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From 1864 to 1878, all of Hawaii's postage stamps were printed by the National Bank Note Company of New York. Through most of the last half of the 19th Century American printing firms were consolidating, culminating in an 1879 consolidation of the National Bank Note Company, Continental Bank Note Company and American Bank Note Company with predecessor firms such as Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, Toppan and Carpenter and Company. Many United States specialists mistakenly think the NBNCo ceased to exist in 1873 and give Hawaii specialists a skeptical look when we talk about NBNCo stamps being printed as late as 1878. In 1873, the United States switched printers and replaced the NBNCo with Continental, but the NBNCo continued to produce Hawaiian stamps for six more years until both the NBNCo and Continental were swallowed by the ABNCo.

Numbering sequences used in most catalogues bear no relationship to the printing sequence. Cataloguers prefer to order things in ascending denomination. According to printing sequence, the nine Hawaiian stamps produced by the NBNCo are Scott Catalogue Nos. 31, 32, 30a, 33, 34, 35, 36, 33a and 30b. Missing from this list are Scott Nos. 30 and 31a, both of which were printed after the American Bank Note Company merger, as were all of Hawaii's postage stamps beginning with Scott No. 37. For details of each stamp, press the links to their individual pages.

THE 1871 STAMPS

THE 1875 STAMPS

COLOR CHANGES DURING THE NBNCo PRINTINGS

To ABNCo. Stamps

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