What's wrong with this picture?

Would someone please tell John Mowbray International, the largest stamp auction house in New Zealand, to use tongs!

Shown above are the penny and one shilling 1855 full-face Queen Victoria stamps which are being auctioned off on Saturday.

"These stamps were printed in London and were sent out here in February 1855. They were the very first stamps used in New Zealand, just 15 years after the first stamps in the world were sold in Britain,’’ stamp dealer John Mowbray said.

I hope he at least washed his hands.

For more on the upcoming New Zealand auction which is attracting a good deal of attention, click here.