the one penny (carmine), two pence (blue) and one shilling (green) stamps of 1855 were initially printed in london by perkins, bacon & co. these are rare and expensive (collectors should not buy without expertisation). the printing plates were shipped to new zealand, and beginning in 1856, stamps were printed by j. richardson in auckland, who also printed the six pence stamp (brown) from 1858. government postage stamp printer john davis began printing stamps in 1862. prepayment of postage became compulsory in new zealand in 1862, and so the davis prints are much more common than the other printings. the three pence stamp (mauve) was also added in 1862.