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Comment on the BONC e-book by Mordant 3rd Edition

We are grateful for the e-book provided by David Mordant on the BONCs used in the Cape Colony.

Just a small contribution for the next version. BONC-330 was also used at Riebeeck Road. The 1879 cover, shown below was from Riebeeck Road to Burgersdorp bearing a 4d blue Seated Hope and cancelled BONC 330. Adjacent proving cds "RIEBECK ROAD" dated "SP 13 1879". Cover bears at top left-hand corner name of forwarding agents "HUTCHINSON & Co. Forwarding and General Agents. NE Railway.

Uploaded files:
  • bonc-330-cover.jpg

Lovely cover Yannis! Thanks for adding to our knowledge of BONCs.

It is much easier to find proving covers than prove the use of an unrecorded BONC. A new discovery like this really is a treasured find. That said, I bought the following at auction recently. I bought it for my Simonstown collection because it shows the very scarce WW1 use of the rectangular omnibus Paquebot mark. I thought the auction reference to BONC 17 was a typo. After all, we all (that's me as a Simonstown collector and everyone who has Goldblatt's or Frescura's books or David's monograph)  know that Simonstown used BONC 27 exclusively. Well, not any more!

Imagine my surprise to find that this new cover, one which I call "the Hyacinth cover" because that is the name of the light cruiser it came from in 1915 while blockading German East Africa out of Zanzibar, shows a BONC that is definitely NOT 27. Very sadly, the BONC is incomplete and largely indistinct. Nevertheless, this is a new Simonstown BONC, the first and only example I know of that is not BONC  27. If anyone has another Simonstown example that is not BONC 27 I would desperately love to see it... please!

I have sent a scan of this cover to David Mordant and he is of the opinion that it is BONC 1147. I am not so sure. I think it is BONC 1047. I have written a long-ish article around this piece in an attempt to understand the cover fully. I will share this with you shortly. In the meantine, see the exceptional Hyacinth cover of 1915 below (top), a typical BONC 27 from  Simonstown in 1883, a 1947 BONC 1047 cover courtesy of Bob Hill, a hi-res 600 dpi image of the Hyacinth cover BONC in question and some late use BONC 1047s from 1947, also from Bob Hill.

BONC 1047 had a long and interesting life. Bob Hill's cover is from 1947, during or at the time of the Royal visit, when BONC 1047 was used in Cape Town to obliterate stamps that had travelled through the post without being cancelled. Late use BONC 1047s are not uncommon. Many exist on piece as can be seen in the last image. I believe Bob has 19 on piece. Only some are shown here.

Uploaded files:
  • BONC-1147-Proving-Piece.jpg
  • BONC-27-Burmeister-CT-Simonstown-1883.jpg
  • BONC-1047-on-Cover.jpg
  • BONC-1147-600.jpg
  • Late-Use-BONC-1047.jpg

An excellent find, Steve and fits in nicely with your collecting area. Just guessing, the BONC must have perhaps been assigned to a military post. As to the number it is difficult to say. I have only a stamp with a BONC 1047, so nothing can be concluded from this. It is items like your cover that makes our collecting interesting and rewarding. 

I am looking forward to your article on your find.

Also really amazing to see some of the items from Bob Hill's magic hat. I really enjoy seeing them. I don't systematically collect South African period material, but do appreciate the effort required to research its postal history.