Botswana Definitive Issues

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This Page Illustrates
Definitive Stamps of the Republic of Botswana

The First definitive issue was released on 30 September 1966
being a set of fourteen values of the
1961 Bechuanaland Definitives overprinted REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA

Illustrations by Otto Peetoom

Bechuanaland Protectorate

Bech Postal History

Botswana Comms to 1992

Botswana Comms II

Botswana Miniature Sheets

Botswana Booklets


Golden Oriole	African Hoopoe	Scarlet-chested sunbird	Cape widow bird	Swallow-tailed bee-eater	Grey Hornbill

	30 September 1966 First definitive issue being a set of 14 values of the 1961 Bechuanaland Definitives overprinted REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA A Special Printing of the 3½ cents value was produced in yellow, black, sepia & flesh to make up quantities - SG 209a and it does not exist without the overprint
Red-headed weaver				Brown-hooded Kingfisher


Woman Musician	Baobab Tree	Grinding Maize	Bechuana Ox	Lion	Police Camel Patrol

	The 7½ cents is recorded with a Yellow background, it is suggested that it may originate from a trial printing, until recently most known examples are from First Day covers - SG 211a A Cancelled-to-order block of twenty was found and broken up Examples from this multiple are accompanied by a 27 February 2013 B.P.A. certificate The illustrated example has B.P.A. certificate No 81,495
SG 211 Normal Green background				SG 211a Variety Yellow background

3 January 1967 First Botswana Bird Definitive set of 14 values from 1c to R2

Designs by D.M. Reid-Henry - Printed in Photogravure by Harrison & Sons - London


Golden Oriole	African Hoopoe	Ground-scraper Thrush	Blue Waxbill	Secretary Bird	Yellow-billed Hornbill

Crimson-breasted Shirke	Malachite Kingfisher	Fish Eagle	Grey Loerie	Scimitar-bill	Knob-biled Duck
		Varieties on the 1967 Bird Definitives The 1 cent is known used with a Watermark Error of Malta being Multiple Maltese Crosses it was catalogued at £800 in 2015 20 Cents A used copy is known with the pale brown colour omitted resulting in the value being omitted
Crested Barbet	Diederick Cuckoo	The 1c, 2c, 4c, 7c and 10c values exist with PVA gum as well as Gum Arabic

Designs by M. Bayliss - Printed in Photogravure by Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands

1 July 1974 Third Definitive Issue Botswana Mineral - 14 values SG 322 to 335


			This attractive Mineral Definitive with its values expressed in Z.A.R. was on sale for just over two years when the introduction of a New Currency necesitated the overprinting their remaining stock

1 July 1976 New Currency Overprints Fourth Definitive Issue Botswana Mineral - 14 values SG 367 to 380


			Two types of overprints Surcharged in Letterpress by the Government Printer in Pretoria or in Lithography by Enschede during 1977 Both Overprints exist on most values except 10t on 10c, 25t on 25c, 35t on 35c and 2p on R2

3 July 1978
An Elaborate Souvenir Folder

Was Designed by the National Museum and Art Gallery for the Botswana Department of Posts and Telecommunications
A folded A4 booklet which includes a Mint set of the issue, each stamp housed in a plastic sleeve

The folder includes a map of the Country which is illustrated at the top of the page and on the
last page a pair of First Day covers are included - illustrated below

The folder was printed locally by Botswana Press - 5000 in total, 3000 were without stamps and FDCs

On the inside cover there is a writeup by A.C. Campbell

Introduction
This is the third definitive Issue depicting birds. The first was a 14-stamp series Issued by the Bechuanaland Protectorate Government and included eight values depicting birds. These were the lower values and involved only smaller species of dry land birds. With one exception the Cape Widow-bird which only occurs in the extreme east of the country. The one Kingfisher depicted was a dry land species feeding on insects and frogs At Independence in 1966 this issue was overprinted Republic of Botswana.

In January 1967 a new definitive Issue was brought out and involved 14 values, all depicting birds. A much wider range of species was chosen, but the birds still could not be described as really representative of the country, nor did they say anything much about their habits or preferred environment.

The present issue of 17 stamps attempts to portray the great variety of avian life to be found in Botswana and to some extent the habits and habitat of the various species depicted. For this reason where species are gregarious, several are shown on one stamp and the habitat is depicted, even if, in the case of the Marshall Eagle, it only indicates that the bird tends to perch on the higher branches of a tree.

First Day Covers

The Botswana environment
This is a land-locked country situated on the southern African plateau at a height of about 1000 metres and divided by the Tropic of Capricorn. Much of the landscape is flat and more than four-fifths is covered by Kalahari sands, which reach eastwards to cease in some rocky country overlooking the Limpopo Valley. The sands are gently undulating and are lightly covered with savanna and grass. In the remote past heavy pluvial periods have seen mighty rivers cut winding channels through the sand and lakes formed in shallow depressions but today these are dry and often choked.

Into this vast tableland flows the Okavango, third-mightiest river in Southern Africa. It slides over a fault and spreads into a vast delta on sands that have filled an ancient grabben, possibly an extension of the Great Rift Valley. Islands studded with palms, twisting channels of clear water, lakes blazing with lilies floating papyrus beds and wide floodplains form a veritable paradise in an otherwise semi-arid land. To the south the waters spill into Ngami, a lake often in name only and dry for decades on end. One break in the eastern fault which holds the Delta, allows what little water is left to flow gently eastwards along the Boteti River for 600 kilometres to Makgadikgadi. Once this formed a lake probably the size of Victoria, but today it is an extensive saltpan holding water only after heavy rains. Eleven million cubic metres of water have vanished through evapo-transpiration and a massive wetland environment lies placid surrounded by semi-arid desert.

This is a summer rainfall country where heavy storms often come in quick succession to be followed by days on end of blazing heat. Pools lie in every direction throughout the desert and flowers bloom, but the hot sun soon bares the land. Through the short winter temperatures drop to 7°C below zero at night, only to rise to 27°C during the cloudless day. Rainfall is heaviest in the north-east and the farther south and west one travels, so rain diminishes until, in the bare dune areas of the extreme south-west it falls below 250 mm.

Lake Ngami and the Okavango Delta are an integral part of the great migratory area for waterfowl in southern Africa and the end of a long Journey for migrants from Europe. In an otherwise dry world their open expanses of shallow water are a haven for thousands of Pelican and hundreds of thousands of Flamingo. The ox-bow lakes hidden deep within the Delta have tiny islands sprouting fig bushes where Herons and Storks nest in great colonies. If the wetlands provide habitat for great concentrations of birdlife so the adjacent dry lands are the home for a wide spectrum of species, from the tiny Penduline Tit to the mighty Marshall Eagle. It is the close proximity of wet and dry lands which makes the diversity of birdlife so great - greater possibly than anywhere in Africa.

Designs by M. Bryan - Printed in Photogravure by Harrison & Sons - London



					3 July 1978 Fifth Definitive 17 values Third Bird Definitive SG 411 to 427

1 September 1981
Surcharges
SG 497 - 498

25t on 35t Green-backed Heron

30t on 10t Bennetts Woodpecker

1982 Bird Definitives
Designs by M. Bryan - Printed in Photogravure by Harrison & Sons - London


Masked c	Lesser double-collared Sunbird	White-throated Bee-eater	Ostrich	Grey headed Gull

		3 May 1982 SG 511 - 522 The Sixth definitive since Independence
Pygmy Goose	Cattle Egret		Lanner Falcon	Yellow-billed Stork


Red-billed Teal	Barn Owl	Hamerkop	Stilt	Blacksmith Plover


Crowned Guinea Fowl	Wetland Plover	Cape Vulture	Augur Buzzard

1 April 1987 Surcharges SG 612 - 614
1 April 1987 Surcharges SG 612 - 614	3t on 6t Pygmy Goose	5t on 10t Yellow-billed Stork	20t on 50t Crowned Guinea Fowl

1987 Animals
Designs by P. Huebsch - Printed in Photogravure by Harrison & Sons - London


Cape Fox	Lechwe	Zebra	Duiker


Banded Mongoose	Rusty Spotted Genet	Hedgehog	Scrub Hare


Hippopotamus	Suricate	Caracal	Steenbok


Gemsbok	Square Lipped Rhino	Mountain Reedbuck	Rock Dassie


Giraffe	Tsessebe	Side Striped Jackal	Hartebeest

Names of Animals in English and Local African on each stamp

	27 April 1990 Surcharges SG 690 - 692 A Used 10t on 1t Recorded with Double Overprint
10t on 1t Cape Fox		20t on 6t Rusty Spotted Genet	50t on 12t Hippopotamus

9 March 1992 Surcharges
SG 725 - 728


8t on 12t Hippopotamus	10t on 12t Hippopotamus	25t on 6t Rusty Spotted Genet	40t on 3t Zebra

Botswana Definitives 1966 - 2014 A Summary

Year	SG	Details	No of values	2015 Cat	Printer
		Currency ZA Rands 1961 - 1976
1966	206 - 219	Republic of Botswana overprint on 1961 Definitives	14v	£8.50	Harrison & Sons - London
1967	220 - 233	Birds	14v	£40	Harrison & Sons - London
1974	322 -335	Minerals	14v	£48	Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands
		National Currency 100 Thebe = 1 Pula			* Overprints carried out by
1976	367 - 380	New currency Lettterpress overprints on 1974 Definitives	14v	£48	* Government Printer, Pretoria - S. Africa
1977	367a -375a	New currency Lithography overprints on 1974 values	6v	£24	* Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands
1978	411 - 427	Birds	17v	£27	Harrison & Sons - London
1982	515 - 532	Birds	18v	£50	Harrison & Sons - London
1987	619 - 638	Animals	20v	£28	Harrison & Sons - London
1992	738 - 755	Animals	18v	£45	Harrison & Sons - London
1997	852 - 869	Birds	18v	£38	Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands
2002	974 - 989	Mammals	16v	£27	Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands
2007	1084 - 1097	Butterflies	14v	£18	Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands
2014	1192 - 1205	Birds	14v	£30	Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands
			S.G. Catalogue value = unmounted mint

1992 Animal Definitives
Designs by Judith Penny - Printed in Photogravure by Harrison & Sons - London


Cheetah	Spring Hare	Blackfooted Cat	Striped Mouse	Oribi


Pangolin	Aardwolf	Warthog	Ground Squirel	Honey Badger


Common Mole Rat	Wild Dog	Water Mongoose	Klipspringer	Lesser Bushbaby

			7 August 1994 Surcharge SG 792 By Government Printer Pretoria, South Africa
Bushveld Elephant Shrew	Zorilla	Velvet Monkey		10t on 12t Pangolin

Local African Names of Animals followed by English in the lower margin on each stamp

	12 February 1996 Surcharges SG 817 - 819 20t on 2t Spring Hare Recorded with a different 2 SG 817a
20t on 2t Spring Hare		30t on 1t Cheetah	70t on 4t Blackfooted Cat

1997 Bird Definitives
Designs by Helena Schüssel - Printed in Litho by Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands


Pel's Fishing Owl	Gymnogene	Meyer's Parrot	Harlequin Quail	Marico Sunbird


Kurrichane Trush	Redheaded Finch	Buffalo Weaver	Sacred Ibis	Cape Shoveler


Greater Honeyguide	Woodland Kingfisher	Purple Heron	Yellow-billed Oxpecker	Shaft-tailed Whydah

			4 August 1997 Bird Definitives SG 852 - 869 18 Values
White Stork	Sparrowhawk	Spotted Crake	4 August 1997 Bird Definitives SG 852 - 869 18 Values

Names of Birds in English plus Local African name on each stamp

2002 Mammal Definitives
Designs by Judith Greenwood Penny - Printed in Litho by Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands

5 August 2002 - SG 974 - 989 - Set of 16 values

Tree Squirrel	Black-backed Jackal	African Wild Cat	Slender Mongoose	African Civet	Elephant


Reedbuck	Kudu	Waterbuck	Sable	Sitatunga


Porcupine	Serval	Antbear	Bushpig	Chakma Baboon

	9 October 2004 National Birds SG 1026a Printed in Sheets Other values only in SAPO MS 1027		26 April 2006 Surcharges SG 1048a & 1048b Two values The 80t on 90t is listed with Surcharge Inverted
P5 Cattle Egret		80t on 90t Reedbuck		P2 10 on 1p 95 Sable

2007 Butterfly Definitives
Designs by Philip Huebsch - Printed in Litho by Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands

1 November 2007 - SG 1084 - 1097 - Set of 14 values

Mimosa Sapphire	Bushveld Orange	African Monarch	Common Black-eye	Brown Playboy


Sapphire	Scarlet Tip	Large Blue Emperor	Dwarf Blue	Apricot Playboy


Blue Pansey	Black-striped Hairtail	Natal Barred Blue	Foxy Charaxes

	11 January 2013 Surcharge 1997 30t Kurrichane Trush Surcharged with P7. creating a P7.30t value
1997 Original 30t Definitive		2013 P7.30t Surcharge

2014 Bird of Botswana
Designs by Gwithie Kirby - Printed in Litho by Enschede, Haarlem - Netherlands


Harlequin Quail	Burchell's Sandgrouse	Purple Gallinule	Pied Avocet	Kori Bustard


African Spoonbill	Southern Red Bishop	African Skimmer	Blue Waxbill	Paradise Flycatcher

		13 May 2014 Bird Definitives SG 1192 - 1205 14 Values
Secretary Bird	Bradfield's Hornbill	13 May 2014 Bird Definitives SG 1192 - 1205 14 Values	Spotted Eagle Owl	Southern Red Bishop

Names of Birds in English followed by their Latin name

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