385th Auction

“J E S” violet initials censor handstamp on a seal closing a franked envelope from “JAGERSFONTEIN ROAD (19)01” to Edenburg, also “H.P.Y.” censor mark, all applied at Bloemfontein, fine. A most unusual convergence of a rare censor mark and the very scarce obliterator from Jagersfontein Road

“LANDDROST KANTOOR PHILIPPOLIS O.V.S” large circular purple censor mark on franked envelope from Philippolis to the Green Point camp in Cape Colony, reverse transit “BLOEMFONTEIN MY 26 (19)00”, on front purple handstamp “CENSOR PRISONERS OF WAR” possibly applied as an arrival mark, one tiny tear at top and small part of back flap missing, still fine. An extremely rare censor handstamp from Philippolis used by the British

“PASSED PRESS CENSOR”, superb strike in purple of the double triangle censor handstamp on a franked envelope from “”HEILBRON JU (19)02" redirected from London to Amlwch with both transit and arrival cds., some minor peripheral toning of no importance, fine and rare. A late usage of British censorship a few weeks after the end of the war

“PASSED PRESS CENSOR.” with initials, superb strike on the back flap of a large franked envelope with cds. “FIELD POST OFFICE B(ase) O(ffice) * MY 24 (19)00” to the USA, transit via Cape Colony, New York and arrival on reverse. Some wear and imperfections, still a very elusive censor mark, possibly used at Kroonstad

“VREDEFORT ROAD MR 27 (19)02”, clear strike on a franked envelope to the prisoner of war Bellevue camp in Cape Colony, red censor initial “P.B.C” and rare double triangle “PASSED PRESS CENSOR” applied at Vredefort Road, transit cds. on reverse “BLOEMFONTEIN 30 MR 02”, some slight cover wear, still fine and attractive.

“Z X G” initials censor handstamp together with straight-line “PASSED CEB CENSOR” on franked envelope to Port Elisabeth in Cape Colony, reverse transit and arrival cds., closed tear at left and slight toning, a rare censor mark used only for a very short period

“RAGAMA CAMP NO 24 (19)01”, a very fine arrival strike on front of a franked postcard from “SPRINGFONTEIN OC 24 (19)01”, transit via Natal and censor marks, on reverse the text crossed out in pencil, still very fine. A very scarce postmark from the Ragama Camp in Ceylon

BRANDFORT CAMP: postcard from “BLOEMFONTEIN JU 28 (19)01”, addressed to “Dr. Martinius, M(edical) O(fficer) Refugee Camp Brandfort”, censor straight-line “N.P.Y”, lower corner creased and teared and some surface imperfections, still fine. A particularly rare incoming mail to that camp, which was infamous for having one of the highest mortality rate

KRAAI RIVER - ZASTRON CAMP: franked postcard from Germany with oval “DEUTSCH SEEPOST LINIE HAMBURG WEST AFRIKA 5 4. 02”, addressed to the “Kraai River Camp Aliwal North”, violet trangle and “J.C.C.” censor handstamps, reverse arrival cds. “ZASTRON MY 10 (19)02”, slightly toned and a minor corner crease, still fine. A very scarce incoming mail from the German colonies to the Zastron camp, which was supposedly associated with the Aliwal North camp

KROONSTAD CAMP: incoming registered envelope originating from the camp “BRANDFORT MR 20 (19)02”, censor straight line “PASSED CENSOR” and reverse arrival cds. “KROONSTAD 22 MR (19)02”, fine and attractive, together with an unused illustrated postcard. A rare refugee intercamp mail

HARRISMITH CAMP: franked envelope from “SGRAVENHAGE 11 DEC 01” with reverse transit via Durban and arrival cds. “HARRISMITH JA 7 (19)02”, the recipient not found and letter consequently returned to the sender. Some cover faults, but a rare incoming mail from the Netherlands to a refugee camp 

“RECOVERED FROM WRECK OF MEXICAN”, fair strike in red on franked cover from “BLOEMFONTEIN AP 1 (19)00” to London, reverse triangle censor postmark and arrival cds. “CHISWICK AP 28 00”, some tears and wear but a very scarce combination with the Orange Free State overprinted franking

“RETURNED FROM ADDRESSEE´S UNIT / UNDELIVERABLE”, two-line handstamp on franked cover from England to Kroonstad with “FIELD POST OFFICE 20 JA 11 (19)01” and red manuscript “not with regt.”, also a similar handstamp in purple on a franked envelope from England to a prisoner of war trooper, reverse transit cds. “FIELD POST OFFICE DE 18 00”, some usual wear and minor toning, still fine and a scarce duo

1868/1902 (ca.), large mint never hinged/unused and used balance collection with plenty of covers and postal stationery cards, many duplicates and multiples including large part sheets, fine part of cancellations and some interesting usages, some occasional faults as to be expected, overall in fine condition, in one box, some envelopes and 9 stockbooks

1868/99, mint never hinged/unused and used collection with covers, highly specialized with the overprint settings, plenty of multiples with blocs and large part sheets, advanced study of the 1896 provisional overprints including double and triple overprint varieties, an attractive group of a dozen used military frank stamps (SG-Nr. M1) together with a fine selection of covers with multiple and combination frankings. Some occasional faults, mostly in fine to very fine and fresh condition, with a few certificates, in three albums. A most interesting specialist holding

1870/1900 (ca.), Postmarks and Cancellations collection with circa 400 covers and postal stationery cards, together with hundreds of used, many duplicates and multiples, strength in the postmarks with a superb group of numeral and lettered barred cancels including “15” BRITHANY (2), “C” BUSHMANSKOP, followed by an abundance of dumb, squarred, circular and coloured cancellations, many with excellent strikes, better items with 1887 “POST-KANTOO BETHANIE”, 1892 “ORANGE VRYSTAAT ARTILLERIE”, 1900 “ALBERTINA”, OHMS and Field Post Offices mail, together with a fine selection of underpaid and taxed correspondence, reply cards and wrappers, etc., somewhat mixed condition as to be expected, in 5 albums. An outstanding specialist group

1884/1902 (ca.), Postal Stationery Cards from both OFS and ORC, group of over 100 cards unused and used, many different types, some duplicates including reply cards, some occasional faults, mostly in very fine and fresh condition, in one album

1892/1905 (ca.), Railway Station Postmarks, specialized collection with around 110 covers and cards, together with used and multiples, some better items like “WOLVERHOEK O.V.S.S.” on 1899 postal stationery card, greenish blue cds. “BETHANY R.O” (2), etc., many interesting multiple and combination frankings, some occasional faults, some expertly described on exhibition pages, a useful group in two albums

1900, Victoria Rex Imperator issues, impressive mint never hinged/unused and used collection with over 100 covers, highly specialized with the overprint settings, superb range of printing varieties with omitted, misplaced, without stops, etc., with an abundance of multiples including part sheets, together with an attractive selection of covers with some multiple and combination frankings, a few forgeries noted, some occasoinal faults, mostly very fine, in three albums. An outstanding lot

1900/02, First Crown Colony Issues, large mint never hinged/unused and used collection with circa 60 covers, highly specialized with multiples, overprint types and settings, an abundance of multiples with large part sheets and panes, together with a fine selection of covers with attractive multiple and combination frankings, some occasional faults, but mostly in fine and fresh condition, neatly housed in two albums with some part expertly described. An attractive lot

1900/10, voluminous Postal History and Postmarks collection with over 420 covers and cards, as well a many used and a few unused, plenty of various cancellations classified by types and sizes, many better specialist covers with BONC “40” BOSCHVARKFONTEIN, BONC “107” MALAN´s POST, recovered BONC “777”, mail from Zand River (2), Schuttesdraai, P.O.A Chicago, “GOVERNMENT OFFICES O.R.C.” cds., etc., strong group of Bloemfontein postmarks, together with a selection of illustrated postcards, mixed condition, in 6 albums

1899/1902, large accumulation of circa 275 covers and cards, offerring an ecclectic choice spanning from the Boer invasion of Natal to the Orange Colony River, including returned to the sender and OHMS mail, Boer censor marks and seals, “in commando dienst” mail, a fine group of Boer Field Post Offices postmarks together with the scarce oval truncated rubber band “ELANGSLAAGTE”, some invalidated Orange Free State frankings in pencil, many better items with a rare incoming letter to General Cronje ´s commandos with blue cds. “BANK 18 JAN 00 Z.A.R”, outgoing mail from Ladysmith Siege (3), one with “LADYSMITH SIEGE POST OFFICE Feb. 27th. 1900.”, Mooi River British relief mail, etc., together with a few used and multiples. Mixed condition, some neatly mounted and expertly described on album pages.  A most unusual aggregation

BRITISH CENSOR MARKS AND SEALS: extensive research collection with over 390 covers and cards, starting with a rare blue pencil strike on a very early card (creased) from “HEILBRON OC 24 (18)99” to England, followed by a fine selection of scarce handwritten censorships including Fauresmith, Smithfield and Rouxville, scarce censor marks from Jagersfontein, Philippolis, Bethulie, Edenburg, Jacobsdale, etc., many interesting usages with a strong array of censor marks combinations, plenty of multiple frankings, registered mail and some destinations abroad, many expertly described and neatly mounted on exhibition pages, mixed condition as to be expected. An exciting assembly for the specialist, in four albums

BRITISH FIELD POST OFFICES AND ARMY POST OFFICES: impressive collection with over 360 covers and cards and circa 250 used/pieces, specialized with the study of the various double circle FPO- and Army P.O cancellations including the unnumbered and star types, with a very strong range of FPO numbers on covers including 1-6, 8, 11-17, 19-32, 35-36, 38-39, 41, 43-44, 46-48, 50-51, 53-54, 56 and 100, many better items with mentions “stamps not available”, unusual destinations with Morocco and Syria, rare straight-line “RECOVERED FROM THE ENEMY AT VREDE, O.R.C”, a fine group of the large circular rubber postmark with “ARMY POST OFFICE B” on 1901 registered envelope to England, scarce “ARMY POST OFFICE MACHADODORP”, also some Base Post Office mail, FPO with large numbers 1-5, 8-9, “ARMY TELEGRAPHS” postmarks, OHMS blue card, etc., together with a selection of maps, sketches and photographs. Mixed condition, some neatly mounted and expertly described on album pages, a breathtaking study group in 7 albums

BRITISH POW CAMPS FOR THE BOERS: extensive assembly of over 110 covers and cards from/to Ceylon, India, Bermuda, St Helena and Natal, many interesting usages such as an unvalidated Free Orange State adhesive on 1900 taxed cover from Ficksburg to Ceylon, very scarce cds. “RAGAMA CAMP” (3), a "signed officer" envelope sent unfranked from “LADYBRAND JU 7 (19)01” to Rayapuram and taxed upon arrival, many camps including Green Point, Bellevue, Tin Town, Ahmednagar, Diyatalawa,  etc., plenty of censor marks as well as some registered covers, together with some fine illustrated postcards. Mixed condition, a fine specialist assembly