Union of South Africa - Bud's Big Blue

1910-1926 South Africa in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The former British southern African colonies of Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony became provinces within the new Union of South Africa on May 31, 1910. This was enabled by the 1909 South Africa Act by the British Parliament. Of interest, Rhodesia was also offered a future admission ticket, but this was rejected by the Southern Rhodesia colonists in a referendum in 1922.

The capital was and is Pretoria (in Transvaal), although the parliament was and is in Cape Town (in Cape Province).

The Union was a self governing dominion of the British Empire, and lasted until 1961, when a republic was created with a new constitution. (After 1931 the autonomy increased, as, the United Kingdom could no longer legislate on behalf of the Union of South Africa.)

The Union of South Africa government was historically elected, formed, and "run" mostly by the white minority.

On November 4, 1910, the first stamp of the Union of South Africa was issued with a vignette of King George V, surrounded in each corner by the coat of arms of the four founding provinces.

Between 1926-1951, most stamps were issued in pairs: One with a SOUTH AFRICA script label, the other with a SUIDAFRIKA or SUID-AFRIKA script label.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Union of South Africa 1910-1952, 237 major descriptions.  And, of major importance, 147 of these descriptions are for pairs- which break down to an English single (a subtype) and an Afrikaans single (b subtype). In other words, 90 descriptions are for the (usual) one stamp, while 147 descriptions are actually a-b pairs  - or 294 stamps approximately (Some are actually collected in strips of three). Therefore, there are ~ 384 different stamps to collect, even if there are only 237 major descriptions. This is of major significance to WW collectors, as collecting separated pair singles is much less CV expensive than collecting intact pairs.

So, with the above in mind, of the total ~ 384 different stamps available, 266 are CV <$1-$1+, or 69%. This high affordability % would be much lower if the stamps are collected in intact pairs.

Big Blue '69, on four pages, has 84 spaces. Many of the spaces (54) are actually for a-b pairs, so major descriptive numbers in BB is (30 +27) 57. Coverage, then, for major descriptive numbers (pairs are one descriptive number) is 34%. (The 70 descriptive catalogue numbers after 1940 in the Scott Classic catalogue were removed for this calculation.)

For spaces, the coverage is 31%. (The 116 stamps in the Scott Classic issued after 1940 were removed for this calculation.)

Big Blue has no "Official Stamps" category coverage of the 30 descriptive numbers (60 a-b stamps) issued between 1926-1940.

If, as a collector, one is put off by the complexities of the 1926-1954 (Scott 23-67) Se-Tenant issues, I have good news: Big Blue ignores the differences entirely and presents one (double) space for each pair.

For the blog post links below, I go into detail regarding the English-Afrikaans Se-Tenant pair issues of 1926-1954 (Scott 23-67). The presentation is based on the Scott catalogue- therefore a bit simplified- but I provide some additional reference to the Stanley Gibbons.

I cover the 1/2p, 1p, and 6p denominations for this Part I post. They were initially issued in 1926 as typographed; later issues were photogravure (rotogravure).

The remaining Se-Tenant 1927-1954 issues, either engraved or using photogravure, are covered in the Part II post.

Union of South Africa Blog Post Part I & BB Checklist

Union of South Africa Part II

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Somaliland Protectorate - Bud's Big Blue

1902-1921 Somaliland Protectorate in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The Somaliland Protectorate (British Somaliland) bordered on the Gulf of Aden in eastern Africa, and for much of its existence, was surrounded by Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland, and Ethiopia.

The British established a protectorate in the region after signing treaties with the local Somali Sultans, including the powerful Warsangali Sultanate, in 1884. The protectorate was administered from British India until 1898, and then the British Foreign office until 1905, when the administration was assumed by the Colonial Office.

Stamps of British India, overprinted "British Somaliland" were introduced in 1903.

Somaliland Protectorate stamps proper were issued in 1904.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Somaliland Protectorate 1903-1951, 142 major number descriptions. Of those, 35 are CV <$1-$1+, or 25%. If one looks at just the issues to 1938, 18 are CV <$1-$1+ out of 111, or 16%. Raising the CV bar to $4+ for issues up to 1938, yields 56 stamps total, or 50%. The WW collector might find it necessary to spend a bit more for a representative selection.

Big Blue '69, on one page, has 30 spaces for the stamps of Somaliland Protectorate. The coverage is located between Shanghai and Siam (Thailand). 

Total album coverage for the issues up to 1938 is 27%.

The coverage is the same for the 1940s BB editions, except the page is located between Siam and Sierra Leone.

There are only two spaces that require a stamp with CV $10+.

For the 1912-21 "George V' issue spaces, as usual, BB offers only one space for the wmk 3 and wmk 4 stamps.

For more on the stamps, click on the link below.

Somaliland Protectorate & BB Checklist

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Somali Coast (French Somaliland) - Bud's Big Blue

1894 Somali Coast in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Somali Coast ("Djibouti", "French Somaliland") was a French protectorate and colony in the Horn of Africa on the Gulf of Tadjourna between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

The land is basically a volcanic desert, and is hot (32 degrees C (90 degrees F) annual temperature) and dry (125 mm (5 in) annual rainfall).

It has been traditionally been occupied by two nomadic groups: the Afars of the north, and the Somali-speaking Issas of the south. Both are Muslim, but have often fought against each other.

The first French settlement was Obock on the north end of the Gulf of Tadjourna, through a treaty with the local Afar Sultans in 1862, but not actually occupied until 1884. These agreements were strengthened between 1883 and 1887.

Obock issued their own stamps between 1892-1894.

So how was "French Somaliland" then formed?

The port of Djibouti on the south side of the Gulf of Tadjourna was established in 1888, and provided a safer haven. The French protectorate- "Cote francaise des Somalis" (French Somaliland) was established in Djibouti in 1894 by Leonce Legarde, and the administrative capital was moved from Obock. The port of Obock was included in the new French Somaliland, and began to use the stamps of the "Somali Coast" in 1902.

The Capital was Djibouti, and the population was 44,000 in 1936.

Stamps were released in 1894 on overprinted/surcharged stamps of Obock. 

Initially the stamps were labeled "Djibouti", but the name was changed to French Somali Coast in 1902 ("Cote Francaise Des Somalis"), or "French Somaliland". 

With the advent of the (Franco-) Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway (1902 to Dire Dawa, 1906 to Adis Ababa, completed in 1917), the port of Djibouti grew to 15,000 and was the conduit for coffee exports out of southern Ethiopia.

The Colony was invaded by the Italians in 1940, and was occupied by the British in 1942.

The status was changed to a French overseas territory in 1946.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Somali Coast (Djibouti) 1894-1940, 210 major number descriptions. Of those, 88 are CV <$1-$1+, or 42%. Most of the inexpensive stamps were issued after 1915, but there are 24 additional stamps with CV $2-$10 from 1894-1909.

As with any country with expensive overprinted/surcharged stamps, one needs to be aware that counterfeits can exist. I obtained most of my (Jim's) stamps from a specialized Somali Coast collection, but that does not guarantee authenticity.

Big Blue '69, on five pages, has 130 spaces for the stamps of Somali Coast. Coverage is 62%.

The 1940s editions have the same coverage, except the 1938-40 issue coverage is arranged differently, and does not include an extra blank space (In the '69, I put Scott 177 there).

BB's coverage is quite good for the inexpensive stamps: I found only four stamps with CV <$1-$1+ that were not included.

And there is only one CV $10+ stamp required for the pages.

For more on the stamps, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Somali Coast (French Somaliland) Blog Post & BB Checklist

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