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South Africa - Entertainments Duty (Natal)

 
Acknowledgments for this section can be found on the main Southern Africa page.

Currency
  • ​(1917-1961) 20 shillings = 1 South African pound (12 pence = 1 shilling)
  • (1961-) 100 cents = 1 South African rand

All the Entertainments Duty stamps of Natal are inscribed bilingually, with English and Afrikaans appearing on each stamp.



1917.  Rouletted.  No watermark.  Two different types of the design exist (see note below).
Picture
E1/5A
Picture
E1/5B
PictureE5A
Type A.
  E1A. 1d red
  E2A. 2d blue

  E3A. 3d purple-brown
  E4A. 6d yellowish green
  E5A. 9d orange
  E6A. 1s mauve


Type B.
  E1B. 1d red
  E2B. 2d blue
  E3B. 3d purple-brown
  E4B. 6d green
  E6B. 1s mauve


Picture
3d and 6d showing Types A (top) and B (bottom)
Notes:
1. It seems likely that types A and B represent different printings rather than being from different positions in the same sheet.  The two types are easily distinguished from each other, type B having generally a better executed design than type A (see enlarged illustrations at right).  In type B the scrolls have a more regular shape than in type A, the wildebeest are better defined, and the lines of shading are finer and more closely spaced.  Additionally the letter 'd' in the value tablet has a serif pointing right (A) or left (B); the letters 'AL' of NATAL are joined only in type A; and there is shading on the scroll either side of the word DUTY only in type B.

2. Dickson & Palazzo (2006) suggest that these stamps were issued in 1917, since Natal's first Inspectors of Entertainments Duty were appointed on 1st October in that year.
3.
Shades of all values are known.
4. Barefoot also lists a 4d but I have not seen this.
Picture
Unadopted essays by Bradbury Wilkinson (top row) and De La Rue, including 'ED' watermark essay
In the autumn of 1923 the South African High Commission in London invited a number of printing firms to submit new Entertainment Duty designs, and to quote for printing a total of 500,000 stamps denominated between 1d and 1s.

Bradbury Wilkinson and De La Rue each submitted three essays as shown above, BW's all being dated 21 September 1923.  De La Rue additionally submitted a watermark essay showing 
the letters ED (=Entertainments Duty) in large capitals.

All the essays submitted by Bradbury Wilkinson and De La Rue were rejected.  It is not known which other printers submitted designs, and no other surviving essays are known.  It seems likely that the successful design was by Harrison, since a part set of stamps in the accepted design is known overprinted HARRISON'S SPECIMEN (see illustration below).  These are printed in issued or near-issued colours and are perforated 13¾ all round, and are presumed to be essay samples or colour trials.  If this is correct, then it seems likely that the issued stamps perforated 13¾ (E11/18) are also the work of Harrison.
Picture
Harrison samples similar to E11/12, 14/16


1923-1940s.  Black and blue wildebeest, taken from the Arms of the Province.  Size approx 24 x 30
½ mm, varying slightly from one printing to another.  No watermark.  Various perfs and printers.  Sheets of 50 (5 rows of 10).
Picture
E11/18
a) 1923.  Perf 13¾.  Probably printed by Harrison (see note above).

  E11. 1d brick-red
  E12. 2d blue
  E13. 3d deep purple
  E14. 4d olive-green
  E15. 5d rose
  E16. 6d brown
  E17. 9d blue-green
  E18. 1s red-orange

Notes:

1. Stamps of this design exist in no fewer than nine different perforations, which suggests the work of a number of different printers.  Only De La Rue and Harrison are known with certainty to have been involved, and the correspondence of printers to perforations has not yet been established.  Surviving records from the De La Rue archive shows that the South African High Commission kept the printing plates and put each new requirement for stamps out to tender, and therefore it is conceivable that each contract was won by a different printer with no continuity.  Dickson & Palazzo suggest that the printing of Natal Entertainment stamps may have been transferred to the South African Government Printer in the 1930s, along with the printing of all South African postage stamps.
2. Numbers have been set aside in the listing below to allow for additional values in each of the different perforations.  Perforations are quoted to the nearest quarter as an aid to identification.
3.
For the 7d and 2s3d in this design but perf 11, see E78/79 below.  Barefoot additionally lists a 10d yellow value, which I have not seen except from the Pretoria printing (see my E130 below).
4. Imperforate plate proofs are known of E11/18, though not of the later additions (E78/79).
Picture
E22, E24 (in se-tenant pair with E14) and E26, plus four Harrison's samples in the same compound perf (see note 3 below)
b) Perf 13¾ compound 11
  E22. 2d blue
  E24. 4d olive-green
  E26. 6d brown

Notes:
1. These stamps are perf 13¾ all round, except for three much wider perforations (gauge 11) in the horizontal rows.
2. The fact that stamps of this perforation can be found se-tenant with the ordinary perf 13¾ stamps shows that they are not from a separate printing but from a single vertical column on the normal sheet.
3. The existence of Harrison's samples in the same perf (illustrated above) suggests that the perforating comb included these wide perforations from the very beginning.  It is likely therefore that all stamps known in perf 13¾ should also occur with this compound perf.
Picture
E32/38
c) Perf 14¼
  E32. 2d blue
  E34.
4d olive-green
  E36. 6d red-brown
  E38. 1s red-orange


Picture
E43, 45
 
d) Perf 13¼

  E43. 3d deep purple
  E45. 5d rose


Picture
E51/55
PictureNormal impression (top) and coarser perf 12½ printing (below)
e) Perf 12½

  E51. 1d brick-red
  E52. 2d blue
  E53. 3d deep purple
  E54. 4d olive-bistre

  E55. 5d rose
​
​
Notes:
1. Stamps of this perforation have a coarser impression than other printings (see illustration at right), and a narrower margin between the design and the perforations.  This suggests a different printer and/or method of printing.
2. An example of E55 is known on a 2s6d cinema ticket, proving that these stamps were issued before 1940.
3. The 7d value formerly listed with this set has been deleted since the perforation of the example I saw has been confirmed as perf 11 (see E78 below).

Picture
E61/67
f) Rough perf 11¼
  E61. 1d brick-red
  E62. 2d blue
  E63. 3d deep purple
  E64. 4d brown-olive
  E65. 5d deep rose
  E66. 6d brown
  E67. 9d blue-green


Picture
E78/79
 
g) c1940.  Clean-cut perf 11.


  E78. 7d deep ultramarine
  E79. 2s3d rose-pink

Note: an issue date of 1940 is
suggested by the fact that a 7d rate was introduced in that year.

Picture
E81/88
h) Perf 10
  E81. 1d brick-red

  E83. 3d deep purple
  E84. 4d olive-green
  E86. 6d brown
  E87. 9d blue-green
  E88. 1s red-orange


Picture
E94
 
j) Perf 9
  E94.
4d olive-green


Picture
E101/103 and E105/6
1940.  Previous issue surcharged with symbols cancelling the original value, and new value printed alongside.  Perf 13¾.

a) S
urcharged in blue-black with a five-pointed star cancelling the original value
  E101. 6d on 2d blue
  E102. 9d on 2d blue
  E103. 1s on 2d blue

b) Surcharged in black with a floral motif cancelling the original value
  E105. 7d on 2d blue
  E106. 7d on 5d rose

The need for the above surcharges was probably occasioned by the rate change
of 17th June 1940.  Ordinance No 9 withdrew the 2d and 5d rates, so stamps of these values were surcharged to provide other values.  At the same time a new 7d rate was introduced, while the existing 6d and 1s rates continued in use.

 
Picture
E107/108 (top) and E111/115 (bottom)
c1945 (see note 3).  Earlier issues surcharged with the new value printed over the original value.

a) Perf 10: new value in very thick seriffed font
  E107. 3d on 9d green
  E108. 4d on 1d purple-brown


b) Perf 9
: new value in bold sans-serif font
  E111. 2d on 1d brick-red
  E112. 5d on 3d deep purple
  E113. 7d on 1s red-orange
  E114. 8d on 6d red-brown
  E115. 10d on 9d green

Notes:
1. Barefoot additionally lists a 10d on 10d surcharge, though I suspect this may be an error.
2. E111/115 are not known in perf 9 without surcharge.
3. It seems likely that E111/115 were issued following
Ordinance No 7 of 27th June 1945.  At that time the 1d, 3d, 6d and 9d rates were withdrawn, new rates of 8d and 10d were introduced, 4d and 7d rates continued, and the pre-1940 rates of 2d and 5d were brought back.
Picture
E122, E124/128 and E130
1945.  Smaller type, 21½ x 27 mm.  Perf 14.  No watermark.  Printed (screened rotogravure) by the Government Printer, Pretoria.

  [E121. 1d grey]

  E122. 2d mauve
  [E123. 3d violet]
  E124. 4d emerald
  E125. 5d bright rose
  E126. 6d claret
  E127. 7d ultramarine
  E128. 8d turquoise-blue

  [E129. 9d blue-green]
  E130. 10d orange-yellow

Notes:
1. The 1d, 3d and 9d values are currently known only with decimal surcharge (see E141/142 and E146 below), but it seems likely that they were originally issued without.
2. The date of issue is suggested by Dickson & Palazzo (2006) on the basis that the 8d rate was introduced in 1945, while rates of 2d, 4d, 5d and 7d continued in use at the same time.  The 1d and 6d rates were withdrawn in 1945 and only brought back in the late 1950s, so perhaps E121 and E125 were late additions to the set.  The need for a 9d stamp is not at all clear since this rate was withdrawn in 1940 and never re-introduced.

 
Picture
E131/133
1950s?  New numeral types, with security underprint of multiple letters NPA in blue.  E133 is surcharged in black with two thick horizontal bars cancelling the original face value.

  E131. 6d carmine
  E132. 1s orange
  E133. 1s on 4d green


Notes:
1. The date of issue is unknown, but it must presumably pre-date the introduction of decimal currency in 1961.
2. The 4d value is known only with the one shilling surcharge but presumably was originally issued without.

 
Picture
E141/146
c1961.  As 1945 issue but surcharged in decimal currency.

  E141.
1c on 1d grey
  E142. 3c on 3d violet
  E143. 5c on 5d bright rose
  E144. 7c on 7d ultramarine
  E145. 8c on 8d turquoise-blue
  E146. 9c on 9d blue-green

According to Palazzo (2010), these stamps were issued when Ordinance No 28 of 1960 came into force on 14th February 1961, providing for a decimal duty on cinema tickets.
The 1d, 3d and 9d values are not recorded without surcharge.
Picture
E151/153
PictureE152 with handstamp surcharge or cancel (see note)
1960s?  As 1945 issue but value in decimal currency.  Lower panel inscribed Vermaaks Belasting (6c) or Vermaaklik-heidsbelasting (others).

  E151.
3c emerald
  E152. 6c yellow-orange
  E153. 9c violet


Note:
The two overlapping examples of E152 illustrated above right have what appears to be a surcharge R0.50c (or possibly R1.50c) applied with a rubber handstamp.  The handstamp runs across both stamps together in the manner of a cancel.  I have not seen another example and would be glad to hear from any reader who can shed more light on these.


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