Emil Tamsen facts for kids
Emil Carl Christiaan Tamsen (born January 2, 1862 – died July 30, 1957) was a famous South African stamp collector. He was so good at it that his name was added to the important Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921. Later, in 1932, he also signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists of Southern Africa. Emil Tamsen was an expert on the stamps from Transvaal, a region in South Africa. He studied and wrote a lot about them. He also helped start the Johannesburg Philatelic Society in 1894.
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Emil Tamsen's Early Life
Emil Tamsen was born in Naby, Schleswig-Holstein, which was part of Denmark at the time. This was on January 2, 1862. His parents were Franz August Tamsen and Friedericke Schuffman.
When he was a teenager, Emil moved to South Africa. He even fought for the British during the First Boer War (1880–1881). He was part of the soldiers who protected Pretoria. In 1883, he left the army and moved to the Waterberg area in the Northern Transvaal. When he arrived, there were only about 25 families living there. Only two houses were in Nylstroom, where he decided to settle. He later became a citizen of the South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal Republic.
Collecting and Selling Stamps
Emil Tamsen was a friend of Boer leader Paul Kruger. Besides farming and trading, his main passion was collecting and selling stamps. He was very good at it! In the 1880s and 1890s, many people around the world were interested in stamps from Southern Africa. This was a great chance for him.
Stamps were issued by many different areas back then. These included British Bechuanaland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, British Central Africa, the British South Africa Company, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange Free State, Swaziland, Transvaal, and Zululand.
Even though these areas were very far apart, Emil Tamsen was in a perfect spot. He could get information about new stamps himself or through his helpers. Many of these were special stamps with extra printing or temporary issues. Emil got them either unused or by having them sent to him on envelopes. He was friends with Friederich Jeppe, who was the first Postmaster General of the Transvaal. Friederich also brought adhesive stamps to the area. Emil was also friends with Isaac van Alphen, who was Postmaster General during the Second Republic. Emil even bought the contents of the "dead letter office." This was where mail that couldn't be delivered ended up. By looking through it, he found many valuable stamps for his collection!
Selling Stamps at Auctions
Emil Tamsen's stamp business was very successful. Between 1899 and 1905, he sold stamps worth over £7,000 in London. This was only a part of his collection and stock! In today's money (2014), that would be about £600,000 to £700,000. He managed all this while living in a remote area of the veldt, even during the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
The war might have even made people more interested in Transvaal stamps. Emil Tamsen's first stamp auction was held by Ventom, Bull and Cooper in London on October 26, 1899. A newspaper called The Philatelic Record and Stamp News reported that people were very eager to buy. They wrote: "The war has made sales of South Africans, particularly Transvaals and Orange Free States, very lively." They even mentioned that one stamp dealer had sold out of all his current Transvaal stamps. Emil Tamsen's second sale was with the same auctioneers on January 9–10, 1900. This sale included beautiful triangular stamps from the Cape of Good Hope. His Bechuanaland stamps were sold on May 10, 1900, also through the same company.
Writing About Stamps
Emil Tamsen often wrote for Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal and its later version, Gibbons Stamp Weekly. These magazines are now known as Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He wrote about the newest stamp discoveries in Transvaal and other parts of Southern Africa. He also reported on how well stamp collecting clubs in the region were doing. In November 1904, he wrote from Nylstroom that it was hard to report on stamp news when the closest collector lived 100 miles away!
Emil Tamsen's Family Life
Emil Tamsen married Clara Pauline Richter (1866–1963). They had one son, Adolph Carl Tamsen (1892–1961). Emil Tamsen was also a Freemason, which is a member of a social and charitable organization. He passed away on July 30, 1957, in Pretoria.
