TRANSVAAL 1894 Issue

Return To Catalogue - Transvaal 1869-1884 - 1885 issue - Transvaal 1894-1910 - Transvaal miscellaneous - South Africa

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.

The South African Republic (Z. Afr. Republiek), founded by the Boers in 1860, was occupied by the British in 1877 and the name of the country changed to Transvaal. The republic was restored in 1884 and re-occupied in 1900 to become the British crown colony of Transvaal. It joined the Union of South Africa in 1910. The capital is Pretoria

1894 Arms of Transvaal, new type in an octagonal

  1/2 p grey
  1/2 p green (1896)
  1 p red
  1 p red and green (1896)
  2 p yellow
  2 p brown and green (1896)
  2 1/2 p blue and green (1896)
  3 p lilac
  3 p lilac and green (1896)
  4 p olive
  4 p olive and green (1896)
  6 p blue
  6 p lilac and green (1896)
  1 Sh green
  1 Sh yellow and green (1896)
  2 Sh 6 p violet and green (1896)
  5 Sh black
  10 Sh brown

Of some of these stamps two types exist, differing in the front part of the wagon in the central design (one or two poles in front of it, also reffered to as wagon with shaft and wagon with pole).

(The two types differing in the design of the wagon)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged

  'Halve Penny' (red) on 1 Sh green (1895)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Overprinted 'V.R.I.'

  1/2 p green
  1 p red and green
  2 p brown and green
  2 1/2 p blue and green
  3 p lilac and green
  4 p olive and green
  6 p lilac and green
  1 Sh yellow and green
  2 Sh 6 p lilac and green
  5 Sh black
  10 Sh brown

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Overprinted 'E.R.I.'

  1/2 p green
  1 p red and green
  3 p lilac and green
  4 p olive and green
  2 Sh 6 p lilac and green

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Overprinted 'E.R.I Half Penny'

  1/2 p on 2 p brown and green

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

A stamp with 'Monster' (= proof) overprint

Issue for Vrijburg, overprint 'V.R. SPECIAL POST.'

  1/2 p green
  1 p red

Local issue?, 'V.R.I' overprint in a different type:

(Reduced size)

I've been told that these three overprints are genuine. The three on the right are the so-called Lydenburg issue.

Rustenburg local 'V.R.' overprint (genuine)

'Cancelled V-R-I.' in blue on 3 p overprint.

Some other 'local' overprints (could be forgeries):

Issue for Schweizer Reneke, overprinted "BESIEGED"

I have seen a stamp of Cape of Good Hope with the same overprint.

Cancels

Normal circular town cancels are the most common cancels on this issue.

Typical barred triangle cancel

The numbers in the barred triangle cancels correspond to the following towns:

1: Pretoria
2: Potchefstroom
3: Johannesburg
4: Barberton
6: Boksburg
7: Christiana
8: Haenertsburg
10: Kaapsche Hoop
11: Krugersdorp
12: Lichtenburg
13: Lydenburg
14: M.W.Stroom
15: Middelburg
16: Ottoshoop
17: Nijlstroom (Nylstroom)
18: Pietersburg
20: Smitsdorp (Utrecht?)
24: Vryheid
25: Zeerust
26: Bloemhof
28: Belfast
30: Blaauwbank
32: Carolina
36: Eureka
45: Helvetia
54: Luneburg
60: Pilgrim's Rest
62: Smitsdorp
73: Brakpan
83: Standerton
84: Witpoort
85: Wolhuterskop
86: Makwassie

Travelling post office cancel 'R.P.K.HEEN' (probably 'Rijdend Post Kantoor')

As was the case with the 1885 issue, a large number of undelivered stamps was present at the printer (Enschede, Netherlands) and ended up in collectors hands (the stamp dealer Mirza Hadi according to 'Philatelic Forgers Their Lives and Works' by Varro E. Tyler). All the unoverprinted stamps can be found among these remainders as well as imperforate and umgummed specimens. Furthermore the overprints 'V.R.I' and 'E.R.I' are known to be forged on these remainders.

(Imperforate Enschede remainders)

Forgeries

Besides the above described 'reprints', real forgeries also exist. In one such forgery, the belt of the soldier is missing (in my opinion these must be the forgeries offered by Fournier). Fournier offers 5 values for 5 Swiss Francs as first choice forgeries in his 1914 pricelist. However in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries' the following values can be found: 1/2 p green, 1 p red and green, 2 1/2 p blue and green, 3 p lilac and green, 4 p olive and green, 6 p lilac and green, 1 Sh yellow and green, 2 Sh 6 p violet and green and 5 Sh black. Furthermore the 'V.R.I' overprint were also applied to these forgeries by Fournier. One of the cancels used by Fournier is 'PRETORIA 6-AUG 97 Z.A.R.'.
Besides the Fournier forgeries, Louis Pasche is known to have made forgeries of the 5 Sh and 10 Sh values (Lausanne forgeries).

example:

(Forgery)

Note that the perforation is different from a genuine stamp. More deceptive are the Fournier forged overprints (they are not impressed). Very deceptive are the forged overprints on remainders.

Page from the Fournier Album of Philatelic forgeries with some examples of Fournier's forged cancels and overprints.

A page of Fournier forgeries, taken from the Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries.

Fournier forgeries with the perforation not yet applied. Fournier forgeries are not very common. In my view, the lines below the carriage are not done well enough.

Another Fournier forgery of the 1 Sh value.

Most likely a Lausanne forgery (made by Louis Pasche):

An imperforate forgery of the 10 Sh stamp.The flagpoles below the 'F' and 'L' are interrupted below the wings of the eagle (see the Serrane guide).

Be careful with fraudulently cancelled reprints, I've seen many stamps with the following cancels, all neatly applied, which are probably all forged:
"JOHANNESBURG 1-NOV.95 * Z.A.R. *"
"KLERKSDORP 1- NOV. 95"
"OTTOSHOOP 1- NOV. 95" (the same cancel also appears on reprints of the 5 Pounds value of the previous issue)
"KLERKSDORP 12 OCT 95" (the month is almost unreadable)
"JOHANNESBURG 12 OCT 95" (the month is almost unreadable)
"PRETORIA 30 SEP. 02 TRANSVAAL"

The site http://www.filatelia.fi/forgeries/forged_postmarks.html furthermore mentions the following forged cancels:
Barberton: No 16 85, No 15 87.
Johannesborg: 13 or 18 Feb 96.
Johannesburg: ?? Mei 86.
Krugersdorp: 23 Apr 02. ('23' usually blur, see image above, sometimes the rest of the cancel also quite blur)
Ottoshoop: 1 Nov 95. (see image above)
Pietersburg: 2 Mei 86, 18 Sep.e 95.
Rotchefstroom: ?? Mei 85, 3 Mei 00.

Very neatly applied corner cancels should also be looked upon with suspision according to me.

For stamps of Transvaal issued from 1894 to 1910, click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer