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Swaziland

(eSwatini)

Friday, October 18, 1889

British colony 45

Swaz1
  Swaziland #1 xxx

Perforated 12½ and 12½ x 12, no watermark, engraved.

Stamps of Transvaal 1885 - 93 overprinted in black.
Description Perforation   Scott SG Mi Y&T
October 18, 1889
½ penny gray
12½
   1 4    
1 penny rose
12½ x 12
   2 1    
2 pence olive bister
12½
   3 2    
12½ x 12
   3c 5    
6 pence gray blue
12½
   4 6    
1 shilling green
12½ x 12
   5 3    
October 20, 1890
2 shilling 6 pence yellow
12½
   6 7    
5 shilling slate
12½
   7 8    
10 shilling light brown
12½
   8 9    

Beware of counterfeits.

Perhaps the dates quoted were those on which the overprinting took place in Pretoria. The stamps may have been issued later in Swaziland itself.

Swaziland Sc139
Independence
1968 Sc138 SG137

Swaziland was independent in C19th, administered by Transvaal from 1894 to 1906, and then South Africa until 1934. It became self-governing in 1967 and independent again in September 1968.

eSwatini
April 2019

It was reported in the May 2019 issue of the FICC Journal that Swaziland changed its name to eSwatini on 19th April 2018 "to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence" from the UK. There is a Gibbons blog post on the matter here. The first set appears to be that shown left, as described in the Journal in May 2020: it has not yet appeared in the catalogues.

Images from David Olson, ebay.

FI ref: 261 Page credit: JA/NB

Page created 19 Feb 2014 Page updated 01-May-2020