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Telegraph stamps of the World Click here for a site-map.

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Up a level							Not my site, but a good reference:
GB	Ceylon	Hong Kong	India	Jamaica	Natal	OFS	Australia and states
Up a level							by Dave Elsmore.
Other Africa	Sarawak	Sudan	Transvaal	Uganda	New South Wales	Western Australia	Other Australia

Transvaal.

Steve Hiscocks wrote:
The first telegraph line in Transvaal was set up by the British Government in 1880 to connect the Natal line with Pretoria via Standerton and
Heidelberg. The Boers, on regaining control in 1881, set up lines from Pretoria to most towns and villages. The British regained control in 1900.
Various stamps were used from 1880 onwards and the difficulty is in deciding which should be classified as telegraph stamps. In 1880 the revenue
stamps of 1878 were used. These were not differentiated for telegraph use and such use can only be deduced from cancellations. They cannot be
regarded as telegraph stamps for the purposes of this catalogue. In August 1881 large quantities of these were handed over to the Boers who
continued to use them. In 1884 a law was passed to the effect that postage stamps must be used and cancelled in use. Old Queen's head and new
Republic postage stamps were so used in large quantities — £1528 in 1885 and £3503 in 1886, with the rate as 1s/10 words, and usage increased way
beyond this in the 1890s. The British, on their return in June 1900 stopped the use of postage stamps and issued South African Republic (SAR)
revenue stamps overprinted V.R.I. (Victoria Regina Imperator) for telegraphic use. My information is that these stamps, from 1d to £5, were
specifically issued for this purpose and it therefore seems that they should be included as telegraph stamps although they were also used for revenue
purposes. As the lower values ran out they were replaced with SAR postage stamps of 1896—7 overprinted 'TRANSVAAL TELEGRAPHS' and, a little
later, surcharged as listed below. Further provisionals followed as the high value V.R.I. overprints ran out, including the 'Transvaal Telegraphs'
overprints on King Edward VII revenue stamps early in 1903. It seems that the use of special telegraph stamps ceased in 1903 and that revenue stamps
were used without differentiation thereafter. Telegraph Offices were not permitted to sell telegraph stamps to the general public and used copies
remained the property of the office. These stamps are therefore scarce — indeed, legally, none should have reached collectors !

My note:
I have illustrated a couple of these stamps with V.R.I. overprints that have cancels described as telegraphic. If that is true, then they are probably
the same as used for telegraphy before the overprints.

A 10s stamp is illustrated below with a cancel of July 1902.

Until 1900 when the British Army gained control, postage stamps and fiscal stamps were used for telegraphs in the Transvaal,
but without any identification as such beyond the cancel used.

Here is an interesting example of 6 x 1d stamps used on a telegraph form in Newcastle, Natal 25 October 1899.


Image courtesy of Andrew Higson.

Another interesting example.



A piece from a form of the N.Z.A.S.M. This was the 'Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij' (Dutch South African Railway Company.
Used 16 September 1900 at Irene Military with the only non-philatelic use of the halfpenny that I've seen, courtesy of Ian Paterson.

Hiscocks lists 1d, 6d, 1s, 1s6d, 2s, 2s6d, 5s, 10s, £1, £2 and £5 as types H1 to H11.
They are normally perf. 11½   but can be   11½ x 14.

1d  H1	6d  H2	1s  H3
Fiscal stamps used telegraphically, images courtesy of Oscar Van der Vliet.
1s6d   H4   (Scan Needed)	2s   H5   (Fiscally used)	2s6d   H6   (Source: Andrew Higson)
5s   H7 (1902)	10s   H8	£1   H9
ZAR Zegelregt stamps used telegraphically.	H8, courtesy of Oscar Van der Vliet	Used telegraphically by Pretoria Military.

£2   H10   (Source: Andrew Higson)	£5   H11   (Fiscally used)

Used prices here are for stamps with Army Telegraph cancels.

 
Argll-Etkin sold a number of similar stamps as these on the basis of these being telegraph cancels.
Does anyone know if these were the cancels used when sending civilian telegrams ?
Images courtesy of Mark Gibson.

From about September 1901 stamps were overprinted 'Transvaal / Telegraphs' instead of 'V.R.I.' to segregate them from normal postage/fiscal stamps.

Hiscocks lists 1d, 3d, 4d, 6d, 1s and 2s6d of the series below as H12 to H17.

1d   H12	3d   H13	4d   H14
6d   H15	1s  H16	2s6d   H17  Source: Andrew Higson

here are H12, H15, and H17.

Can anyone provide scans of H13, H14 or H16 ?

There are forgeries about. Here is an example:

This is a Fournier production
'r' of 'Telegraphs' looks different and no stop on end.
courtesy of James Bendon
(Click on image to see source).

Scarce 6d (Source: Andrew Higson)	1s   H18	1s on 2s6d   H19	H19 used from RL.

The remaining telegraph stamps listed by Hiscocks are all
overprinted 'Transvaal / Telegraphs' :

5s   H20, feint J HN (Source: Andrew Higson)	6d   H21 (Source: Andrew Higson)	6d   H21 from RL	6d   H21 (Source: SandaFayre.com)	1s   H22 mockup
Can anyone provide a scan of a real H22 ? This is a mockup from Hiscocks description of what it should look like !

Although looking much 'neater' this is a forgery. Compare letters 'e' and 's', they are much more italic looking.
	It does not look like a Fournier. The 'al' of 'Transvaal' looks different and the 'e's and 's' of 'Telegraphs'.
Courtesy of Andrew Higson.	Courtesy of James Bendon who has many more Fournier examples for sale. (Click on image to see source).

10s  H23, J 31.VII.02.HN (Source: SandaFayre.com)	10/-   H23, Image courtesy of Mark Gibson.	£1   H24, Image courtesy of Mark Gibson.	£1   H25, Image courtesy of Mark Gibson.

There are many forgeries of these, note the genuine overprints shown above.
There are two different though similar types of this overprint which are illustrated along with Hiscocks H21 on
page 44 of 'The Transvaal Philatelist' v39,no2 (150), May 2004

The ones shown below are some examples of forgeries.

Bogus FORGED overprints on 2s6d courtesy of  RL.	NOT H23, H24 and H25   -   These scans with FORGED overprints are kindly provided by Oscar Van der Vliet.   Buyers Beware!   Genuine above.

Illustrations of type H20 and more forgeries of H23, H24 and H25 can be seen at the bottom of  HAVING THE REVENUE ON A LINE.

Army Telegraph cancel on other items.

From the evidence, by the time the Army entered the Transvaal, they were low on stocks of all but the high values.
When stocks ran out they used local stamps overprinted V. R. I. Later these stamps were overprinted "Telegraphs" and those items were listed by Hiscocks.
Provisionally however the Army Telegraphs used this series for low values without the "Telegraphs" overprint.

This trio, courtesy of Bram Leeflang.

Although Hiscocks does not list them, they are documented in 'The Transvaal Philatelist' journal of the “Transvaal Study Circle” TP 150 (May 2004) page 41.
These are normal postage stamps known used for telegraphic purposes from July 1900 to April 1901.

Interesting cancels from RL, on telegraphically used 10/- postage stamps at Johannesburg. The first used 8 July 1912 and the second, star-punched, cancelled 6 January 1914. These are marked "CONTROLLER" and "C.T.O" (Chief Telegraph Office).	A 15 January 1912 example on the £1 from RL.	A 1913 example on the £1 courtesy of  Deverell & Macgregor click image for listing.	A 1913? example on the £5 courtesy of  EmpirePhilatelists.com click image for listing.

Below is a range of revenues with star shaped punch holes, 2/- to £1 Revenue dated 1 November 1907.
These have little to indicate useage or location. All from RL.

     

Stationery.

An interesting 1894 form of the N.Z.A.S.M. This was the 'Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij' (Dutch South African Railway Company, operated from 1879 to about 1902)
Not to be confused with the later Nederlandsch Zuid-Afrikaansche Scheepvaart Maatschappij (Dutch South African Shipping Company).


Image courtesy of Fernando Torres.

A Field Telegraphs telegram form of the Z.A.R. apparently printed in 1900 in Elandslaagte, Natal.


Image courtesy of Fernando Torres.

A Transvaal Telegraphs telegram form apparently used to send a letter from Standerton.


Image courtesy of the Transvaal Study Circle.

     

A Telegram delivery envelope used in Johanneburg and a P.P.S.M. Form No. 179 sent Army Post to Castleford, Yorks. England. Images courtesy of the Transvaal Study Circle.

"ZUID AFRIKAANSCHE REPUBLIEK" = South African Republic.

Steve Hiscocks made a start on cataloguing seals of the world in a book he published in 2007.
It was his hope to update it later, but unfortunately that was not to be.
His original book can be viewed at Telegraph Seals: A World Catalogue. There are links from the pages to my updates.

Alternatively you can view the latest page with this seal.

Comments, criticisms, information or suggestions are always welcome.

Please include the word 'Telegraphs' in the subject.

Last updated 22nd. February 2024

©Copyright Steve Panting 2012/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24 except where stated.
Permission is hereby granted to copy material for which the copyright is owned by myself, on condition that any data is not altered and this website is given credit.