Basutoland to Lesotho - Sunday Stamps

For several weeks I had seen a set of stamps from Basutoland on my favourite market stall. I had heard of Basutoland before but would have to confess that the only thing I knew about it was that in was in southern Africa.

This week I decided that I would show some stamps from there. However the ones that had caught my attention had been sold and I had to be satisfied with these.

Basutoland/ Lesotho

Except for the one Rand stamp the others were four of the previous set I'd seen. But now they were all overprinted Lesotho.

I have since found out that Basutoland became a  British Crown Colony, or Protectorate at the request of the Chief of the Basotho in the 1880s. It became the Kingdom of Lesotho on independence from Britain on 4th October 1966. In the November Basutoland stamps were all overprinted with Lesotho. These stamps have seen many changes with their original denominations in shillings/pence before being overstamped in cents, then cents/Rand and now Lesotho. Lesotho is a landlocked kingdom surrounded by South Africa.

The frustrating thing about the Lesotho overprinting is that it obscures information about the stamp. I have since found out that;

• 1c stamp shows the Orange River
• 5c - a Herd boy with lesiba
• 12.1/2c - an aeroplane flying over Lancers' Gap
• 50c - Mission House Cave
• R1 - shearing angora goats

For those of you who don't know - I didn't: the lesiba is a stringed-wind instrument, with a quill attached to a long string acting as the main source of vibration. The quill is blown across, creating vibration in the string, usually in short notes on a small, limited scale. The lesiba's construction is unique, in that it is the only instrument in use today that is a stringed wind instrument. The lesiba is the national instrument of the Basotho. (ex wikipedia)

In the Gun War, or Basuto War of 1880-1881 the Basotho ambushed a mounted column of British Army Lancers at Qalabi, the present day Lancers' Gap.

I also picked up this colourful set of stamps which so far I have been unable to date.

Lesotho - Youth & Development

<sup>As a result of this exercise I may  now look for stamps from other places that have changed their name. Wish me luck.

Please go over to to see the choices made by others in a week when Viridian allowed us to post what we wished - Sunday-stamps-107.</sup>