Bakker Express

#1 · August 6, 2020, 3:45 pm

Hello,

It's my firstopic in this forum.

I'm president from a philatelic club in France and webmaster.

I show a topic in our forum from the Bakker Express stamps. Have you more details? Thank you in advance,

Harald

http://philatelietruchtersheim.free.fr/thread.php?lng=fr&pg=1865&cat=61#z2

Uploaded files:

#2 · August 6, 2020, 3:50 pm

Welcome! Not my subject but someone is bound to be able to help. You said it was your first I hope not your last!

Thanks again for submitting!

#3 · August 6, 2020, 3:57 pm

I try do do my best Jamie, but my english is not perfect. I better talk and write french and german.

#4 · August 7, 2020, 10:53 am

The Bakker Express was started in Nylstroom by F H Bakker, a mail cart contractor and carrier. It is uncertain when he started the business. Mathews' 'Transvaal Philately', (should correctly be called 'ZAR Philately' after Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek, as on the Bakker Express stamps), states he "issued his own local stamps plus a postage due" in October 1886. However, the illustrated display sheet shown in the same publication states he "started a local express post in 1887". (See attached.) These Bakker Express stamps were used to prepay his carriage of mails south from Nylstroom to Pretoria and north from Nylstroom to Marabastad. The destinations are shown on the stamps. If this mail was then handed in at the PO (PK) in Pretoria, it needed additional ZAR stamps to be applied for onward transmission. These stamps are much sought after on cover or on piece, particularly with a good dispatch cancellation.

Forgeries exist. As the paper colour of the stamp was linked to the destination printed on it, this might provide some help in detecting forgeries. Many forgers never bothered to correctly match paper colours. Here is a list of colours for the four Bakker Express stamps.

1/2 penny on blue (Nylstroom)
1 penny on green (Marabstad)
1 penny on rose / purple (Pretoria)
1/2 penny white (Te Betalen)

If anyone can show precise colour examples, it will be greatly appreciated.

Uploaded files:

#5 · August 12, 2020, 7:28 pm

Join our ZAR / Transvaal Philately Facebook Group;

http://www.facebook.com/groups/696437054509338?should_open_composer=false

Have a look on the right hand side for the Bakker Express Popular Topics tag - will tell the whole story and provide many illustrations, including on cover

Johan64 has reacted to this post.

#6 · September 28, 2026, 7:48 am

Quote from Steve on September 28, 2026, 7:48 am
Harald Zierock passed away on 1st January 2023, at the age of 64.

He was a prominent philatelist based in Lupstein, Alsace, France, where he served as the Webmaster and President of the Philatelic and Cartophile Club of Truchtersheim (aka Club Philatélique et Cartophile de Truchtersheim).

The area in which he lived, Alsace, is a historical border region in eastern France that has shifted between French and German control over the centuries, blending both cultural identities. It is currently French. As an Alsatian, Harald was a 'true' continental European, fluent in French and German but less confident in English. Nevertheless, he always made himself understood.

Harald was an enthusiastic philatelist, the President of the Philatelic and Cartophile Club of Truchtersheim, a Franco-German online philatelic community. He was active in the global philatelic community, contributing research and expertise in several distinct areas. He asked questions online of the Stamp Community Forum and the South Afriucan Philately Club. In our case he usually wanted to know about the postmarks of the ZAR (aka 'Transvaal). It was a privilege to answer him and further his (and our) knowledge. It is a great pity that we have lost him as an enthusiastic and enquiring member. We need more of the same!

Harald specialised in Postal History and Censorship Studies focusing on French postal history. Notable digital works of his include in-depth research on French censorship in regions such as Rennes, Alsace-Moselle, and Corsica during WW2 (1939–1945). He also interacted with the Korea Stamp Society, contributing knowledge on specific postmarks, overprints, and rare varieties spanning French, Greek, and early Korean philately. Beyond postal history, his research occasionally intersected with historical archive documentation, cross-referencing stamps with projects like the Meiji-Portraits database

RIP Harald. Thank you for bringing your interests to the SAPC. We are the wiser for the questions you asked.

Harald Zierock passed away on 1st January 2023, at the age of 64.

He was a prominent philatelist based in Lupstein, Alsace, France, where he served as the Webmaster and President of the Philatelic and Cartophile Club of Truchtersheim (aka Club Philatélique et Cartophile de Truchtersheim).

The area in which he lived, Alsace, is a historical border region in eastern France that has shifted between French and German control over the centuries, blending both cultural identities. It is currently French. As an Alsatian, Harald was a 'true' continental European, fluent in French and German but less confident in English. Nevertheless, he always made himself understood.

Harald was an enthusiastic philatelist, the President of the Philatelic and Cartophile Club of Truchtersheim, a Franco-German online philatelic community. He was active in the global philatelic community, contributing research and expertise in several distinct areas. He asked questions online of the Stamp Community Forum and the South Afriucan Philately Club. In our case he usually wanted to know about the postmarks of the ZAR (aka 'Transvaal). It was a privilege to answer him and further his (and our) knowledge. It is a great pity that we have lost him as an enthusiastic and enquiring member. We need more of the same!

Harald specialised in Postal History and Censorship Studies focusing on French postal history. Notable digital works of his include in-depth research on French censorship in regions such as Rennes, Alsace-Moselle, and Corsica during WW2 (1939–1945). He also interacted with the Korea Stamp Society, contributing knowledge on specific postmarks, overprints, and rare varieties spanning French, Greek, and early Korean philately. Beyond postal history, his research occasionally intersected with historical archive documentation, cross-referencing stamps with projects like the Meiji-Portraits database

RIP Harald. Thank you for bringing your interests to the SAPC. We are the wiser for the questions you asked.