This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Transvaal, formerly known as the South African Republic (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, ZAR).
1869–1877 The first stamps of the South African Republic were issued on 1 May 1870, showing the coat of arms of the republic.Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Southern Africa. 2nd edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2007, p. 62.
1877–1880
The South African Republic was annexed by Britain in 1877. A set of definitives depicting Queen Victoria was issued in 1878.
1882–1897 The first Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1880.Rayne Kruger, Goodbye Dolly Gray: The story of the Boer War, London: Pimlico 1996, p.7 The conflict ended with a decisive Boer victory at the Battle of Majuba Hill and the republic regained its independence.
The republic again issued stamps with the coat of arms in the designs.
1900–1909
The Second Boer War erupted in 1899, the war ended the existence of the South African Republic.
Stamps of the South African Republic were overprinted "V.R.I." (Victoria Regina Imperatrix, Latin for Victoria, Queen and Empress) or "E.R.I." (Edward Rex Imperator, for Edward VII) between 1900 and 1902. In 1902 stamps for the Transvaal Colony were issued.
Transvaal was incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910.
See also Adolph Otto Emil Tamsen Revenue stamps of Transvaal Postage stamps and postal history of South Africa
References
Further reading (periodical) The Transvaal Philatelist (January, 1966 to present) J. H. Curle & A. E. Basden, Transvaal Postage Stamps. London: Royal Philatelic Society, 1940. Léon de Raay, Les falsifications du Transvaal (N. Yaar, 1908) Alan R. Drysdall, Transvaal: The Provisional Issues of the First British Occupation (James Bendon, 1994) Alan R. Drysdall, Transvaal Revenue and Telegraph Stamps, Including Customs and Pass Stamps and Telegraph Stationery (1995) Alan R. Drysdall and Harold Criddle, The tête-bêche varieties of Transvaal (1993) Lars Jørgensen, The Transvaal ‘Spread Wings’ 6d stamps 1870-1878 (The Transvaal Study Circle, 2017) Lars Jørgensen, The Transvaal One Penny Stamps 1870-1885 (The Transvaal Study Circle, 2022) Robson Lowe, Transvaal 1878-1880 (London, 1973) J. N. Luff, Otto's Printings of the Transvaal Stamps (London: The Philatelic Record, 1913) (editor) Edward J. Nankivell, Transvaal Collectors' Quarterly (1899) Charles Nissen, The Postage Stamps of the Transvaal from Their Original Issue in 1870 to the Present Time (London, 1900) J.H. Harvey Pirie and W. Redford, The 'Curle' Collection of Transvaal Postage Stamps in the Africana Museum, Johannesburg (1951)
External links
Transvaal Study Circle Forged Stamps of Transvaal with literature