TOPIC:

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

a set of Post Noots for One Shilling, Two Shillings and Sixpence, Five Shillings, Seven Shillings and Sixpence (2), Ten Shillings (2), Fifteen Shillings, and One Pound, mostly fully issued but a few unissued, with a wide variety of issue locations, a couple with cancellation holes, along with two unissued Postal Orders for the South African Republic for 10 Shillings and £1, most with pinholes and a few with some thinning after removal of stamps, generally very fine to good very fine, and several rare individually (11 notes)
Pick S681-S689 for types

Sold for a hammer price of GBP 1,300. Totals: GBP 1,674. R 38,520. AUD 3,090. NZD 3,350. CAD 2,800. USD 2,050. EUR 1,900.

OVS POST NOOT

Post Noots of the Orange Free State were introduced under the terms of the South African Postal Union Convention which came into effect on January 1, 1898. Under this convention The South African Republic, the Cape Colony and Natal issued similar financial instruments (Post Orders or Postal Notes)

Post Noots were (as were Post Orders and Postal Notes) a safe, quick and easy way of transferring or transporting money from one point in South Africa to another. Interestingly, the Orange Free State was (with the South African Republic ) the first country in the world to declare Postal Orders to be legal tender as an emergency currency. Although the Post Noot is generally classified as a “Boer War” monetary item, use of these Noots had all but ceased by the time war broke out and only very few examples carry issue or cancellation stamps that were applied during the war.

OVS Post Noots were issued in 10 (not 9 as often reported) denominations with a value ranging from 1 Shilling to 1 Pond (Equivalent to about 5 to 100 Pound Sterling today).

1 Shilling. 1 Penny Poundage. Green color
1 Shilling and Sixpence. 1 Penny Poundage, Pink
2 Shillings and Sixpence. 1 Penny Poundage. Brown
5 Shillings. 1 Penny Poundage, Redbrown
7 Shillings and Sixpence. 2 Pence Poundage, Light green
10 Shillings. 2 Pence Poundage, Purple
12 Shillings and Sixpence. 3 Pence Poundage, Red pink
15 Shillings. 3 Pence Poundage, Orange
17 Shillings and Sixpence, 3 Pence Poundage, Grey
1 Pond. 3 Pence. Olive-Green.

The OVS Post Noots carry an individual serial number and are printed on paper incorporating a large watermark stating ORANJE VRIJ STAAT, POST NOOT.

Most Post Noots available today have been cashed within the Orange Free State prior to 1 September 1899. Orange Free State's Post Noots could also be cashed in the South African Republic, the Cape of Good Hope and Natal and vice versa. Post Noots, Post Orders and Postal Notes cashed outside the territory of issue had to be repatriated to the issuing territory after they had been cashed. All issued Noots that were cashed outside the territory of issue were subject to a further commission equivalent to the value noted on obverse as Commissie loon or Poundage. This additional commission was paid in the form of postal stamps affixed at the reverse and cancelled with the paying office’s date stamp.

The rarest OVS Post Noot is the1 Pond, and the most common denominations are the 1 and the 5 Shilling Noots. Post Noots are available in different configurations:

A: Unissued, with or without counterfoil: Most likely remainders souvenired during the war
B: Issued without name of recipient and not paid: Noot that possibly has served as emergency currency (these ones have potential Boer War pedigree)
C: Issued and paid within the territory of issue (Most common. Look for dates after 11.10.1899)
D: Issued and paid outside the territory of issue (showing cancelled stamps of the territory in which the Noot has been paid out)


How the Post Noots worked in practice can be illustrated by the following example:



On August 31,1898, Miss M. Lindenberg of Bethulie (1) wanted to pay a sum of money to a Mr. Wade in Cape Town. At her local post office she purchased a Post Noot with a face value of 17 shilling and sixpence (2) for which she paid face value plus a Commission of 3 Pence (3) Mr. W. von Aerschberg, the Bethulie Postmaster, signed the Noot (4) to confirm that Miss Lindenberg had paid all sums due and applied the date stamp of Bethulie, as issuing post office, in the left bottom corner (5). Miss Lindenberg filled out the Noot with the name of the intended recipient, Mr Wade (6), and Cape Town as the town in which Mr. Wade could cash the Post Noot (7). The Postmaster in Bethulie then completed the counterfoil which, beside the serial number and a stamp with issue date, listed the name of the recipient, the town where the Noot was to be cashed as well as the name of the person who had purchased the Noot. The counterfoil was then separated from the Post Noot and retained by the Postmaster for his records.

Miss Lindenberg subsequently mailed the Post Noot to Mr. Wade in Cape Town. On September the 16th, Mr Wade presented the Noot to the postmaster in Cape Town (the paying office). The name of the postmaster is unknown, but he may have placed his initials beside the date/cancellation stamp of the paying office which was applied in the righthand bottom corner (8). Because the Post Noot was issued outside the Cape Colony, Mr. Wade had to pay a further commission of 3 Pence, equivalent to the sum stated on the face of the Noot as Commission Loon (3). To this purpose Mr Wade bought three one-penny stamps, which were affixed to the back of the Noot and subsequently cancelled (9). Mr Wade then signed the Noot (10) and received the sum of 17 shilling and sixpence. The Cape Town postmaster would subsequently mail the cashed and cancelled Noot back to the Orange Free State, possibly directly to the post office in Bethulie.

• The name of Miss Lindenberg would only have appeared on the counterfoil and would thus be unknown to the recipient or present owner of the Noot. For reasons unknown and highly unusually her name was mentioned at the back of the Noot.

Post Noots, as well as the much rarer Cape Colony/Natal Postal Notes and South African Republic’s Post Orders, present an interesting collection field. The Noots are colorful and aesthetically attractive and names, dates, places and (postal) stamps provide plenty of hooks for further research. Used Post Noots often shown signs of usage and are consequently shunned by the “investor-collector” who keeps his expensive pristine examples in Perspex and who folds his socks before sliding under the blankets with a menopausal missus in ankle-length polyester nightdress. As such these examples can often be acquired at relatively low prices, in turn allowing the budding enthusiast an opportunity to build a nice Post Noot collection without having to become an influencer or marry into the Bezos clan.

Below a few examples of Post Noots and equivalents from the ZAR and the Cape Colony

ZAR Post Order Remainder with counterfoil

This Post Order is for 17 shilling and sixpence with counterfoil attached, a rare occurrence. Beside a different layout from the Post Noots, the ZAR Post Order differs in that its validity automatically lapses after three years counted after the last day of the month in which it was issued. The ZAR Post Orders have a very nice, centralized, watermark with a large ZAR emblem between the text “Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek” en “Post Order”. The watermark does not extend to the counterfoil. This feature differs from the Gouvernement’s Noten where the encountered watermarks are unintentional, not centralized and only relate to the producer of the paper it was printed on.


OVS Post Noot with low serial number, issued and cashed in the OVS

This Post Noot for 7 Shilling and sixpence was purchased by an unknown individual in Bloemfontein on April 15, 1898 for the benefit of a Mr. or Mrs. R. van Blerk in Ladybrand. Alternatively, van Blerk purchased the Post Noot him/herself to be able to transport his/her cash safely from Bloemfontein to destinaton. Whichever the case, van Blerk cashed the Noot 6 days later in Ladybrand. The purchaser paid 7 Shilling and 9 pence (face value plus 3 pence Commissie loon or Poundage). Because the Noot was both issued and cashed in the OVS, Van Blerk cashed the full face-value, without having to pay additional poundage. Note the very low serial number.


OVS Post Noot made out to a native

This OVS Noot is interesting as the recipient, Damana, must have been a Zulu living in or travelling to Natal. The Noot is for 1 Pond, a considerable sum of money for the time. Damana must have been illiterate as he signed with an X that was countersigned by a witness to confirm his identity. Damana paid 3 Pence poundage in the form of 3 Natal 1 Penny stamps (now removed) which were glued to the back and immediately cancelled. Note the large oval GPO “Paid” stamp, a common feature on Post Noots cashed in Natal. In the Cape these GPO stamps are large, circular and usually appear on the back (see example below)


A Cape Colony Postal Note issued during the war.

This Postal Note for 1 Shilling and sixpence is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was duly issued during the war (signed by Postmaster Aschmann and date stamped) in December, 1901 in Imvani, near Queenstown, Cape Colony. Secondly, no recipient was mentioned and, as such, this Note was as good as cash. For some reason or other it was never cashed. The Postal Note bears a watermark of “Cape Colony” above “Postal Note”. Regulations printed on it were the same as the “Regulatien” on the OVS Post Noots and incorporated penalties for late presentation for payout.