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BRITISH BECHUANALAND

Return To Catalogue - Stamps of Bechuanaland overprinted 'MAFEKING BESIEGED'

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
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1886 Stamps of Cape of Good Hope overprinted

Overprinted 'British Bechuanaland' horizontally

  1/2 p black (overprint red)
  1/2 p black (overprint black)
  1/2 p black (overprint green)
  1 p red
  2 p brown
  3 p red
  4 p blue
  6 p lilac
  1 Sh green

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

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

A 5 Sh orange with the same overprint seems to have been prepared, but was not issued.

Forgeries, examples:

In the genuine stamps, there is no '.' behind 'Bechuanaland'!

1889 Stamp of Cape of Good Hope, overprinted 'BRITISH BECHUANALAND'

  1/2 p green

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

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

1889 Stamp of Cape of Good Hope, overprinted 'Bechuanaland Protectorate

  1/2 p black (overprint green)

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

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

1891 Stamps of Cape of Good Hope, overprinted 'British Bechuanaland' vertically (upwards or downwards)

  1 p red
  2 p brown

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

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

1887 Stamps of Great Britain overprinted 'BRITISH BECHUANALAND'

(Reduced view)

  1/2 p orange ('BRITISH' and 'BECHUANALAND' far apart)
  1 p lilac (1892)
  2 p green and red (1892)
  4 p brown and green (1892)
  6 p lilac on red (1892)
  1 Sh green (1892)

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

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

Overprinted 'Protectorate'

  1/2 p orange

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

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

Surcharged and overprinted 'Protectorate'

  'Four pence' on 1/2 p orange

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

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

Forged overprint:

(Reduced size)

1887 Fiscal stamps of Great Britain overprinted 'BRITISH BECHUANALAND POSTAGE & REVENUE' in black

(Reduced sizes)

  1 p lilac
  2 p lilac
  3 p lilac
  4 p lilac
  6 p lilac
  1 Sh green
  2 Sh green
  2 Sh 6 p green
  5 Sh green
  10 Sh green
  1 Pound lilac
  5 Pounds lilac

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

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

Surcharged

  'One Half Penny' on 3 p lilac
  '1d.' on 1 p lilac
  '2d.' (red) on 2 p lilac
  '4d.' (red) on 4 p lilac
  '6d.' on 6 p lilac
  '1 s.' on 1 Sh green

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

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

Further overprinted 'Protectorate'

  '1d.' on 1 p lilac
  '2d.' on 2 p lilac
  '3d.' on 3 p lilac
  '4d.' (red or black) on 4 p lilac
  '6d.' on 6 p lilac
  1 Sh green
  2 Sh green
  2 Sh 6 p green
  5 Sh green
  10 Sh green

The lower values were mainly used for postal purposes and the higher values for fiscal use.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
1 p on 1 p	***	***
2 p on 2 p	R	R
4 p on 4 p	RR	RR
6 p on 6 p	RR	RR
1 Sh	RR	RR
2 Sh	RRR	RRR
2 Sh 6 p	RRR	RRR
5 Sh	RRR	RRR
10 Sh	RRR	RRR

The above forgery was made by Senf, it was given as an 'art supplement' or 'Kunst-Beigabe' in 1888 with the stamp journal the 'Illustrirten Briefmarken-Journal'.

1897 Stamps of Great Britain overprinted 'BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE'

On Queen Victoria stamps

  1/2 p orange
  1/2 p green
  1 p lilac
  2 p green and red
  3 p lilac on yellow
  4 p brown and green
  6 p lilac on red

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

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

On King Edward stamps (1904)

  1/2 p green
  1 p red
  2 1/2 p blue
  1 Sh red and green

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

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

On King George V stamps (1914)

  1/2 p green
  1 p red
  1 p red (other design)
  1 1/2 p brown
  2 p orange
  2 1/2 p blue
  3 p violet
  4 p grey
  6 p lilac
  1 Sh brown
  2 Sh 6 p brown
  5 Sh red

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

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

Forged overprints exist, examples:

(Forged overprints on King Edward stamps, overprint with too large letters)

1912 Overprinted 'Bechuanaland Protectorate' on stamp of Transvaal

  6 p orange and grey

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

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

Postal Stationary

I have seen envelopes of Great Britain with Queen Victoria on it overprinted 'BRITISH BECHUANALAND': 1/2 p brown (with rounded corners), 1 p brown (ellipse), 4 p orange (circle) and 'FOUR' on 2 p blue (registration, circle).

Fiscal Stamps

In 1887 some fiscal stamps of Cape of Good Hope (6 p and 1 Sh) were overprinted 'BRITISH BECHUANLAND' (sorry, no picture available).

In 1903 again some fiscal stamps of Cape of Good Hope were overprinted (1 Pound, 5 Pounds and 10 Pounds, all with image of a woman), this time with 'BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE'.

Some fiscal stamps of Transvaal with the image of King Edward VII were also overprinted from 1904 to 1912:
'Bechuanaland Protectorate' on 2 Sh 6 p and 1 Pound
'BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE' (large 'B' and 'P') on 5 Pounds
'BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE' (letters same size) on 2 Sh 6 p, 1 Pound and 5 Pounds.

Again an overprint on some fiscal stamps of Cape of Good Hope (King Edward VII) appeared in 1906: 1 p, 1 Sh, 2 Sh, 5 Sh and 1 Pound.

In 1917 some fiscal and postage stamps of South Africa were overprinted with:
'BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE' on 2 Sh 6 p, 5 Sh, 10 Sh, 1 Pound black and blue, 1 Pound red and green and 5 Pounds;
'Bechuanaland Protectorate' on 1 p red (king) and 1 p red and black (ship);
'Bechuanaland Revenue Only' (in 2 lines) on 6 p, 1 Sh, 2 Sh, 2 Sh 6 p, 5 Sh, 10 Sh and 1 Pound;
'Bechuanaland Revenue Only' (in 3 lines) on 6 p, 1 Sh, 2 Sh, 2 Sh 6 p, 5 Sh, 10 Sh and 1 Pound.

A postage stamp of 1887 was overprinted with 5 Pounds in 1918 (very rare).

Tati Concessions

(Reduced size)

Some fiscal stamps with the image of an elephant and inscription 'TATI CONCESSIONS LIMITED' were also issued in 1895 (values 1 Sh red, 2 Sh 6 p blue, 5 Sh lilac, 10 Sh green, 1 Pound grey and 5 Pounds orange). They are all quite rare. I've seen them with a purple 'THE TATI CONCESSIONS LIMITED TATI MATABELELAND' oval cancel.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer

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