page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland
section_title: Stamps
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland / Stamps
caption_attribution_description: English: Bechuanaland 4-pence overprint stamp of 1891
context_page_description: This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland.
context_section_description: Stellaland stamps, which had been issued in 1884, continued to be used until 2 December 1885. Any external mail had to be franked with both Stellaland stamps and Cape of Good Hope stamps. The cancellations on these stamps was by pen and ink. Stellaland stamps are known used by Warren’s Force at Kimberley. These stamps were withdrawn from use on 2 December 1885. All the unused withdrawn stamps were sold to a stamp dealer, Whitfield, King & Company of Ipswich.
  On 2 December 1885 stamps from Cape of Good Hope overprinted  'British Bechuanaland' were made available at Vryburg post office. Eight different values from ½d to 1s were overprinted by W A Richards & Son of Cape Town.
  On 1 November 1887 a supply of stamps from Great Britain was issued. The ½d stamp was a Great Britain stamp overprinted 'BRITISH BECHUANLAND', by De La Rue.  Twelve other value ranging in value from 1d to £5 were produced by De La Rue using blank ‘Unappropriated Die’ designs for British fiscal stamps and overprinting them with 'British Bechuanaland Postage and Revenue'.
  The stamps produced using the  ‘Unappropriated Die’ designs had values in text. On 7 August 1888 the five low values were overprinted locally in Vryburg, by P Townshend & Co, to show the value in numbers; 1d, 2d, 4d, 6d and 1s.
  In December 1888 3d stamps of the 1887 issue were overprinted 'One Half-Penny' and in January 1889 Cape of Good Hope ½d stamps were overprinted 'British Bechuanaland' by the local printer in Vryburg.
  In 1893 responsibility for the postal services was transferred from the Postmaster-General of British Bechuanaland to the Postmaster-General of the Cape of Good Hope.
  A further seven stamps were produced by overprinting either Cape Colony stamps or British stamps before British Bechuanaland was annexed by the Cape of Good Hope on 16 November 1895 and ceased to issue stamps.
  All the remaining stamps of British Bechuanaland were transferred to the Bechuanaland Protectorate and continued to be used there, without any overprints, until 1897.
caption: Overprinted British Stamp, 1891
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