ld. NO WATERMARK.
This error was dirouicle<l in the FeLruary issue,, au<l we are 110w iu a position to give fuller details.
U11ly one sheet was found, and in this 24 sta111ps were oLtaiuaLle with 110 watermark, which occurred in rather an unusual rnanHer. bvtcteHtly tile sheet when waterrnarked was incorrectly cut, s,11ce t11e 11n;t hur,.1unta1 ruw uf starnps completely missed the watermark; the _second ruw was water- 1Uarked, and then followed eleven more rows all watermarked, thus causwg the waterrnark to appear iu the central decorated pillar, wlud1 separates the upper and luwer panes. ln the lower half sheet Uie hrst row of swrnps bore
110 watenuark, hence the watermarl, UlJ!Jeared in the margin beneath tile bottom row of stamps. 'lhe sheet is frolll plate No. ti, while it is also inter- esting t-0 note that the watermarks were iuvened as well. Uuiou eoJ!ectors cau tnerefore add (if they are lucky). another mterestmg item to their col-
lections. ,
Concerning the new pictorial issue, we learn that everything has been suspended for at least six months, and that an indent has been sent to London for several values of the existing issue, which are running short.
As foreshadowed in the May issue of the " Philatelist," the 2d. due, printed in l'retoria. has 1,ow made its appearauce Supplies were issued tu the Johannesburg :Vlain Office some weeks ago, but have not Leen put on the counter owing to stocks of the De la Rue printing still being 011 hand.
The ·uew issue was, however, on sale at some Reef l'ust pffietcs 011 ]()th l\lay.
The general design of the uew stamp is the same as the De la Hue printing.
Lut the figure of vah1e is different. Sheets consist of two horizontal panes of 60 ead1, top margin plain, bottum margiu perfornted.
The new ld. postage <lne wns on snlc ht some 11eef OffirC's on lGlh May.
The de~ign of the frame is the same ns before. but thP figurn nf value hns h,,en altered to a rather grotesque looking affair. as (·a11 be S<'Pn fro111 lite l,lo,·k appearing below. The new values are certainly very well printed, while the general ex,ieutiou is good, and the Govcn11ncnt priuter can now have
I'
\ittle praise for a chauge.1
1'1il~
SOU'l'it AFidCAN PiilLATELl~'l'. li3 May 16th, 19~3. Types as aLuve. Lithugrnphe<l uy the UuYcrnrnL,ut l'rinter;Pretoria. White wove paper. No wmk. Perf. 14. (Value iu ulaek.) l<l. Black and rose-pink.
2d. Black and dull violet.
Ou examining sheets of ·the ld. and 2d. dues, the only minor variety notiee<l is that some of the "d's" have the top serif square, while ulhern at·e pui11te<l. A variety wurtlly of notice is to be found in the first vertical row of stamµs of the left pane. We purchased four sheets of the l<l. an<l two uf the 2d., and in both values the second horizuutal perforation was entirely missing, as can Le seen from the illustration above. No doubt this will speedily be rectified.
South West Africa.
Major C. M. S. Forsbrook, Hehol.Joth, kindlv sends us a Llock of four of the current ½<l, analogous to the Id. Llock of four illustrated in the Aµrd issue. This very interesting item is here illustrnted, fron1 whil'h it will be
H'En that in the two top stan,ps only the words "South We~t" m1<l " Zuiu West" respectively apµear, while the lower stamps appea1· as "Africa"
above'· South West." In the Id. previously illustrated, the bottom row had the word " Afr;ca" only. Various correspondents have shown us specimens in which the stop after " Africa " appears more like a comma, and in other 111stances much smaller than normal.
Spaced "Af rilrn" 1/B O'priut inverteu, l\lisplaceLl over·pl'illt, Mr. M. D. Holmes, Elandshoek, sends us the followin" infonnatio1t:
"On examining some sheets of th(e ~d. postage dues from: S.W.A. Post Office, I found on one sheet the word ·· Afrika" spaced " Af rilrn." Tliis is the 59th stamp. I have four sheets of GO stamps, and all have the ' Wes ' error, thin · Z ' 2nd stamp, and the 5th stamp showR a small liyphen or dot bctw,•en South West, but the remainder of the overprint is rnuclt dea11cr than some I have seen on other sheets. I have also seen a faint liyplien under South West in the }d. and 2d. postage stamps and the 3d. postage due.
64 THE :SOU'l'lt
AFlHCAN
l'HILATELIS'f.Mr. Goad, Roodepoort, informs us that he has a Id. postage stamp with no stop over "i" in " Zuid," and also mentions that he has tne "At.nea"
variety in the ½d. (p-ostage) value f!.S wel:\: . • A le,tter was recently addressed by us to the D1redor of Posts and ·l'ele- graphs Windhoek, enquiring what varieties were known to the Department, and al~o what action had I.Jeen taken to• prevent the issuing uf defective
sheets. .. ·
In reply to the above, Col. Venning kindly favoured us with the follow- ing information :
The Editor, Ref. No. 27612.3.
"S.A. Philatelist." Windhoek, 3rd May, 1923.
Sir,.::_! have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 26th ult. on t-110 subject of South-West Africa stamps, and in reply to state the only inverted overprints sold officially by this Administratfon are the twopenny. There are, however, certain defects and minor blemishes in con- nection with the first overprint to which the, attention of the Government Printed was immediately drawn, and except such words as "We,st," ap- pearing as "Wes" and the overprint not being exactly in the centre of each pane. also in the easel of the penny in each sheet of 240 a dot, appearing thus
"Af.rica," I know of no other peculiarit,ies.
In regard to the supposed official sale in South-West Africa of ½d., ld., and 1/3 values inverted overprint, I have to state· all Postmasters have been officially warned on no account to issue or pa.rticipate in the sale of any sheets of stamps with the overprinting inverted. If any sheets of the afore- mentioned values are on sale in the Union, they have been surreptitiously transferred, and such sales or transfers are unofficial seeing a further instruc- tion has been issued that all sales t,o persons outside of South-We·st Africa conducted by letter may only be ca.rried out through the medium of this office.
I may also state that the origin of the overprint was not to fleece the public and particularly philatelists, bU:t in order to safeguard the revenue proper which th's A<lministration could not otherwise guarantee whilst Union stamps were interchangeable,
I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant,
i (Sgd.) JAMES A. VENNING, Director of Posts and Telegraphs, South-West Africa.
There is only one comment we wish to pass on the above. The ½d. and l<'I. values with ovrrprint inverted are certainly either forgerirs or nnde- st,rovrd printer's waste, but the ls. 3d. with ovt>rpl'intinverted is undoubtedlv irenuine. one Rhret onlv of which was discovered in the Protectorate bv a col- Ject,or who retnined some. and disposed of the rPSt t,o a prominent local col- lector. There is not the sl"ght.est doubt about this.
AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEAL TH.
Mr. A. L. Fry, of Wirrega. South Australia kindly sends us specimens of the l½d. in the new green colour. ' ·
RARE BRITISH COLONIALS.
I make a speciality of Rare British Colonials and hold a very fine stock of AFRICANS
Selections sent on approval against references
T. ALLEN.
" Craigard'' Blake Hall Road, Wanstead, London, E. 11, England,
T:HE SOU'l'H AFRICAN PHILATELIST.
KENYA,
Mr. W. Tunstall informs us that the 12 cents. stamp is being withdrawn.
This denomination was issued as a receipt stamp, and since the charge was changed to 10 cents., it is no longer rcquHed, al](.l uo further supplies will be printed.
MAURITIUS.
Sergt-.Major J. P. Tomkins kindly sends us the 1 cent. script on thin paper and denser than the previous printmg with multiple C .A. watermark, and mentions that the 12 cents. grey script is no longer obtainable. A.
Rs. 50 stamp is being instituted, but will only be usPd for revenue, etc.
(Insurance) for which pmpose the Rs. 10 are mostly used, hence the scarcity of postally used copies.
ST. KITTS NEVIS.
Mr. l\1. D. Holmes, of Elands]wek. writes: "I have had a letter from the Postmaster of t:lt. Kitts Nevis, in whil'h he tells me tliaf the tercentenary set of stamps will only be available for this year, and after December 31st all stocks on band will be dl'Stroyed."
RHODESIA.
Mr. L. H. Hivers, Umtali, kindly sends us the following list of stamps (Admiral type only), with impelf. margins, etc:, which he either possesses or has co1Le across:
½d. Vertical pairs imperf. between, imperf. bottom margin (two Bhades);
imper!. at rigllt (two shades), llllperf. at left.
ld. Pairs mtperf. between; in,perf. at top; imperf. at bottom l½d. Pairs imperf. betweeu; imperf. at top; imperf. at lJottom.
'21- die 111. toned paper, one pair imperf. between.
2d die lll. white paper, imperf. at top.
1/-
de 111. white paper, impnf. l,etwt,,en pair.Gd. Our correspondent mentions that a sheet of 60, impl:rf., was sold by the Post Office, Shamva, and used in the ordinary way, and that he had also heard of a pair imperf. between, but does not know which die.
Collectors in South Africa, part:cularly those in Durban, have in Mr.
S'dnner, proprietor of the Southern S,amp Co., a really ·live philatelist in their midst. Mr. Skinner has established a personal touch in his b1isin.ess, and with that end in view, serious collectors will always be made we'tcornc at his home, where in a genial atmosphere induced by the comradeship of common interest, and light refreshments, they sometimes come within an ace of losing the last car back to town. Collectors from all centres visiti1_1g Durban should write to Mr. Skinner, P.O. Box 1677, Durban, for appoint- ments after 6 p.m. or after 1 p.m. on Saturday, and can rest assured of a warm welcome with " business " as a -secondary consideration.