Postage stamps and postal history of Stellaland Republic
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Stellaland The Republic of Stellaland ( nl, Republiek Stellaland) was, from 1882 to 1883, a Boer republic located in an area of British Bechuanaland (now in South Africa's North West Province), west of the Transvaal. After unification with the neighbour ...
was a short-lived Boer
republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
from 1882 until 1885, located in southern Bechuanaland, west of the then
South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
, with
Vryburg Vryburg () is a large agricultural town with a population of 48,400 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and the industrial ...
as its capital. It was incorporated in
British Bechuanaland British Bechuanaland was a short-lived Crown colony of the United Kingdom that existed in southern Africa from its formation on 30 September 1885 until its annexation to the neighbouring Cape Colony on 16 November 1895. British Bechuanaland h ...
in 1885. British Bechuanaland was subsequently incorporated into the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
in 1895.


First stamps

The
Stellaland The Republic of Stellaland ( nl, Republiek Stellaland) was, from 1882 to 1883, a Boer republic located in an area of British Bechuanaland (now in South Africa's North West Province), west of the Transvaal. After unification with the neighbour ...
Republic issued five values of
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
s in February 1884. They were crudely printed, using the
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
as design, and inscribed ''"REPUBLIEK / STELLALAND"''. Postally used copies are much rarer than unused copies.


Overprints

Sometime in 1885, ''"TWEE"'' (
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
for "two") was overprinted on a few of the 4-pence stamps, halving their values. These are quite rare, selling at auction for several thousand dollars when they appear. It is not clear whether they were official government issues, or privately produced, perhaps as political propaganda, since the use of stamps had recently become nearly universal worldwide.


See also

*
Postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland. History For many months, starting in 1883, pressure was placed on the British Government to do something in Bechuanaland because of unrest in the area. On 29 Octobe ...
*
Postage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland Protectorate This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland Protectorate. First stamps The first Bechuanaland Protectorate postage stamps were produced in 1888 by overprinting stamps of British Bechuanaland (some overprints of Briti ...


Sources

*
Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...
Ltd: various catalogues
Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
* Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986.


External links


Stamps of Stellaland.


References

Stellaland Republic {{philately-stub