Tag Archives: Bechuanaland

August 12, 2023 · 10:33 am

June – August 2022 Ebay Report

Only a year behind now…

The above cover is an item I would liked to have added to my collection. Usages of the I.R. Official ½d blue-greens are very scarce and this example is particularly attractive with a pair sent from Newcastle upon Tyne. At £100.01 it was cheap.

Nothing too special about this cover but it’s nice usage of registered envelope. Sent from Vryburg, which is pretty common, with a vertical pair of the 2d paying the 4d rate to Port Elizabeth in the Cape Colony. It sold for £80.85

I have a fondness for printed envelopes. And although this is hardly the most interesting looking example, I was intrigued as to what the British Empire League was. Wikipedia kindly obliged me with the necessary information: It was a society founded with the aim of securing permanent unity for the British Empire. It helped to mobilise troops during the Second Boer War and the First World War, and it even called for the introduction of an imperial penny post, which of course came to pass on Christmas Day, 1898. I bought it for $11.02.

And I finish with an item that I swiftly picked up at the buy-it-now price of £25. It’s a horizontal bisect of a 2½d on a small piece which is very unusual. But bizarrely it has a New Zealand Kuripuni cds!

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August 5, 2023 · 1:32 pm

April – May 2022 Ebay Report

This attractive cover was sent from the “Sons of Philatelia for Great Britain” to the American Philatelic Association in Wisconsin. After a google I’ve only just discovered that “Philatelia” was created by philatelists as the goddess of philately and is the allegorical figure used by the American Philatelic Society seal to this day. The Sons of Philatelia America were founded to encourage philately among young people and presumably the Sons of Philately for Great Britain, which was set up at the same time, had the same goal. Just to add to the interest, there’s a cinderella/publicity stamp advertising the 1900 stamp exhibition in Paris. It sold for £22.

Above are a pair of philatelic “Tamsen” covers sent in 1932 with issues released 30 plus years earlier. The example on the left from Lobatsi sold for £155, and the one on the right from Mahalapye sold for £215.

Also philatelic in nature is this cover sent during the 1934 Royal Tour of South Africa by Prince George (who became King Edward VIII two years later). It has KGV issues from the time but also an 1897-1902 ½d vermilion, all cancelled by the special tour cancellation. Interestingly it is address to A. Lichtenstein, which could well be the famous philatelist Alfred Lichtenstein. It sold for £27.

And we end on an attractive parcel label with three different Government Parcel Jubilee issues, which sold for £98.

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May 28, 2022 · 4:38 pm

January 2022 Ebay Report

Apologies for bringing up my January report now that summer is nearly here. Better late than never (I think I’ve said that many times in my Ebay reports…).

What a shame that this piece was removed from its original cover! According to Alexios Popadopoulus, there is only one cover and one front sent insured from British Levant, and only three commercial covers with the 12pi on 2s6d. It sold for £59.

Strictly this item isn’t of interest to a Queen Victoria “Jubilee” collector but I’m sure many Jubilee enthusiasts will have something from the Uniform Penny Postage Jubilee in their collection. I hadn’t seen this before; it’s an advert by the stamp dealer W. R. Wolff for the price of various items cancelled at the Jubilee Exhibition in South Kensington. It sold for £103.50

Also strictly not really of “Jubilee” interest, but I thought it was worth highlighting an unusual usage of an Inland Revenue 1d fiscal along with a 2½d Jubilee on an 1890 1d Penny Post Jubilee envelope to pay the UPU single rate and registration fee to Germany. It sold for £69.

I have seen “missing colours” before, but this is the first time I have seen the purple bleached from a 10d. An interesting curiosity; it sold for £14.45.

Finally we have a very rare cancellation of “TATI / BECHUANALAND” from the Bechuanaland Proctectorate on a ½d vermilion. It sold for a very cheap price on the US eBay (ebay.com) for only $118.50 to a dealer, who then offered it for sale for £450 (and has since sold it).

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January 5, 2022 · 8:44 pm

November 2021 Ebay Report

Accidentally missed out my November report…

This could well be the bargain of the month or possibly the biggest mistake of the month. This Board of Education 1s green & carmine came with a 1932 RPS certificate. But given the quality of some of the forgeries of this overprint (forgeries that may well have occurred even before 1932), it’s not a stamp I would risk spending £1’000 on from eBay with such an old certificate. But if it is right, it’s probably worth double what the person paid.

Although not brilliant strikes, these Manchester Station Late Box hooded circular datestamps are rare. This cover sold for £41.20, but I think a dealer would be easily asking £100 plus.

In terms of quantity, the ½d vermilion features on the largest proportion of covers in my collection. Because it was so ubiquitous there is such a large range and variety of usages which I enjoy finding. This example is an incoming postcard from India that has been redirected with a ½d three weeks later to elsewhere in the UK. It realised a strong price of £85.50.

This British Bechuanaland Protectorate ½d vermilion has an unusual dry print of the “Protectorate” overprint resulting in “rate” being omitted. Although it has a horrible crease, it sold for $40.07 on eBay.com.

Unfortunately I missed this one. Most of the time the uprated stationery cards are philatelic usages sent to the UK or Germany. However this example, with a 1½d on 1d card uprated with a ½d vermilion to pay the 2d rate to the UK, was sent from Palla which is one of the more scarce cancellations (this being only the fourth example I’ve found). Not only that but the message on the reverse makes reference to the “Jameson Raid”, which was a botched raid against the South African Republic carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the employment of Cecil Rhodes. It only sold for £101.10.

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August 27, 2021 · 5:00 pm

July/August Ebay Report

This month is a bit focused on only the 6d and Bechuanaland postal history, but there are some lovely things that I would have liked to have added to my collection.

First up is this stunning used block of 36 of the 6d purple on rose. Bidding started at £1500 but no one took up the offer. I messaged the vendor afterwards to see if it is was available for a bit less but unfortunately by the time he saw my message he had already sold it. The new owner now has it on eBay “Buy-it-now” for £2’750…

Sticking with the 6d, this mint never hinged lower marginal block of four sold for £110. For those interested in the marginal settings on the 6d, note the cut in the Jubilee line below the lower left stamp which looks like it is from plate 6a.

Next up are three Bechuanaland covers, funnily enough, which were from a collection we sold at David Feldman called the “Koi” collection. I recognise the beautiful and painstakingly hand-drawn pages. I’ve spent quite a bit of time during my summer holiday going through my Bechuanaland files on my computer. Partly because it was long overdue, but also as my other role as editor of The Overprinter for the GB Overprint Society, where there has been some interesting debate about the postal rates from British Bechuanaland to the UK and abroad. I’m hoping to update that section of the site this week before the end of my holiday.

This is an attractive philatelic franking from “PALACHWE / KHAMAS TOWN”, bearing Bechuanaland Protectorate 1888 1/2d and 4d on 1/2d, was sent in 1891 to Port Elizabeth in the Cape Colony which at this time should have been at the 2d rate. Still a particularly nice example and scarce usage of the 4d on 1/2d. It sold for £121.15.

This 1899 cover from Francestown in the Protectorate is paying double to 2d rate to a chemists in the Cape Colony called Lennon Limited. I did a quick search and came up with a page on the Rhodesian Study Circle website so I presume it’s a decent sized correspondence across Southern Africa. This cover sold for £131.50.

Finally this 1894 cover is an example of British Bechuanaland stamps used in the Protectorate, sent from a general dealer from Khamas Town to the famous merchant Isaacs in Mafeking. The two British Bechuanaland 2d’s are paying the 4d rate from the Protectorate to another Southern African territory. It’s also an extremely fine example of the “676” BONC (barred oval numeral cancel) which are so often poorly struck. It sold for £105.50 and I regret not bidding more!

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August 20, 2021 · 5:00 pm

May/June 2021 Ebay Report

Prices for Jubilee material seems to have been getting stronger in recent months, which has been noticeable not just on eBay but also in recent auction sales such as the ones at Grosvenor and Corinphila (with the “Besançon” collection which I’ll have to get round to writing about) in the first six months of this year.

One item that highlights the increase in demand is this rare single franking of the 1s green and carmine on a registered envelope, which is paying 9d in registration fee as annotated at the lower left and double the UPU rate to Germany. It is one of only 10 single franking covers out of the 93 that I have recorded with the 1s green and carmine. It sold for an impressive £805, which looking back on it is worth it but I don’t think it would have sold for so much a couple of years ago.

Another scarce item which very rarely pops up on eBay with a 99p start was this 4d head plate die proof, cut-down to stamp size, which sold for £225.12

This registered postcard was an item I wanted to add to my collection but not as much as somebody else unfortunately. Registered postcards are unusual and it is a nice example of using a single 2d to uprate a stationery item. It sold for £45.77.

The postal stationery envelopes with the advertising ring around the die are very popular. This one is for W & T Avery of Birmingham and it sold for £112, which even with its minor imperfections I think is cheap because I think it should be £200-300.

And finally this “British Bechuanaland Government Gazette” wrapper, although it has a bit of rough life, it is a correct usage of the ½d. I can’t say that it’s not philatelic because it is addressed to Isaacs who was a merchant and a prolific creator (or at least recipient) of covers, and whom Bechuanaland collectors have a lot to be thankful to. It sold for £64.11.

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August 10, 2019 · 1:32 pm

June 2019 Ebay Report

Top 5 Items of the MonthIt’s the second month in a row that I’m kicking off my eBay report with an addition to my collection. I was very happy to pick up this Board of Trade perfin on a ½d vermilion on a Board of Trade cover for the opening bid of £99.99. Forgeries abound of the Board of Trade perfin so I’ve been aiming to get them on cover (or front when necessary) to significantly reduce the chances of buying a forgery. They are also still not listed in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue, so they are definitely undervalued and under-appreciated. From used stamps and the limited number of covers I have seen, there seem to a four or five different London cancels which are used consistently, and this London “89” district office duplex is certainly one you’ll find on genuine items.

The stamped-to-postal stationery envelopes come up reasonably frequently (on eBay and on my reports) and always sell well. There’s a correspondence of these covers that go to Canada and Grenada. This one’s a bit nicer because it has two 1887 1s greens. It sold for £84.05.

This attractive lower marginal block of 8 of the Niger Coast 5d unfortunately had no gum, hence it only sold for £69.Uprated Bechuanaland postal stationery cards are reasonably common but the vast majority are philatelic and sent to Germany. So this card to New Zealand is an attractive and proper usage. It was a good buy at £56. Whether the buyer, a dealer, can sell it on for their price tag of £225 is another matter…

And finally an Army Official ½d vermilion “Q” control pair. Another cheap buy for somebody at only £28.14. In my head they are worth £40-50 for a pair, but if you search eBay you will find dozens of them being offered by different dealers at £100+…

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January 3, 2019 · 2:50 pm

Bechuanalands & Botswana Society Auction

The Bechuanalands & Botswana Society is holding a postal auction of 132 lots which closes on 1st March 2019. It features a section of Joe Taylor’s collection with many of his used stamps which have been carefully selected for their postmarks.

Bidding is open to everyone and is not restricted to members of the Society. Virtually every lot (excluding Botswana) is illustrated on the website: http://www.bechuanalandphilately.com/

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December 9, 2018 · 4:59 pm

David Feldman Sells the “Koi” Collection of the Bechuanalands

Last week David Feldman in Switzerland sold the “Koi” collection of the Bechuanalands, and I had the pleasure to describe and lot it for the auction! There were many overprinted Jubilee stamps including essays, specimens, controls and postal history.

Of particular note were two essays for the 1889 “Fourpence” surcharge, lots 30421 (with a light crease, sold for £1’098) and 30420 (sold for £2’318) below (respectively)

Little is known about these essays produced by Messrs. Townshend. Mention of them is made in Holmes’ book but he doesn’t illustrate any. From what I’ve found appearing in auction catalogues over the years, there seems to be three types; “PROTECTORATE / FOURPENCE”, “Protectorate / 4D” and “Protectorate / 4d”.

Staying with the Fourpence surcharge issue, the following two varieties also saw strong competitive bidding.

Lot 30423 has the green surcharge variety, which was the result of faulty cleaning of the inking roll. Although not listed by Stanley Gibbons, it is mentioned and priced at £1’500 in the footnote for this stamp. It sold for £1’159. All the known examples are used in Shoshong, and this is only the fourth example I have found. More well known is lot 30424, the inverted surcharge variety (SG.53c, £4’000). This example is one of 19 I have found in auction catalogues and literature and sold for a solid £2’074.

On the postal history side of things was lot 30401, this interesting bisect of the 4d from Palapye Station.

Again from my brief research I have so far found 9 examples. Although undoubtedly philatelically contrived, they have only been recorded on November 22nd 1899, December 13th 1899 and March 12th 1900. This is one of only two used on March 12th, and unusually both are diagonally bisected as opposed to the rest which are vertically bisected. It sold for £854.

And I’ll finish with one item which sold for multiples of the estimate.

Lot 30474 is a cover from Gubulawayo during the Trans-Protectorate period, and shows the Gubulawayo cds with “MASHONALAND” excised (if I remember rightly). Estimated at £200-300, it sold for £1’342 including buyer’s premium. A rarer cancel than I realised.

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May 29, 2018 · 8:40 pm

Appeal for Information: Bechuanaland Overprint Varieties on Cover


I’ve had a request from a fellow enthusiast into the existence of overprint varieties on the Bechuanaland 1/2d vermilion used on cover. Specifically inverted or double overprints on SG numbers 53, 54, and 55.

I have not seen any before, but I have heard that in his long search the enthusiast has managed to find a 1913 Tamsen cover with a SG54a block of four. Presumably other philatelic covers from Tamsen must exist?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

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