Stellaland was a short-lived Boer republic from 1882 until 1885, located in southern Bechuanaland, west of the then South African Republic, with Vryburg as its capital. It was incorporated in British Bechuanaland in 1885. British Bechuanaland was subsequently incorporated into the Cape of Good Hope in 1895.
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/1884_stamp_Stelland.jpg/220px-1884_stamp_Stelland.jpg)
First stamps
editThe Stellaland Republic issued five values of postage stamps in February 1884. They were crudely printed, using the coat of arms as design, and inscribed "REPUBLIEK / STELLALAND". Postally used copies are much rarer than unused copies.[1]
Overprints
editSometime in 1885, "TWEE" (Afrikaans 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
editSources
edit- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
- Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
- Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986. ISBN 0-356-10862-7
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Stellaland | Stamps and postal history | StampWorldHistory". Archived from the original on 2018-03-03. Retrieved 12 August 2018.[title missing]