OFS 'postage dues: Something new to investigate

A G M Batten FRPSL

SA Philatelist - March 1980

IT IS NOW more than twenty-five years since my interest was aroused in the postal history of the Orange Free State, originally through collecting its stamps of the Republican period, followed by the Anglo-Boer War period and then by the Orange River Colony period. My collection of stamps, postal history and war material is, to say the least, extensive. But every few months I come across some aspect about which it is almost impossible, at first, to obtain information, until one can inspire enough people to take a guided interest in a particular proposition. After all, few collectors, if indeed any, can expect to have enough material to facilitate a study in depth ofany particular question. So, what is needed is some kind of plan to which a number ofcollectors are willing to subscribe (not financially), in order to bring together sufficient preliminary information to make a further detailed study worth while.

Now, you will ask, what sort of study do you have in mind? Mine (that is yours) is a small collection unlikely to produce very much information likely to be of help! That is not necessarily true. Having had the advantage of seeing a great, many collections, I can say with assurance that it is very rarely that I have not found something worth recording in them - things not recognised by the owner because no one has suggested to him (or her) what should be looked for. Now let me give an example. During recent months I have been bringing together all kinds of postal markings of the Orange Free State, some ofwhich, I suppose, I have neglected in the past in favour of the more usual cancellers. In the course of a compilation of markings I have begun to notice for the first time those relating to the underpayment of postage on letters and cards. Rather what, nowadays, we should think of as leading to postage dues, now most frequently shown to have been payable or paid by the usg of "postage due" stamps.

NO EVIDENCE

But, you will say, quite correctly, there were no "postage dues" in the Orange Free State. Only partly true, since postages were sometimes due (and markings existed to indicate them), but there were no postage due stamps as evidence of payment. Indeed, so far as I am aware, there was no evidence of payment at all on the item being charged for. Well, you are now saying, what does he want us to look for? There are, at this stage, two things. First of all there were the stamps used to indicate that a payment was due. In the last century these, to begin with, were just a free-standing "T" (meaning Taxe). Later the stamps were generally octagonal in shape, and contained a number of "cents" as being due for payment at twice the rate underpaid. But, you will say, the Orange Free State had never in those days been affected, as some of us are nowadays, with metrication of almost everything. But you would be wrong. OFS Postmarks - Something Different

For a long time now, ever since the introduction of the Universal Postal Union, there has been an international ar- rangement whereby short-payment of postage should be ob- served by the country in which the item was first posted, and the shortfall recorded on the letter or card by means of the use of a stamp designating in International Currency (based upon the French Gold Franc) the amount due to be paid. Such an arrangement was needed since any sum to be paid had to be collected on delivery of the letter or card, and an amount expressed in pennies (as it would have been in the Orange Free State) would not have meant much to the postal workers in some other countries. So, in the OFS, one penny was represented by "5c" in the International Currency and thence the equivalent of one penny would be noted for collection. So, back in the last century, and early in this, we come across these stamps, usually octagonal, indicating the need for pay- ment of a further "5c" or " I0c" or "35c", as the case might be. One or two examples are shown in the illustrations. Drawing of photographs

Now, what should be done is for all ofus who are interested to report with suitable recording drawings or, better still, photo- graphs of covers and cards from each post office showing precisely the style, size of mark used, and, most important, the dates of use. Changes in practice did not necessarily come into being at all places at the same time. It follows, of course, that this information can only be obtained from covers and cards, since in no case is what we want recorded on the stamps. You may think that work of this kind is without interest - but you would be wrong. We should know over what period Snd where the free-standing "T" was used and what appeared, in manuscript, beside it. The same applies to the octagonal signs with the "T" above a value expressed in cents. Examples are shown of both types of markings.

Now comes the more interesting part. It is only recently that I have come across another type of mark (unrecorded surprising- ly enough by the indefatigable collector of markings, Mr A Cecil Fenn) of which I can only show three examples from Kings Hill, Vrede and Heilbron, respectively. Again we have the "T" much larger and in a 25 mm circle with a number below. In the case of Kings Hill, the number below is 25, in the case of Vrede 29 and Heilbron 51. But what about all the other numbers? Were they used and if so when and where? The three mentioned I have seen in 1906, 1907 and 1908, respectively. It was tempting at first sight to expect that the numbers mentioned had some relationship to the numbers used on the sixteen-and eleven-bar numeral cancellers (from 1-60), which first came into use in 1872, but this is not the case. Vrede, so far as is known, did not have a numeral canceller, or defacer as they were then known, and Kings Hill (which was the new name for the Harrismith Army P-O-) did not come into use as a name for 1906. Harrismith Army, (the Army Barracks Post Office at Harrismith) was not opened until 1904, while the numerals to which we are referring ceased, substantially, to be used back in the nineteenth century.

So here is something new to investigate- Are you interested?' will you help? All you have to do is to go through your cover collection and pick out easily recognised markings. your help, please - and send your information, with drawings or photostat copies to the author. The necessary information will be extracted and recorded. When the record is published in these columns your name will appear as a contributor.

The author's address is Brackenber, Wych Hill Way, Woking, Surrey GU22 OAE, England.

Postmarks on stamps on stamps

THE CYPRUS stamp centenary issue, due for release on 17 March 1980, combines a philatelic variety, depending on one's favourite collecting theme: - stamp centenary - stamps on stamps - overprinted stamps on stamps - numeral postmarks on stamps - numeral postmarks on stamps on stamps + stamps on piece on stamps - postal history on stamps. The three values are - 40 mils - the Great Britain '/2d cancelled with the numeral 969 at Nicosia. 125 mils - the GB 2'Łd cancelled with the numeral 974 at Kyrenia. 175 mils - the GB II- cancelled with the numeral 942 at Larnaca. In addition a 500 mils souvenir sheet depicts the full set of six GB stamps overprinted for use in Cyprus in 1880.

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