Here they are, the control blocks of South Africa’s eighth definitive issue of postage stamps.
It turned out that my blank album pages outfitted with three vertical pockets, were the right size to the millimeter for the height of the blocks.
So I went with a layout that tiled the smaller blocks sideways onto the page.
(I am still deciding if I like it).
The full sheet of 5c stamps is a reprint of the original 2010.10.27 issue (dated 2011.09.01). Reprints of the other original prints exist, which I don’t have— and that’s O.K.
The FedEx envelope that contained my shipment of stamps from South Africa was marked ‘Extremely Urgent’.
Well, it wasn’t really (extremely urgent), I thought, and it’s amazing that modern logistics can make land to my porch in a matter of days, that what I had bought online from a location 10,000 miles away.
These are called control blocks: blocks of four or six stamps in the corner of the sheet, with the sheet margins intact. If you are lucky, the margins contain the date the sheet was printed, and other details.
The downside is that these take up an enormous amount of space in an album that is made of them. For now, I am collecting only the blocks of the so-called definitive issues of stamps. Unlike commemorative stamps, which are issued for brief periods in limited quantities, definitives are usually issued in larger quantities and used over many years.
From 1961 to 2020, the South African Post Office issued eight definitive series of postal stamps.
Control blocks from— South Africa’s Fifth Definitive Series (Succulents), issued 1988-93; South Africa’s First Definitive Series (the ‘Pouring Gold’ 2c stamp), issued 1961-74; South Africa’s Seventh Definitive Series (Colorful South Africa), issued 2000-’07.Control blocks from— South Africa’s Sixth Definitive Series (Threatened Fauna), issued 1993-96; South Africa’s Seventh Definitive Series (Colorful South Africa), issued 2000-’07.Control blocks from— South Africa’s Second Definitive Series (Flowers, Birds & Fish), issued 1974-77; South Africa’s First Definitive Series (the ‘Groot Constantia Wine Estate’ 2½c stamp), issued 1961-74.Control blocks from— South Africa’s Eighth Definitive Series (South African Beadwork), issued 2010-18; South Africa’s Seventh Definitive Series (Colorful South Africa), issued 2000-’07; South Africa’s Sixth Definitive Series (Threatened Fauna), issued 1993-96.
Happy Friday.
These 1970s stamps arrived as part of a complimentary packet of world stamps from my supplier of stamp albums and pages.
I might still start a thematic collection and animals. It would have to be a specific animal— or kind of animal— to narrow it down to a few thousand stamps!
Mongolia – Small Fur Animals Issued Sept 5, 1973 Perf. 12×11¼ |Photogravure |No Wmk 802 20₮ Multi-colored | European badger (Meles meles) [Sources: Stampworld.com, Google Search Labs| AI Overview]Romania – Young Animals Issued Mar. 10, 1972 Perf. 13½ |Design: Design: Nicolae Săftoiu |Engraving: Fabrica de Timbre, Bucharest |No Wmk 2995 35b Multi-colored | Red fox cubs (Vulpes vulpes) The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus parts of North Africa. [Sources: Stampworld.com, Wikipedia]Rwanda – Apes and Monkeys Issued Mar. 20, 1978 Perf. 13½x13 |Design: Severin |No Wmk 921 20c Multi-colored | Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) The genus Pan consists of two extant species: the chimpanzee and the bonobo. Taxonomically, these two ape species are collectively termed panins. [Sources: Stampworld.com, Wikipedia]Madagascar – Lemurs Issued Oct. 9, 1973 Perf. 13 |Design: Jumelet |Engraved |No Wmk 747 5Fr Multi-colored | Greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major) The greater dwarf lemur, or the Geoffroy’s dwarf lemur, is a lemur that is widely distributed over the primary and secondary forests near the eastern coast of Madagascar. [Sources: Stampworld.com, Wikipedia]North Korea – Frogs Issued Jul. 10, 1974 Perf. 11 |No Wmk 1320 5ch Multi-colored | Oriental fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis) The Oriental fire-bellied toad is a small semiaquatic frog species found in northeastern Asia, where they primarily dwell in slow-moving bodies of water and temperate forests. [Sources: Stampworld.com, Wikipedia]Viet Nam – Wild Animals Issued Mar. 20, 1976 Perf. 12 |Photogravure |No Wmk 808-815 A278 12xu Multi-colored | Masked palm civet (Paguma larvata) The masked palm civet, also called the gem-faced civet or Himalayan palm civet, is a viverrid species native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. [Sources: Scott 2009 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Wikipedia]U.S.S.R. (now Russia and multiple independent states) – 50th Anniversary of Berezina River and Stolby Wildlife Reservations Issued Aug. 25, 1975 Perf. 12 x12 |Lithography |No Wmk 4363 A2068 6k Multi-colored | Siberian marten (Martes zibellina) The Siberian marten or sable (Martes zibellina) is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. [Sources: Scott 2009 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Wikipedia]Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic)- African Animals in Dvůr Králové Zoo (now Safari Park Dvůr Králové) Issued Nov 3, 1976 Perf. 11¾ x 11¼ |Design: J. Baláž |Engraved and Photogravure |No Wmk 2343 20h Multi-colored | African elephant (Loxodonta africana) [Sources: Stampworld.com, Google Search Labs| AI Overview]North Viet Nam (now Viet Nam)- Native Birds Issued Oct. 12, 1972 Perf. 12 |Photogravure |No Wmk 701 12xu Multi-colored | Red-wattled lapwing (Lobivanellus indicus) The red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. [Sources: Stampworld.com, Wikipedia]Chad – Insects and Spiders Issued May 6, 1972 Perf. 13 |Design: P. Lambert |Photogravure |No Wmk 526 4Fr Multi-colored | Spider: Argiope sector Argiope sector is a species of orb weaver spider that is found in North Africa, the Middle East, Senegal, and Cape Verde. [Sources: Stampworld.com, Google Search Labs| AI Overview]Hungary – Butterflies Issued Nov. 11, 1974 Perf. 12½ |Designer: Eva Zombory |Photogravure |No Wmk 3019 80f Multi-colored | Butterfly: Parnassius apollo [Sources: Stampworld.com, 2018 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Google Search Labs| AI Overview]
Here is a cartoon for Presidents’ Day*, from the Tuesday issue of South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”).
*Officially Washington’s Birthday at the federal governmental level, celebrated on the third Monday of February in the United States.
Peace negotiations are at an advanced stage .. and we are almost ready for Ukraine’s participation. Side comment from the hippo: ‘The situation is on a needlepoint!’.
It’s very hit-and-miss to find my favorite beer (Beck’s non-alcoholic) at the grocery store, and so I ran out to Total Wine off 15th Ave West to pick up some.
As usual, I snapped pictures of some of the intriguing labels on the other beverages that were for sale.
Check them out— the lineup of proteas that adorned the third definitive issue of postage stamps in the Republic of South Africa.
The 6-pocket blank pages from Leuchtturm stamp album series allow me to select, arrange and annotate the stamps in almost any way.
Some philatelists prefer to use completely blank pages, and create individual slide-in pockets (mounts) for the stamps on the page, but for now, I think that is too much work for me.
Cartoon from today’s edition of South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”).
Yes, there is such a thing as a ‘special government employee’ (18 U.S.C. § 202) ..
but is it OK to be a special government employee and CEO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla and CEO of X (formerly Twitter)*— all at the same time?
*Over the past 16 years, Elon Musk’s business deals with the government total nearly $20 billion, according to federal contracting data.
– Rachel Barber reporting for USA Today on Nov. 15, 2024
“Boys, I am trying to hijack a democracy. Any tips?” (On speakerphone: Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh “Tony” Gupta, brothers famous for their vast corruption of South Africa’s government and theft of billions of South African rand from the state coffers and state-owned companies. The portrait on the wall behind them is of disgraced South African president Jacob Zuma that was in office 2009-2018 and played a central role in enabling the crimes of the Guptas— now widely known as ‘state capture’.) Side comment from the angry hippopotamus: “Seems to me tariffs do not apply to state capture as export product”.
Happy Friday.
Welcome to today’s South African stamp project. 🤗
I culled the set of stamps on this page from a thousand or so that I had removed from envelope paper clippings.
(A lot of work, done earlier this week: dunk them in water, carefully separate the stamp from the paper, dry on paper towel, and press under a stack of books).
My Scott stamp catalogue confirmed that these stamps are all worth hardly-anything.
One exception: there is a Standardised Mail stamp (the first one on the page), with the fine black text double-printed, that is listed for US$136. (I found no such stamp in the ones I had).
Postmarks and shades of South Africa’s fifth definitive issue. These are all multicolored, and my catalog does not list any shaded varieties, even though it seems to me it could: say— 7c bright colors and 7c dull colors; 21c olive-green and 21c blue-green; 35c blue-gray and 35c gray; R1 brownish-green and R1 green.
1988-1993 Fifth Definitive Issue (Succulents), South Africa Issued Sept. 1, 1988 Perf. 14×14¼ |Design: Hein Botha |Phosphorized paper| Lithography |No Watermark 903 Standardised Mail (45c) (’93) Multicolored Stapelia grandiflora 782 1c Multicolored Huernia zebrina 783 2c Multicolored Euphorbia symmetrica 784 5c Multicolored Lithops dorotheae 785 7c Multicolored Gibbaeum nebrownii 786 10c Multicolored Didymaotus lapidiformis 787 16c Multicolored Vanheerdea divergens 809 18c (’89) Multicolored Faucaria tigrine 788 20c Multicolored Conophytum mundum 833 21c (’90) Multicolored Gasteria armstrongii 789 25c Multicolored Cheiridopsis peculiaris 790 30c Multicolored Tavaresia barklyi 791 35c Multicolored Dinteranthus wilmotianus 792 40c Multicolored Frithia pulchra 793 50c Multicolored Lapidaria margaretae 794 90c Multicolored Dioscorea elephantipes 795 R1 Multicolored Trichocaulon cactiforme 796 R2 Multicolored Crassula columnaris 832 R5 (’90) Multicolored Anacampseros albissima Note: this set includes a 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c coil stamp, which is not listed above. Interestingly, of all the hundreds of mail pieces I had, none had a coil stamp on. (Coil stamps are sold in a long strip that is rolled into a coil). [Source: Stampworld.com]
A perfin is a stamp that has a name or initials perforated into it.
The word “perfin” is short for “perforated initials” or “perforated insignia”.
Perfins are used to prevent theft and control how the stamp is used for mail.
How are perfins created?
Individuals, organizations, or government agencies add perfins to stamps after the production process.
The holes are punched into the stamp’s design to create a pattern.
Source: Google Search Labs/ AI Overview
These are the only perfins I have found so far (among the thousands of stamps I have amassed for my collection and for my philatelic ‘research’ 🤗 ). The U.S. stamp bottom left is also pre-cancelled. Pre-cancelled stamps were used for mass-mailings, making it unnecessary for the post office to cancel them, and expediting their processing.
1961 First Definitive Issue (New Design), South Africa Issued Jan. 20, 1969 Perf. 13½x14 |Phosphor frame |Wmk. RSA tête-bêche SACC282 |1c |Rose-red & sepia |Coral Tree Flowers (Erythina lysistemon) Perfin initials “D.C.”
1982 Fourth Definitive Issue (Architecture), South Africa Issued Jul. 15, 1982 Perf. 14 |Design: A.H. Barrett |Engraving: Arthur Howard Barrett |Litho. |Phosphorized paper |No Wmk SACC524 |10c |Carmine brown |Pietermaritzburg Town Hall Perfin insignia “C C C” (or possibly “V V V”)
1923 United States of America (U.S. Presidents and prominent Americans) Issued Jan. 15, 1923 Perf. 11×10½ |No Wmk Scott 562 A165|10c |Orange |James Monroe (5th U.S. President) Perfin insignia “WFH” Pre-cancelled “Chicago IL” [Sources: stampworld, South African Colour Catalogue 2023-25, Scott 2003 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol. 1]
There was mail today, with a new Year Of The Snake forever stamp on, issued by the US Postal Service.
2025 Lunar New Year—Year of the Snake Issued Jan. 14, 2025 Perf. 11 Serpentine Die-cut | Self-adhesive | Design: Camille Chew | Engraving: Banknote Corporation of America | Issued in sheets of 20 6376 FOREVER (73c) Multicolored | Lunar New Year – Year Of The Snake [Sources: stampworld.com, USPS]
Happy Lunar New Year— the Year of the Snake.
It sounds a little ominous, but I guess every year cannot be the Year of the Dragon.
The public art installation at the corner of Madison Street and 14th Avenue here on Capitol Hill is complete. (The installation is not specifically related to the Lunar New Year. The artist is Seattle resident Ben Zamora.)
I sifted through a shoebox of envelope clippings to put together this set of postmarks from South West Africa*.
Windhoek is the capital, and the postmarks also show Keetmanshoop, Outjo, Koes, Maltahöhe, Okahandja, Oranjemund, Walvis Bay, Okaukuejo, Tsumeb, Kalkrand, Mariental, Swakopmund, Grootfontein, Karibib, Leonardville, Lüderitz, Omaruru, Otjiwarongo, Usakos, Aus and Stampriet.
*South West Africa became Namibia after its independence from South Africa in March 1990.
Is a stamp collection— any collection— ever complete?
One can always add objects that are ever-so-slightly different than the ones already in there.
Check out these additions to my South African stamp album, which is already a complete collection of all the issues by the South African post office*.
*The years 1910 to 2020, when the last postage stamps were issued.
Iceland stopped producing postage stamps in 2020 as well, and Finland has indicated it may soon follow suit.
I don’t carry whole stamp booklets in my stamp album, but these cute “razor blade” booklets with the art deco-ish fonts on their covers fit into the narrow plastic pockets that normally carry stamps, and voila! they are now part of my collection. “Post your letters during the lunch hour” instructs the booklet on the back. Cute— but in 2025 we don’t really have lunch hours and definitely no letters to put in the mail anymore; a time now long gone😔I modeled this page on a preprinted page I found online, of German stamp album producer Leuchtturm (hence the German descriptions for the colors, which I kept as-is, just for fun).For an unknown reason, this is the only stamp in the series with a “hatched up” version of the text on the stamp (the “RSA 4c”, made up of stripes that go up from left to right), as well as a “hatched down” version. Are they really different stamps? Of course they are.One more example of a slight variation in one of the issues. The 30c stamp in this series was printed on phosphorescent as well as non-phosphorescent paper, and therefore the two versions are also different stamps! (I only had a pair of these stamps— no singles— and I don’t break up pairs, so the pair goes into the album as-is). All other stamps in the series were printed on phosphorescent paper only. One needs a UV-light to see the difference.
It was my last day in Munich, and I ran out to Marienplatz one more time with the streetcar.
It was just about noon, and the glockenspiel* on the townhall’s clock tower played to a smattering of on-lookers that risked getting frostbite on their fingertips as they held up their phones to record a video of it. (I was one of them).
From Marienplatz I went to a few beautiful U-bahn stations on the U1 line to take pictures.
*The Rathaus-Glockenspiel is a large mechanical clock located in Marienplatz square, in old town Munich. Famous for its life-size characters, the clock twice daily re-enacts scenes from Munich’s history.
Here is a jousting scene depicted by the glockenspiel. One of the knights was mortally injured, and falls backward on the horse.These enormous and dramatic lamp scones are at Westfriedhof on the U1 line.Here’s a red one.And I made this yellow one appear to sit on top of the SOS pillar.On the far end of the U1 line is the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum station. There are huge metal studs that line the wall, creating a spaceship-futuristic look.Nearby, and also on the U1 line, is Oberwiesenfeld station with a black and white tile pattern on the one side .... and burnt orange on the other.Candidplatz on the south end of the U1 line is painted in the colors of the rainbow.
It started snowing at around 8 am this morning here in Munich, but it could not have been more than an inch an or so, from what I could tell.
I used the Line 19 streetcar again to get Hauptbahnhof (the main train station), and from there, ran out to Odeonsplatz and a comic book store on Fraunhoferstrasse.
The view from my hotel room (using my phone’s 5x zoom to zoom in on the Deutsche Bahn train maintenance station) at 8 this morning.Here comes the Line 18 streetcar, at Am Lok-schuppen station.At Sendlinger Tor station, I stepped off the streetcar and went underground to the U-bahn. (The sidewalk surfaces were treacherous with the snow and ice, and there were no pedestrian crossings to speak of. Then I realized that is the other use of any U-bahn station: it’s an under passage for pedestrians to get from one side of an intersection to the other).Here is Odeonsplatz, named for the former concert hall, the Odeon, on its northwestern side. The church is the Theatine Church of St. Cajetan and Adelaide (German: Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan und Adelheid)— a Roman Catholic church. It was consecrated 11 July, 1675.Taking a closer look at the heraldic elements in the center (the lions and the white-and-blue checkered pattern is taken from the coat of arms of Bavaria).Here is the nearby Hofgarten (Eng. ‘Courtyard garden’), established in 1613.Back inside the Sendlinger Tor U-bahn station. I love the giant white saucer-shaped light fixtures.This is a comic book store called Comic Company near Fraunhoferstrasse station. I bought used three comic books for all of Є8.40. More books to weigh down my luggage but hey, I was still 10+ pounds under the weight limit with both my suitcases when I checked them in at Cape Town.By the time I hopped off the Line 18 streetcar close to my hotel, the snow had started to melt.
There was no palm tree at this beach house that belonged to my family thirty years ago. My dad sold it in 1996 and some time after that it was turned into a self-catering guest house.The 6-story atrium inside the Beacon Isle hotel.This is a western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis).A decorative mask from Ghana, for sale in the Global Village art store here in Plettenberg Bay for US $184.
Knysna is a town on the Garden Route and 33 km (20 miles) west of Plettenberg Bay on the N2 national route.
The pirate ship on the Knysna waterfront offers a bar and snacks, and trips around the Knysna estuary up to The Heads and then back again for sunset.There are many other kinds of watercraft in the marina, of course.This is a view from a restaurant called Drydock Co towards the Knysna Heads: the headlands of two peninsulas that enclose and form the Knysna River Estuary.This public art installation of bronze with a chromed finish is called “Zephyr”, and the artist is Stephan Raubenheimer.
I am buying stamps from South Africa and southern Africa now that I am here, and saving a little money in the process. (Stamps from this part of the world are sent to the USA by express airmail or by international courier— which can be $40 or more for one shipment. Surface mail takes several months).
I love this 1951 definitive issue from Mozambique, part of a set of 24 stamps.
At the time, Mozambique was still a Portuguese colony, and the currency was the escudo.
The fishies are going to swim in freshwater when I get them home, so that I can separate them from the paper that they are pasted on.
It’s 2025!
Happy New Year!
The cartoon is from the South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”) and by cartoonist Dr Jack.
“Good news, swarrie*! Even though your barbecuing leaves a lot to be desired, we have decided to stay until after New Years” “You may have to run out to the store today, since the brannas** is AGAIN running a little low. “ #$!&🤬 Side Comment by the little hippopotamus: “House guests are like fish— after three days they start to stink”
