PORT ELIZABETH PAID - COGH POSTAL HISTORY - A query
PORT ELIZABETH "PAID" DATED CANCELLER 1852 (Goldblatt PE 1)
The attached cover/correspondence is the last of three covers from early 1851 to 13 Dec 1852, between two private gentlemen.
The scan has been opened to show face and reverse. On arrival in London it was forwarded at least three times, hence the numerous markings. They do however prove that the letter was sent from Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) on Dec 12th 1852 on the letter heading, "PAID PE"cancel 13 Dec 13 1852, and arrival in London late Jan 1853.
The question is to find out the earliest known PE1 cancellation date, as this one of 13th Dec 52 is very early, despite the already damaged appearance ( heavy handed canceller? )
Goldblatt states first issued "late in December 1852"; Putzel just 1853.
Any comments and evidence of earlier dates would be very much appreciated.
Kloof
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What a busy beauty! A very nice example of Cape to GB postal history despite the heavy postmark..
"PORT ELIZABTH PAID" postmarks are really very scarce, verging on rare. A good strike is difficult to come by.
In the last few years several have been sold at auction. I recall one offered at about £600 reserve and another for several thousand. I think the cheaper one had the better strike. As a COGH collector, this item is still missing from my display. I know of other COGH collectors who are finding it difficult to acquire such a specimen. You are a fortunate man to have such a postmark on cover!
I suspect that your cover probably has the earliest recorded date. Most of the reference books are vague on the subject. As you say, Goldblatt states "late in December". Yours of the 13th is on the "mid" side of December. I attach a cover that was offered to me a few years ago. It has a date of 'JANY 21 1853'. I did not buy it because at the time I thought that if I waited I would find an example with a stronger postmark. I am older and wiser now. Since turning it down, I have seen only two and both were out of my price range.
A Word of Warning. Goldblatt states that known forgeries exist with the dates of "August 24" and "May 27.
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I spotted another 'PE PAID' cover on Delcampe today. I had difficulty copying the image across. So no show. It is being sold by Filat (Richard Johnson) in Switzerland. Filat have listed it at CHF 1200.00 (Swiss Francs), about +- GBP £950. It is clean and sharp. The eye fall easiliy on the postmark which sadly has some issues with the town name and the date which are incomplete. Nevertheless it is a lovely item, one that would complement many a GOGH collection. Still, I think you have done wonderfully well with your cover which is more 'historically busy' but which has the better earlier date. I know which one I'd like given the price you paid! Even if you sold it for 4X that, your asking price will be reasonable and well-under the price that you would have to pay to obtain the Filat example.
Johnny Barth, a well-known collector of Cape material, has emailed me saying:
"Hallo
It is a long time since I looked at the South African Philately Club’s home page, but this morning I saw that somebody seems to be interested in the Port Elizabeth dated postmarks.
I found my exhibit, and have made copies of the pages, which I hereby mail to you. I am not very good of all the IT stuff, but you are very welcome to add my pages to the home page.
If you want to see my whole collection go to
- Dansk Posthistorisk Selskab
- Samlinger og breve
- Samlinger på nettet
- Cape of Good Hope-The Prephilatelic Period can then be found almost at the bottom.
Hope you like it".
WELL, WHY WOULDN'T WE. THIS MATERIAL IS AWESOME.... AND UNBELIVABLE! FANTASTIC. Thank you!
AND THERE ARE ANOTHER TWO DISPLAY PAGES AFTER THIS! (See next!)
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And here are two more display pages from Johnny Barth. His material with Port Elizabeth 'PAID' and 'TO PAY' datestamps is best described as INCREDIBLE, almost certainly the single best display of this material in the world. If you have or know of a finer display than this, please advise the South African Philately Club so we can bow down and pay due homage to whoever can better this!
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I am advised that the distinguished SA postal historian Franco Frescura RDPSA did not include the single oval Port Elizabeth PAID and TO PAY postmarks in his reference book as he had only ever seen drawings of them. Apparently, he has never seen one on cover. The preceding then is something of a scoop for us. Thank you Kloof and Johnny Barth! This thread has aroused the interest of Alex Visser.
In Franco's defence, he and others like Alex Visser RDPSA are justifiably concerned about listing the fake postmarks produced by A. A. Jurgens RDPSA FRPSL (or anyone else). Jurgens provided two hand-drawn examples of oval the PE PAID and TO PAY in his book on 'The Handstruck Letter Stamps of the CoGH'. Since that questionable reference work, (I question his bold statement about what the Hooded Circular Datestamp looked like on the day of issue in our current article on the subject), Jurgens has over time become what we believe is the most notorious South African faker of postmarks.This, of course, is hard to prove conclusively.
Frescura has been at the forfront on recent criticisms of Jurgens. As he had a good reason to doubt Jurgens' integrity, Frescura did not include the PE PAID and TO PAY drawings in his Cape postmark listings. However, as you can see from the examples on cover in the preceding posts they definitely exist and some are indeed genuine. Frankly, I am surprised that Franco as a senior postal historian did not encounter one in his long and valued commitment to documenting Cape postmarks. Such an omission highlights the random nature of postmark hunting. Some see many, others see none. Hopefully, a good place to start such a search in future will be a the SAPC.
The Good News is that this subject has attracted the interest of Alex Visser who will be writing about PE pre-adhesive datestamps in a future issue of the SA Philatelist. When that comes out I will post his conclusions here. Hopefully, Alex will get to the heart of the matter.
Alex's 'Phun with Postmarks' article has now come out in the South African Philatelist (December 2023, page 178 - 179). I attach part of the article here as it uses the material we have shown and draws a conclusion about it, specifically describing two covers as forgeries.
I include a link to the on-line South African Philatelist below.
To view the full article in the on-line South African Philatelist, click on this link.
My earliest copy. Dec 17 1852.
I have a few of these, for other dates. I will scan and post, after Christmas. My copy I bought at the Goldblatt sale (from memory) many years ago. I don't have any TO PAY. Came with a certificate, so some of the others.
It is hard to assess the earliest date shown in the journal, as it is a poor scan. To assess if it is genuine or not better scans are necessary. Also if one has access to newspapers of the time to check the dates. The addressee on the letter, especially if it was to an overseas destination is also important to see if is from a well known correspondence.
Anyway it is an excellent find, forged or not.
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Thanks for your advice on image quality and the recording correspondents, something of a new data field for most of us, I suspect!
Mike Berry initiated this post with a query about his ER. For the record, I feel very strongly that the PE PAID and TO PAY datestamps were genuinely used in PE. However, my guess is that someone, probably Jurgens, was behind the forging of some examples of these datestamps. The fact that forgeries exist is unfortunate. It clouds the issue and brings genuine examples into unnecessary disrepute.
Jurgens shows drawings of the PE PAID and TO PAY datestamps in his book, as does Goldblatt who includes an image on a cover. The drawn examples vary ie. they are not similar one to the other. Frescura, who thought Jurgens a charlatan or worse, and Goldblatt over-reliant on Jurgens' work, had his suspicions about the PE PAID and TO PAY datestamps bona fides. Because we are told that Frescura had never seen one, (its hard to believe), he chose not to include them in his otherwise authoritive book. This omission has had damning repercussions.
It is time to set the record straight and correct the impression that the PE PAID and TO PAY datestamps are not genuine.
Regarding the above, ONLY datestamps on cover or piece can be accepted for our purposes of recording ER / LRs. What Goldblatt and Jurgens show as illustrations cannot be accepted without reservation. Further to Alex's comment about Jurgens examples - "The fact that Jurgens shows the latest date for both datestamps is intriguing" - note that both are hand drawn, probably by himself.
* Goldblatt notes that "Forgeries of these handstamps are known and strikes showing the dates "August 24" and "May 27" should be viewed with circumspection.
** Visser has identified these as forgeries and asks "Does that mean that the earlier Jurgens item was forged?" Probably. It will be useful to know the criterion by which Alex rated them as 'forgeries'.
In the past, it was believed that these datestamps were as rare as hen's teeth. Today we know that is not the case. They are very scarce but not rare. It appears that these datestamps were used for some nine months in PE, a town that had "some 200 dwellings" in 1852/53, according to Mike Berry who has researched this subject further to his wonderfully re-routed and over-written cover. As a result, there are a small number of these covers known, many in the hands of Johnny Barth. Undoubtedly more will surface. Below is another one.
Stephen Gardiner tried to sell me this one several years ago. I declined largely because the strike was partial. (See below.) In actual fact it is not a bad example at all, which is what he told me at the time. Sorry, Stephen. RIP.
We should employ Goldblatt's "circumspection" and learn more about these PE pre-adhesive datestamps. Once we know what makes a 'fake', we will overcome the likelihood of buying the imposters. It is great to know that Yannis in faraway Cyprus also "has a few of these" which we have not seen. This is wonderful news. I look forward to seeing them and this discussion proceeding apace.
Merry Christmas.