Lot 251
Cape and Orange Free State combination usage: 1871 (4 Jan.) envelope from King Williams Town to Pniel Klipdrift (Diamond Fields) bearing Cape 1864-77 4d blue and Orange Free State 1868-94 6d pale rose, tied by barred oval "4" handstamp and oval of bars handstamp respectively, carmine double oval KING WILLIAMS TOWN JA 4 1871 town datestamp and two unclear straight-line handstamps on front with straight-line UNCLAIMED handstamp on reverse some perf. faults. Rare., ex Dillaway (SG 24A o.f.s.4).
Estimate $750 - 1,000
The letter originated on the Eastern Frontier (Cape, formerly British Kaffraria) with the Orange Free State 6d added to pay postage through that territory and is addressed to a town that played an important role in the history of the Diamond Fields – it was from Pniel that the rush to the dry diggings at Kimberley started. The issue of ownership over the Diamond Fields was only resolved in March 1871, and the opening of the first Griqualand West post offices probably date from that time. Despite the protests of local residents, in March 1871 the Orange Free State Post Office ordered that the wood and corrugated iron shed, which housed the post office at Pniel, should be dismantled and removed to Jacobsdal, in the Orange Free State. The letter appears to have remained undelivered.
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| Opening Bid $350 |
