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