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New Zealand 230
The stamp was issued as a part of a set of 13
to mark the centenary of British sovereignty over New Zealand
established in 1840 by the treaty of Waitangi. The stamp commemorates
the discovery of New Zealand by Captain James Cook in 1769.
The longitudes marked on the stamp are 190° and 185° as
they are on Cook's Chart of New Zealand of 1769. This is the longitude
west of Greenwich. So, this is not an error. Today they are 170° and 175°
east of Greenwich because by agreement longitude is measured up to
180° east or
west of Greenwich.
On the other hand, there are two errors on the map that
reflect errors in the original map. At the southern tip of the South
Island Stewart Island is shown as a possible peninsula, while off the
east coast of the South Island (unfortunately under the post mark)
Bank's Peninsula is represented as an island.
Colombia 649
Both the longitude and
latitude on this map seem to be wrong. Longitude is from 4° to 8° east
to west. Latitude is from 12° to 18° south to north. However, Colombia
specifies that its maps measure longitude and latitude from a fundamental
data point at the Bogotá Observatory, which is 4°35'56.570" north of
the equator, and 74°4'51,300 west of Greenwich.
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