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Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 1864-1903

Return To Catalogue - Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), triangular issues - Cape of Good Hope miscellaneous - South Africa - Mafeking

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the catalogue;
contact me if you want to purchase it.

For the triangular issues click here.

1864-1871 Woman with sheep (so-called 'Rectangulars')

1864 With extra outer frame line all around the stamp

  1 p red
  4 p blue
  6 p violet
  1 Sh green

Surcharged

  'ONE PENNY' and bar (red) on 6 p violet
  'ONE PENNY' and bar on 1 sh green
  'Four Pence' and bar (red) on 6 p violet

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

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

Without outer frame line (1871)

  1/2 p black
  1/2 p grey
  1/2 p green
  1 p red
  2 p brown
  2 1/2 p green (slightly different design)
  2 1/2 p blue (slightly different design)
  3 p lilac
  4 p blue
  4 p green
  1 Sh green
  1 Sh yellow
  5 Sh yellow
  5 Sh orange

Surcharged

  'One Half-Penny' and bar on 3 p lilac
  'ONE PENNY' on 2 p brown
  '2 1/2 d' on 3 p lilac
  '3' on 3 p red
  'THREE PENCE' and bar (red) on 4 p blue
  'THREEPENCE' on 4 p red

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

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

(Misprint 'THE.EE' instead of 'THREE' on 4 p)

These stamps overprinted with "G.R." or "G" were used in Griqualand. These stamps overprinted with "Z.A.R." and value see Transvaal (so-called Vrijburg issue). With overprint "BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY" see Rhodesia. For stamps wiith overprint Mafeking click here.

The stamps 6 p lilac and 1 Sh green also exist with overprint "Military Telegraphs" for telegraph purposes (issued 1886, they are quite rare):

Typical cancels (see also http://www.postmarks.co.za)

Typical cancel: horizontal and vertical lines forming a circle, similar cancels exist with a number in it (ranging from 1 to 5)

Numeral cancel "3" for Grahamstown, other numeral cancels are "1" for Cape Town, "2" for Port Elizabeth etc all the way to about 1600, often called Barred Oval Numeral Cancel (BONC)

Cape Town "1" numeral postmarks, several types exist.

Other numeral cancels have the number in a diamond.

Two cork cancels.

Typical towncancels, here "PORT St.JOHN'S C.G.H.", "KLOOF STREET CAPE TOWN" and "MIDLAND UP".

See also: Cape of Good Hope cancels.

Forgeries:

(crude forgery)

There exist rather crude forgeries of the basic stamps (according to Album Weeds, the values 1 p, 4 p, 6 p, 1 Sh and 5 Sh, all without the coloured outline). The "G" of "GOOD" is situated above the head of the woman in these forgeries (in the genuine stamps the first "O" of "GOOD" is situated above the head). This should be an easy test, furthermore these forgeries don't have any watermark. The only cancels on these forgeries that I have seen are some parallel bars (quite widely spaced). This forgery even has been used to make a forged overprint of the 'Four Pence.' on 6 p violet (see image above).

Two other primitive forgeries of the 4 p value. The first one might be a cut from a postcard with 'philatelic images'.

(Sperati forgeries of the 5 Sh orange CA watermark)

Sperati forgery and Sperati forged cancel 'ARI C DE 10 84' (reduced sizes)

I've been told that the above stamp is a Sperati forgery of the 5 Sh orange stamp with CA watermark. There is a characteristic dot in front of the "C" of "CAPE". The first forgery shown above is cancelled "PORT ELISABETH H DE 12 83 CAPE COLONY" in a squared circle cancel, this cancel was also forged by Sperati. Other cancels that Sperati forged are "PORT ELIZABETH H JY 28 83 CAPE COLONY", "..M's TOWN E E 2 84 ..ONY", "...ABETHT 9 ..ONY" (part of circular cancel), an oval bar cancel and two different numeral "2" cancels. This forgery is not very common.

Sperati forgeries and proof, also black print and the cancels used by Sperati on this forgery.

Album Weeds further warns for forged red 'THREE PENCE' on 4 p blue overprints, forged inverted '3' on 3 p overprints and forged 'One Half-penny' on 3 p overprints.

1894 New design, woman standing

  1/2 p green
  1 p red
  3 p lilac

These stamps have watermark 'Anchor' and perforation 14.

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

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

Issue for Schweizer Reneke? overprinted "BESIEGED":

I have seen a stamp of Transvaal with the same overprint. For stamps wiith overprint Mafeking click here.

1899 View of Cape town with Table Mountain

  1 p red

This stamp has watermark 'Anchor' and perforation 14.

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

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

1903 King Edward VII, various frames

  1/2 p green
  1 p red
  2 p brown
  2 1/2 p blue
  3 p lilac
  4 p green
  6 p violet
  1 Sh yellow
  5 Sh orange

These stamps have watermark 'Anchor' and perforation 14.

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

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

I have seen bogus 'HALF PENNY' (grey) on 1 p and 'ONE PENNY' (violet) on 1/2 p green surcharges.

("CIGARETTE DUTY" and "CUSTOMS DUTY")

"PATENT AND PROPRIETARY" (reduced size)

The values 1/2 p green and 1 p red exist with overprint "CIGARETTE DUTY", this overprint exists in two sizes and was used for fiscal purposes. On the 1/2 p the overprint is in red colour. Other fiscal overprints are: "CUSTOMS DUTY" on 1 p, 2 p, 3 p (overprint in red), 6 p and 1 Sh and "PATENT AND PROPRIETARY" on 1 p red. Click here for more fiscal stamps of Cape of Good Hope.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer