1931 to 1951
Updated - July, 2017
Identifying the South West Africa Official issues of 1931 to 1951 is primarily a matter of determining the overprint that was applied to the stamps. During the course of this set, four different overprints were applied to the lower values of the South West Africa stamps that were originally issued in 1931.
A lot of buyers and sellers seem to be confused about these overprints, maybe because of the lack of good examples in the catalogues. In order to assist in solving this problem, an example of each overprint was cut from the various stamps and is enlarged below. Note the size and the font used for each of them.
Note the smaller size
and the font used.
Only used on the 1-1/2d Issues
Note the oval shape of the O
and the font used.
Note the round shape of the O
and the font used.
The catalog numbers are from the 2008 Commonwealth King George VI Postage Stamp Catalogue (CW) published by Murray Payne, 2013 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue (SG) and the 2011 Scott catalog (ST). The description is from the Commonwealth Catalogue. Please contact the publishers to obtain a copy of their publication.
The images were saved in a larger size and at a higher resolution so you can more easily see the details used in sorting them. Please be patient if it takes a few minutes for this page to load.
1/2d Black & Emerald
1d Dark Blue & Scarlet
2d Blue-Black & Sepia-Brown
6d Blue & Olive-Brown
1-1/2d Purple-Brown
1/2d Black & Emerald
Red Overprint
1/2d Black & Emerald
Dark Red Overprint
1d Dark Blue & Scarlet
1-1/2d Purple-Brown
Red Overprint
1-1/2d Purple-Brown
Dark Red Overprint
2d Blue-Black & Sepia-Brown
6d Blue & Olive-Brown
Red Overprint
6d Blue & Olive-Brown
Dark Red Overprint
Transposed overprints are in English on an Afrikaans stamp, and in Afrikaans on an English stamp.
No Image available
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1/2d Black & Emerald
Normal Overprint
1/2d Black & Emerald
Transposed Overprint - Only known used
1d Dark Blue & Scarlet
Overprint Normal
1d Dark Blue & Scarlet
Overprint Transposed
1-1/2d Purple-Brown
Overprint Normal
1-1/2d Purple-Brown
Overprint Transposed
2d Blue-Black & Sepia-Brown
Overprint Normal
2d Blue-Black & Sepia-Brown
Overprint Transposed
6d Blue & Olive-Brown
Overprint Normal
6d Blue & Olive-Brown
Overprint Transposed
This article was written to help you identify your stamps.
Please feel free to ask a question, or include a correction.