Stories behind the stamps

Today we are going to show a case of religious reasons for withdrawing an issue.

November 19, 1987, South Africa Postal Authorities intended to issue a four-stamp set to commemorate the Bible Society of South Africa, which was founded in 1820.

However, one of the stamps, the 40c stamp contained two lines of script, one in Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, and one in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. Both of the lines contained the word “God”.

The Orthodox Jewish community protested that the stamps were a serious transgression of Judaic law, which says that God’s name may appear only in the Torah and prayer books. It was not permissable for God's name to be torn, cancelled or defaced in any way, especially during mail handling process.

o offense had been intended by the Postal Authorities and they quickly recalled the 40c stamps from the Post Offices across South Africa, before the initial release date.

The stamps were prepared to be destroyed in the interests of religious harmony. However, they were informed this was equally unacceptable to the Jewish community and were told that the stamps should be buried.

The Postal Authorities decided that was a step too far and the stamps were duly destroyed.

It is understood that some of the smaller Post Offices were running short of 40c stamps and opened their parcels before the official release date. They were sold over the counter with many being used for postage. It is believed that less than 1300 stamps exist.