed for New Zealand, and he and his crew were the first Europeans to set foot in that country.
This was on the east coast of the North Island on 9 October 1769, and the bicentenary celebrations are now continuing in the South Island.
The visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburg to Australia early this year will mark the 200th anniversary of Cook's landing at Kurnell in Botany Bay, near Sydney.
Captain Cook left his mark in North America also.
His charting of the St. Lawrence river contributed much to the fall of Quebec and the winning of Canada for Britian, and for several years after this he was engaged in mapping America's north-east coast.
On his third voyage to the Pacific, he explored the western coast-line from Seattle to the northern tip of Alaska, seeking the North-west Passage to the Atlantic.
He then sailed back to Hawaii, which he had previously discovered and where, through a misunderstanding, he was killed by natives who had revered him.
Thus the Hawaiian half-dollar of 1928, is the rarest of the commemoratives, was the only coin to bear an effigy of the great navigator until the New Zealand Cook Dollar of 1969.
For display in their COIN-COVERS as a companion to the commemorative dollar and 50-cent coins of 1969, Nuphil Associates commissioned James Berry, who designed the coin reverses, to execute a special James Cook medal.
This was struck in full proof Solid Nickel Silver by the Franklin Mint.
800 of these medals were used in the First Day COIN-COVERS but a limited number are available for sale separately.
These may be obtained from the above address at $US5.00 each.
The price includes registered postage by air mail."
Nuphil Nu28 Cover Front Description:
In the Upper Left Hand Corner is the New Zealand Registered Stamp "
R No. 216
Christchurch
".
This NZ Registered Stamps sealed the envelope.
The envelope can not be opened without breaking this seal.
Below this is the
Franklin Mint James Cook Bicentenary Commemorative Proof Medal
that is surrounded by a ship's wheel surrounded by 8 wheel handles.
This is partially surrounded by the map of Young Nick's Head.
This side of the medal has the bust profile of Captain Cook facing left.
The date "
1769
" on the left side of the bust and "
1969
" on the right side of the bust.
Below this is "
James Cook
".
Reginald George James Berry is the designer of this Proof Medal.
His initials RB appear beneath the bust of Captain James Cook.
Reginald George James Berry is also the designer of the 1969 New Zealand James Cook Commemorative Dollar.
On the dollar James Berry uses his JB initial on that design.
In the Upper Right Hand Corner is two (2) of the New Zealand Captain Cook Bi-Centenary Stamps.
The
4 cent stamp
which is light blue, dark blue and a Red Planted.
The New Zealand
4 cent stamp
has a profile of Captain James Cook, a navigation sexton, the Red Planted Venus, with the wording "
COOK
BICENTENARY
".
Below this stamp is the New Zealand
18 cent stamp
. The 18 cent stamp is light brown, dark brown and green.
It has the profile of Dr. Daniel Solander with the wording "
COOK BICENTENARY
".
Date of Issue and cancellation of these stamps is October 9, 1969.
This is a first day issue stamp and cover.
Stamps were designed by Miss E. Mayo, Christchurch, New Zealand.
The stamp also seals this envelope.
The envelope cannot be opened without tearing the stamp.
The stamp and cover has the cancellation stamp, "
COOK BICENTENARY STAMPS
'
'
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
9 OCT 1969
'
'
CHRISTCHURCH NZ
".
Below this is the Nuphil address, "
NUPHIL ASSOCIATES LTD.
P.O. BOX 7053
CHRISTCHURCH
NEW ZEALAND
".
The crossed blue line represent a time when all New Zealand Registered Mail had to be wrapped and tied with a blue ribbon.
Nuphil Nu28 Cover Back Description:
In the Upper Left Hand side of the envelope is the "
SYDENHAM POST OFFICE 9
OCT 1969
" cancellation stamp.
In the Lower Right Hand side is the obverse of the "
Franklin Mint James Cook Bicentenary Commemorative Proof Medal
".
At the top of the medal is the legend "
H.M. BARK "ENDEAVOUR
".
Below this the Endeavour sailing on the ocean and below this is a map of New Zealand in a circle.
The legend at the bottom is "
NEW ZEALAND
".
The crossed blue line represent a time when all New Zealand Registered Mail had to be wrapped and tied with a blue ribbon.
Also included is the original
No. 216 CHRISTCHURCH RECEIPT OF REGISTERED MAIL cancelled 9 Oct 69 9-AM
.
NOTE:
I also possess Nuphil Nu 29 (New Zealand James Cook One Dollar Proof Like Coin with First Day Issue Stamp & First Day Cancellation) and Nu 30 (New Zealand James Cook Proof Like 50 cent coin with First Day Issue Stamp & First Day Cancellation), all with the same serial number of 216, which is the Registered Number.
These will also be listed.
Payment can be made by PayPal.
Other methods available, please inquire.
Shipping within the USA is FREE.
International Shipping is .00.
Reginald George James Berry
(known as James) was born on 20 June 1906 in London, England, the second child of James Willie Berry, a clerk, and his wife, Amy Blanche Clarissa Wakefield. After the death of his father in 1911, James was sent to board at Russell Hill School from 1913 until 1922. He won prizes for art and his talent was fostered by an aunt, Lilian Berry, who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. At 16 he became an insurance clerk, but finding the work uncongenial he emigrated to New Zealand on the
Ionic
arriving in February 1925. Subsequently he paid off his assisted passage as a farm cadet in Gisborne. A slight youth, five feet three inches tall, he worked exhausting 12-hour days, and played weekend cricket and tennis.
After two years in Gisborne Berry began working as a commercial artist with the Goldberg Advertising Agency in Wellington. He saved sufficient to buy a section, and to marry Miriel Frances Hewitt, a secretary, at St Jude's Anglican Church, Lyall Bay, on 3 February 1932. They were to have five daughters and one son. In 1932 Berry left the Goldberg Agency and took on freelance work, including the design of advertising layouts for the
New Zealand Radio Record
and
New Zealand Dairy Exporter.
From 1935 until 1942 he was staff artist at the
Dominion
, and during this time produced the popular historical booklet
New Zealand in review
(1940), which went to several editions. He was drafted to Mayer and Kean, engravers, on war work from 1942 until May 1944. Thereafter he was self-employed, designing book covers, illustrations, bookplates and, increasingly, stamps, coins and medals.
Berry's delicate designs were largely created for competitions. His first successful design for a health stamp in 1933 led to a regular commission for this series for 25 years. Further stamp designs were sought by New Zealand, Western Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, and once by Bermuda. Berry produced nine of the twelve designs for the 1940 centennial stamp issue, and the entire peace issue of 1946. He went on to design the notable series of lighthouse stamps for the Government Insurance Department issues, the first of which appeared in 1947. While they enjoyed popular approval, his designs were described as trite and mundane by some New Zealand critics. However, in 1948 he was described in the American journal
Weekly Philatelic Gossip
as 'the greatest postage stamp designer in the world'.
His first medal design, a commemorative piece for the New Zealand Aero Club, appeared in 1935. The previous year Berry had joined the New Zealand Numismatic Society, which recommended his design for the reverse of their Waitangi-Bledisloe Medal, and for the Waitangi Crown, both of which were issued in 1935. The crown was part of a new series that replaced British coinage in New Zealand.
In 1950 Berry was invited to Tonga to advise on the philatelic commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship with Great Britain, and Queen Salote's birthday. Stimulated by this trip he promptly decided to become a commercial traveller around New Zealand, so that he could pursue his interest in landscape painting, but a massive heart attack in 1962 curtailed these activities. Later, he optimistically embarked on ill-starred ventures such as bookselling, dealing in coins, and speculation in real estate.
In 1964 New Zealand decided to change to decimal currency; designs were invited, and Berry offered four sets, featuring New Zealand flora and fauna. There was overwhelming public support for Berry's designs in a nationwide newspaper poll, and one set was selected in 1966. It was subsequently approved by the Royal Mint and issued in 1967. Berry was sent to the Royal Mint to acquire further skills and this experience was of lasting benefit. Having gained in confidence, he competed for the British decimal designs but was unsuccessful. However, his prestige in New Zealand was such that the
Dominion Sunday Times
declared him to be '1966 Man of the Year', and in 1968 he was appointed an OBE.
In 1978 Berry was made an honorary member of the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand. Membership of the New Zealand Ex Libris Society and of the Friends of the Turnbull Library catered for his interests in books, but his first allegiance lay with the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Numismatic Society), of which he was variously secretary, vice president, president and fellow.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s James Cook's discoveries in the South Pacific were commemorated in stamps, coins, plaques and statues. Berry was called on to produce so many designs that he became an expert on the explorer. From 1971 there were frequent invitations to the Franklin Mint in Pennsylvania and in 1972 one to the Royal Australia Mint in Canberra. The Australian visit resulted in his largest commission: 60 silver-on-gold medallions for the Medallic History of Australia. The task took him over five years, but he found time in 1973 to deliver the Sutherland Lecture to the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand in the form of a practical demonstration on 'The art production of coins and medals', and to arrange an exhibition of his work in the National Museum in 1975–76. Berry also received further commissions from Britain: for medallions of Oliver Cromwell and Winston Churchill, from the Cook Islands for additions to its decimal coinage, and from New Zealand for a series of commemorative dollars. He was granted the rare honour of incorporating his version of the Queen's head on four of these dollar coins.
In his last years Berry travelled frequently. He mounted a retrospective exhibition in New Zealand House, London, in 1977; subsequently his landscape painting took him to Ireland, which because of tax concessions to artists was a more attractive domicile than New Zealand. In 1978 he prepared an exhibition of his own landscapes in Dublin, and in 1979 designed his last medal, for the papal visit. He then paid final visits to relatives and friends in England before returning to Auckland. There, on 6 November 1979, he boarded the plane for Wellington, and immediately suffered a fatal heart attack. Three days later a crowded funeral was held in Wellington's Anglican cathedral. He was survived by his wife and children. During his lifetime, Berry completed more than 1,000 designs for stamps, coins and medals. His talents received one final accolade: the gold medal of the Accademia Italiana dell'Arte e del Lavoro in 1980.