Worldwide Stamps and Postal History continued...

A fine unmounted mint positional example with full original gum.

An interesting variety, rare in this positional form and in such fine condition.

Stamps issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union featured 310 stamps in total across 84 different countries. This was only the second British Empire Omnibus issue not to mark a Royal anniversary. Some countries simply overprinted the British stamps. Other countries, including South Africa, issued their own designs. The South Africa design featured the Greek god, Hermes.

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A very fine unmounted mint positional block of four with full original gum.

A scarce positional multiple.

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A very fine unmounted mint example with full original gum. One of the most popular of the Union of South Africa stamps.

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A stunning unmounted mint block of four with full original gum. The watermark is inverted as usual. The lower right stamp shows some very minor wrinkles which does not affect overall fine appearance.

A lovely stamp depicting Dromedaris (Jan van Riebeeck's ship), the arrival of which in the Cape on 6th April 1652 marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £360.

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A very fine unmounted mint block of four with full original gum.

The watermark inverted as usual.

A lovely stamp depicting Dromedaris (Jan van Riebeeck's ship), the arrival of which in the Cape on 6th April 1652 marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £360.

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A very fine and fresh mint pair with original gum. Beautiful intricate design and high quality printing.

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A fine quality unmounted mint block with full original gum.

A scarce stamp as a block of four in such pristine condition.

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A fine quality set with large part original gum.

An attractive and interesting group showcasing the different shades and tracking the process undertaken before the final stamp shade was approved.

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A brilliant mint block of four with large part original gum. A few shortish perforations and the lower pair with suspicion of a gum bend. Regardless of very minor condition issues it remains overall attractive and very fresh.

A spectacular example of this rare error.

A lovely stamp depicting Dromedaris (Jan van Riebeeck's ship), the arrival of which in the Cape on 6th April 1652 marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £1,100.

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A fine and fresh mint positional block with original gum. The lower pair are unmounted mint. Minor wrinkles in margin, mentioned purely for accuracy and do not detract from what is an extremely attractive positional multiple.

An attractive airmail stamp depicting de Havilland DH.9 biplane, a British single-engined biplane bomber developed and deployed during the First World War.

South Africa was slow to introduce an air mail service to speed up the delivery of local mail. Eventually, in 1925, the Civil Air Board in South Africa decided to institute a three monthly Experimental Air Service between Cape Town and Durban, to establish whether such a service could be provided economically and reliably.

A set of four Air Mail stamps was specially printed specifically for the Experimental Air Service that was inaugurated on 2 March 1925. The 9d was the highest denomination in the set. These stamps were only valid for the carriage of mail on the foregoing service.

The use of the 1925 Airmail stamps was discontinued at the end of June 1925 but remained for sale in Pretoria until 31 October. After that all residues of stamps, as well as the printing plates were destroyed.

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A lovely quality example of this interprovincial rarity, used in Cape of Good Hope.

A very fine and scarce interprovincial period usage (from 1 June 1910 - 31 August 1913). A real stunner!

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A fresh mint example with large part original gum. Trace of a gum bend, which does not detract in any way from what is a really fine example of this very scarce Telegraphs stamp.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £450.

Telegraph stamps are stamps intended solely for the prepayment of telegraph fees.

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A fine mint example with large part original gum.

The Union of South Africa was established in 1910, combining the former British colonies of Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal. It was three years later before the first set of definitive stamps of the Union were issued in 1913, inscribed with the name of the new country.

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A brilliant quality mint example with original gum.

"SPECIMEN" examples were used solely by postal administrations for reference purposes to help spot any attempted forgeries.

Extremely rare King Edward VII specimen stamp as one of only 12 possible and a particularly fine example.

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A very fine unmounted mint example with full original gum.

A scarce variety presented in the highest condition grade.

The Federation of South Arabia was a short-lived federal state under British protection in what would become South Yemen. It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South. The State of Aden joined the federation on 18 January 1963. In June 1964, the Upper Aulaqi Sultanate was added bringing in 17 states. The Federation was abolished on 30 November 1967, when its status as a British protectorate came to an end.

A very fine unmounted mint example with full original gum.

Presented with the normal stamp for comparison.

A scarce Queen Elizabeth II British Commonwealth stamp error with missing face value and inscriptions.

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A fine and fresh unmounted set of positional blocks of four with full original gum. Some typical light creasing to be expected, but a spectacular series.

British Commonwealth Revenues Catalogue by J Barefoot Ltd Nos: 18, 20/4, 26.

Revenue stamps were used exclusively by the government to collect taxes, duties and fees.

The design is based on a photo by Bertram Park and was engraved by J A C Harrison of Waterlow after adding the Admiral's uniform.

Waterlow & Sons Limited of London, prepared both imperforate and perforate proofs – “The Printer’s File Proofs”. These were stored in the Waterlow basement during the war and were damaged by water, following the damage caused by the bombing of London during the 2nd World War.

An attractive set, fresh and unmounted mint with full original gum. The 10s to £5 also have side marginal guide dots, the £10 upper marginal with M/S invoice number.

Revenue stamps were used exclusively by the government to collect taxes, duties and fees.

The design is based on a photo by Bertram Park and was engraved by J A C Harrison of Waterlow after adding the Admiral's uniform.

Waterlow & Sons Limited of London, prepared both imperforate and perforate proofs – “The Printer’s File Proofs”. These were stored in the Waterlow basement during the war and were damaged by water, following the damage caused by the bombing of London during the 2nd World War.

A fresh printer's sample of this fine King George VI stamp with original gum. Tiny adhesion, which does not detract as it is very scarce.

The design is based on a photo by Bertram Park and was engraved by J A C Harrison of Waterlow after adding the Admiral's uniform.

Waterlow & Sons Limited of London, prepared both imperforate and perforate proofs – “The Printer’s File Proofs”. These were stored in the Waterlow basement during the war and were damaged by water, following the damage caused by the bombing of London during World War II.

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A very attractive used block of 4, neatly cancelled by a lovely central Raylton circular date stamp date '23 APR 38'.

A rare multiple of this fine King George V stamp.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £640+.

The Southern part of Rhodesia, previously administered by the British South Africa Company, was annexed by the British Government and granted the status of a self-governing colony from 1 October 1923. Stamps were issued under "Southern Rhodesia" between 1924-1953, together with one definitive set issued in 1964 also.

In 1964, after Northern Rhodesia became independent as Zambia, Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared itself independent as "Rhodesia". This status was not internationally recognised until 1979 when the Constitution of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia was passed and Zimbabwe was recognised as independent in 1980.

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A very fine unmounted mint example with full original gum.

A very scarce King George V stamp hardly ever seen in unmounted mint condition.

The Southern part of Rhodesia, previously administered by the British South Africa Company, was annexed by the British Government and granted the status of a self-governing colony from 1 October 1923. Stamps were issued under "Southern Rhodesia" between 1924-1953, together with one definitive set issued in 1964 also.

In 1964, after Northern Rhodesia became independent as Zambia, Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared itself independent as "Rhodesia". This status was not internationally recognised until 1979 when the Constitution of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia was passed and Zimbabwe was recognised as independent in 1980.

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A fine used example for this difficult issue with large part KHARTOUM circular date stamp, dated "4 IX 905".

A very rare variety and very challenging to find without material condition defects.

Accompanied with a British Philatelic Association (BPA) certificate of authenticity (1953).

The “Camel Postman” stamps of Sudan are considered by the famous printers De La Rue as the “most satisfactory” in their long history of stamp production. It was first issued in 1898 and was so successful that it continued until 1931 and effectively became the country’s symbolic emblem.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £800.

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A very fine positional used example with part "(HAL)FA" circular date stamp showing year "1906".

Choice quality and rare. Only 60 originally existed yet it remains lowly priced in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue.

The “Camel Postman” stamps of Sudan are considered by the famous printers De La Rue as the “most satisfactory” in their long history of stamp production and effectively became the country’s symbolic emblem.

Accompanied with a Royal Philatelic Society (RPS) certificate of authenticity (1977).

Stanley Gibbons catalogue value: £850.

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A very fine unmounted mint positional block with full original gum.

A scarce variety in this positional form as a multiple.

Swaziland gained independence on 6 September 1968 and its name changed to Eswatini in April 2018.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £160+.

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A very fine unmounted mint block with full original gum.

A scarce variety in this positional form as a multiple.

Swaziland gained independence on 6 September 1968 and its name changed to Eswatini in April 2018.

Stanley Gibbons catalogue value: £200++.

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