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When the Union was created on 31st May 1910 there were no new
stamps available to use. Indeed the new definitive stamps were not
issued until more than three years later. The death of Edward VII
shortly before the inauguration of the Union meant that there was a
flurry of activity changing the designs and the monarch’s image on the
stamps across the British Empire. The solution was that the current
stamps of the four states continued in use, then a notice on 19th
August 1910 stated that all the current stamps could be used throughout
the new Union. Hence we see stamps of the Cape used in Natal, O.F.S.
and Transvaal and so on for each state’s stamps. Certain values are
hard to find used outside of their “home” state. This is especially
true of the high values. Transvaal was the only state to have issued
postage dues so these were used throughout the Union. The first Union
dues were not issued until 1914, but certain values were used into the
early 1920s. Strictly speaking, for a stamp to qualify as an
Interprovincial it must have a full date (falling between 19th August
1910 to 31st August 1913) and an identifiable postmark.
Pre-Union Edwardian stamps were not demonetised until 1st
January 1938 so they are found used on mail until then.
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