Posted by Steve Strauss
I found an article written by the late Otto Peetoom, and I thought it would be of interest to anyone who collects bird stamps. I received written permission from the South African Collectors’ Society (SACS) to post this article on the Bird Stamp Society Website. Otto was a member of the Bird Stamp Society until he passed away in 2020. He was a professional philatelist, a keen researcher and philatelic writer, and the editor of Southern Africa Philately, The Rhodesian Philatelist, and The Runner Post (the journal of The Bechanaland Society). Press the button below to see the article.
South African series that can be easily confused
Here is a well-known series that might just catch you out.
The South African 2000 Flora & Fauna set, issued in November of that year is large – twenty seven issues, but only five of which are birds. The bulk of the stamps are fish and flowers. To add to the mix, many of the flowers were also repeated as self-adhesive stamps with standardised values, but smaller in size (20x25mm). There were ten for this special rate format, so a complete set is 37 stamps.
The whole set, including fish and flowers are pretty colourful, but I am tempted to say, almost garish. If you find one of the flowers or fishes on cover, you’ll know what I mean. The bird element seems relatively sober in design and takes up most of the higher values.
Bringing Bird Stamp Collectors Together
