Transkei Post Offices

Transkei, Umzimkulu · 1984-05-11

Official

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front

Cachet: The cachet on this cover shows a woman kneeling on the grass with a baby wrapped on her back, writing at a small postbox while a young child watches beside her. A rooster and a goose peck at the ground nearby, and two loose envelopes lie in the grass, giving the scene a warm, everyday quality centred on the simple act of writing a letter. The title "Transkei Post Offices" appears beneath the illustration in italic script, with the series marking "2" and "1.34" placed alongside a small logo in the lower corner. Four stamps fill the top right corner in a block, each illustrated by A H Barrett and showing a different post office building across Transkei, from Umzimkulu to Umtata. Two Umzimkulu postmarks, each built around an ornate scrollwork design, cancel the stamps.

Info card

Note: the info card for this cover couldn't be transcribed since the envelope is sealed shut.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 11 May 1984 in Umzimkulu. It carries a set of four Transkei stamps illustrated by A H Barrett, each depicting a different post office building serving communities across the territory. The cover's cachet captures the human side of the postal service, showing a mother writing a letter by hand in the open air, a scene that speaks to the everyday reach of the post offices honoured on the stamps themselves.

Theme: Heritage

Condition: AverageNoticeable wear or light damage, such as creases, minor soiling, small tears, or light discolouration, but still collectable.

Addressed: No

Signed: No

Estimated value: ~US$0.1

This is a high-level, subjective estimate only, not a professional appraisal.