This article about pigeons delivering mail is worth including. I have a couple other postal related items. I wish I would have had postal history as a weekly or bi-weekly event.
Pigeon Mail
And such a pretty stamp. Technically, they are different from government issued stamps as there were 2 companies who were running the service.
There is a link in the Smithsonian article to a listing of the value of the stamps. I also found this:
This stamp was issued by "The Great Barrier Pigeongram Agency" on 11 July 1899. Catalogue value is put at NZ$300 or about US$220 at today's going rate. They are found on eBay occasionally and sell for much less! but sometimes over US$100. If this stamp was still on its "Flimsy" i.e. the thin piece of paper the letter was written on it would have a catalogue value of NZ$5,000!
The first company to issue stamps (19 November 1898) and run the service was "The Original Great Barrier Pigeongram Service." These stamps were rectangle. The other company was the "Marotiri Copper Mine." 24 August 1899 which had their name overprinted on the first issue and then designed their own stamp.
Used stamps vary in catalogue value from $300 to $10,000 and flimsies up to $50,000. These are very collectable
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