New Zealand has issued many stamps, even in fairly modern times, which have greatly appreciated: a famous collector, who has recently parted with most of his treasures, had sent him years ago a quantity of stamps at _one penny_ each--one of them, on an examination some time afterwards, turned out to be the rare perforated One Penny, brown, of 1872, watermarked "NZ", and now worth some £30 used. Of provisional issues, limited in quantity, ephemeral of use, and the prey of speculators, there are many instances; but, though the rise in value, from the original cost at the post-office, is often sharp, such stamps can hardly be looked upon as investments one has missed, because they were never obtainable by the public at large, as were the great majority of stamps now rare and much sought after. An instance of this limited and speculative creation of so-called "provisionals" occurred in the Niger Coast Protectorate, at the end of 1893, when a _very_ few copies of the current One Shilling were surcharged "20/-," one or two (_literally_) in one colour, three or four in another, and so on. Possibly these proved to be good speculations, but they were not investments open to the man-in-the-street, gifted with the most prophetic of philatelic spirits. In 1881, a _bonâ fide_ shortage of the Fourpence stamps occurred in St. Vincent, and a small quantity of the current One Shilling was overprinted "4d": for some time the quotation for unused copies was about thirty shillings, but now the price is nearer £20. Other provisionals were issued in St. Vincent about this time, and most of them have similarly appreciated in value; but collectors little realised, even in 1881, that what was then considered a full price--and grumbled at as such--would ever attain to its present day dimensions. The very handsome Five Shillings stamp was priced five-and-twenty years ago at 7s. 6d.: now it costs about £14. Sierra Leone afforded an instance, in 1897, by issuing Twopence Halfpenny provisionals, made by surcharging certain fiscal stamps of the value of Three Pence, Six Pence, One Shilling and Two Shillings: only fourteen years ago, and yet a sheet of thirty of the "2½d." on Sixpence, costing 6s. 3d., is now catalogued at nearly £9, whilst the set of five varieties surcharged on the Two Shillings stamp, originally costing 1s. 0½d., is now worth £50. The great rarity of South Australia is the Fourpence, specially printed in blue in 1870-71, to be surcharged "3-PENCE", but from a sheet (or possibly part of a sheet) of which the new value was accidentally omitted. Very few copies are known, and all but two are used: the two being in a "pair."