The Home for Our Hobby
Auction 59 awaits your viewing pleasure!
Our second on-line auction of 100 lots contains this extraordinary Union Airways ‘Last Flight’ Airmail cover from Cape Town to Durban showing a full set of King’s Head numeral controls to £1, plus two sets of Airmail stamps (and more). This auction offers something to everyone – Cape, GSWA, ZAR, the Rhodesias, RSA, labels and a truly historic item from Griqualand West. Enjoy it here.
Stampex London 2025: Well worth a visit!
Stampex, the UK’s premier philatelic exhibition in past years, has suffered criticism ever since Covid saw visitor numbers decline. It has now downsized and changed. Steve Hannath met up with Simon Peetoom, right, at Stampex and came away full of enthusiasm for an event that has rediscoverd its mojo as an unpretentious stamp fair. Read more.
SACS Meeting: Letchworth 28/09/2024
This was an upbeat meeting. Keith Perrow (Postage Dues) and new member Danna Strydom (1885 ZAR Vurtheim issue) provided an excellent start. Ian Shapiro’s Open Class display on the 1947 Royal Visit was based largely on a trove of “wonderful things” found in South Africa. Ian is seen here holding his favourite item, a letter written by Princess Elizabeth (later QE2) to her headmaster while on the White Train in SA. Read more.
PFSA President Gawie Hugo goes stamping in London
Steve Hannath took the opportunity to join Gawie and his daughter Ilse in London to enjoy some Saturday stamping while polishing up his Afrikaans and strengthening relationships between South Africa’s PFSA and the UK’s South African Collectors’ Society. Read more.
Zoom Meeting 14/09/2024 – A report on what you missed!
Tony Johnson, Editor of The Springbok and SACS Zoom Master, co-ordinated this well-attended meeting across three continents. Any distance between Hugh Amoore RDPSA in South Africa, Keith Klugman RDPSA in the USA, and Rob Lester in the UK evaporated as we joined together in Zoom time and space to celebrate SACS as the ‘Home for our Hobby’. Read more.
In Memoriam:
Paul van Zeyl RDPSA 1950 – 2024
It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of Paul van Zeyl RDPSA, a cherished member of SACS since 1979. Read more.
Our first SACS meeting in the new Kenilworth venue
Our most recent Society meeting was held at the Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, on the 30th June – 1st July 2024. It was an enjoyable philatelic occassion attended by some 20 members. Most displayed material and or entered nine pages into the Abell Trophy One Frame Competition. A full report on the weekend’s proceedings with links to displays is available here.
The Union-Castle Line’s Kenilworth Castle
As befitted the new venue, Tony Howgrave-Graham provided a short display on the Union-Castle mailboat, the Kenilworth Castle, (1904 – 1936). After she collided with a destroyer during WW1 some passengers and seamen took to a lifeboat that overturned in rough seas. A harrowing letter from a stoic nurse describes her terrifying ordeal in the water at night. Read more.
Ka Boom! An Exhibition Mystery Solved!
Endorsed by ZAR State President Paul Kruger, the ‘International Industrial Exhibition’ of 1896 was planned to take place in Johannesburg. Its doors never opened. The reason for its cancellation has long mystified Rob Lester who now has a plausible explanation for why this event never took place. Read more.
How to Quickly Detect Fake Cape Triangles
Fake Cape Triangles were largely produced as ‘space-fillers’ for old-time collectors who could not afford the real thing. Oneglia’s 1/- green ‘triangle’ shown here is one of the better examples of the forger’s craft. Fortunately, there is a quick and easy way to identify it as an obvious fake. Read more.
Affordable South African Philatelic Study Booklets
South African stamp collectors can choose from range of 42 Study Booklets, many of which are based on award-winning philatelic displays and collections compiled over many years by leading experts in their field. They are a source of expert advice and reference published by Rob and Lyn Lester on behalf of SACS. Read more.
Journal > Archive: A Great Leap Forward
Old copies of The Springbok contain a wealth of knowledge. To make this accessible we have converted scans of the earliest issues (1953 – 1961) into to a search-friendly format that allows you to find information by using search terms like ‘Bantams’ or ‘interprovincials’, etc. The philatelic wisdom of yore is now yours. Read more.
