To celebrate the centenary of telegraphs in NZ, this attractive set was issued on 1st June 1962. Here is the full set, unhinged mint and in pristine condition.

The 3d shows a morse key with background of the Port Hills near Christchurch, while the 8d shows a modern teleprinter and the punched tape that encoded its messages.

ACS # 365 - 366.

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Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of textual (as opposed to verbal or audio) messages without the physical exchange of an object bearing the message.

In the 19th century, the harnessing of electricity brought about the means to transmit signals via electrical telegraph. The advent of radio in the early 1900s brought about radiotelegraphy and other forms of wireless telegraphy. In the Internet age, telegraphic means developed greatly in sophistication and ease of use, with natural language interfaces that hide the underlying code, allowing such technologies as electronic mail and instant messaging.

On 26th September 1903, New Zealand became the first country in the world to pass a Wireless Telegraphy Act.

An electrical telegraph was developed and patented in the United States in 1837 by Samuel Morse. His assistant, Alfred Vail, developed the Morse code signalling alphabet with Morse. The first telegram in the United States was sent by Morse on 11 January 1838, across two miles (3 km) of wire at Speedwell Ironworks near Morristown, New Jersey. On 24 May 1844, he sent the message "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT" from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol in Washington to the old Mt. Clare Depot in Baltimore. The message was all capital letters because the original Morse code alphabet had no question mark or lower case.

The Morse/Vail telegraph was quickly deployed in the following two decades; the overland telegraph connected the west coast of the continent to the east coast by 24 October 1861, bringing an end to the Pony Express.

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