Here you will find a selection of Commonwealth stamps from the South African States
South African States includes stamps from Cape of Good Hope, Griqualand West, Mafeking, Natal, New Republic, Orange Free State, Pietersberg, Transvaal and Zululand
Cape of Good Hope (COGH) stamps were first issued by the colony on 1 September 1853. Known as the Triangles, the two stamps that were issued were a one penny 1d in brick-red and a four pence 4d in blue.On 18 February 1858 two new values became available a six pence 6d and a one shilling.
Orange Free State began to issue postage stamps in 1868, and continued until 1897. The sole design used was an orange tree, with the inscription "Oranje Vrij Staat" in the margin. The stamps came in denominations from one penny to five shillings, in various colours. Periodic shortages forced the use of overprints, in 1877, 1881, 1882, 1888, 1890, 1892, 1896, and 1897. The stamps of the republic are generally common today, but some of the overprints are scarce. Many kinds of overprint errors are known (inverted, double, etc), and some of them command high prices. A variety of revenue stamps were issued both as the Orange Free State and the Orange River Colony
The Zululand first post office was established in Eshowe in 1887, but an official postal system was not started until May 1, 1888, at which time both Zululand and Natal became members of the Universal Postal Union. At first, the territory used postage stamps of Great Britain and Natal overprinted "ZULULAND". Zululand high face value stamps were accumulated by well known collectors after 1900. Many of them were issued in very limited numbers and eventually ended up in museums. Therefore these high values are quite difficult to obtain |
 |
