ORANGE FREE STATE, 1868 issue

Return To Catalogue - Orange Free State, 1900 onwards and miscellaneous - Orange Free State, cancels - South Africa

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.

Up to 1881, stamps of Orange Free State were only valid locally. Letters to other countries had to bear additional stamps from Cape of Good Hope, Transvaal or Natal. The language on the stamps of Orange Free State is Dutch.

1868 Orange tree, inscription "Oranje Vrij Staat"

  Half (1/2) p brown
  Half (1/2) p yellow
  Een (1) p brown
  Een (1) p violet
  Twee (2) p violet
  Drie (3) p blue
  Vier (4) p blue
  Zes (6) p red
  1 Sh orange
  1 Sh brown
  5 Sh green

These stamps have perforation 14.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged

  '1/2 d' (6 types) on 3 p blue
  'Halve Penny' on 3 p blue
  '1/2 d' and bar on 5 Sh green
  '1 d' and bar (4 types) on 5 Sh green
  '1 d' on 3 p blue
  '1 d' on 4 p blue
  '2 d' on 3 p blue
  '2 1/2 d.' on 3 p blue
  '2 1/2' on 3 p blue
  '3 d' and bar (5 types) on 4 p blue
  '4' (4 types) on 6 p red (1877)

5 types of the '1/2 d' on 3 p

The four types of the '4' overprint

The five types of the 3d overprint

(Sometimes the bar has disappeared or been displaced on the "Halve Penny" on 3 p issue)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged "V.R.I." (Victoria Regina Imperatrix) and value (1900)

  'VRI 1/2 d' on 1/2 p orange
  'VRI 1 d' on 1 p violet
  'VRI 2 d' on 2 p violet
  'VRI 2 1/2' on 3 p blue
  'VRI 3 d' on 3 p blue
  'VRI 4 d' on 4 p blue
  'VRI 6 d' on 6 p red
  'VRI 6 d' on 6 p blue
  'VRI 1 S' on 1 Sh brown
  'VRI 5 S' on 5 Sh green

The 'V.R.I.' overprint exists with the stops behind the letters lower or higher. I have also seen several errors with the dots omitted or even the 'V' placed too far to the left. The overprint was performed by the firm Curling & Co in Bloemfontein.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Further surcharged (1902)

  '4 d' and bar (red) on 'V.R.I. 6 d' on 6 p blue
  'One Shilling *' (red) on 'V.R.I. 5 S' on 5 Sh green

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Overprinted "ERI"

  'ERI 6 d' on 6 p blue

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Mystery item 'Halve Penny.' and '1/2' on 3 p blue

These stamps overprinted "TELE-GRAAF" or "TF" were used as telegraph stamps, examples:

Manual "TELEGRAAF" overprint from 1885, exists on the values 1 p, 3 p, 6 p and 1 Sh

Five types of the overprint "TF" exist. Futhermore stamps with overprint "V.R.I. AT" (Army Telegraph), these were also used for telegraphic purposes. Fiscal stamps also exist with overprint "TELEGRAAF" or "TF".

Page from the Fournier Album of Philatelic forgeries with some examples of Fournier's forged overprints of Orange Free State and Transvaal.

I have also seen stamps overprinted with "BW", this overprint stands for "BANK WISSEL" (=bank draft). I've also seen stamps with "B.D." (=Bank Draft) overprint.

"B W" and "B.D." overprints

Army Telegraph: Another overprint consists of "V.R.I." on top and "AT" below (1 p, 3 p, 6 p, 1 Sh and 5 Sh).

"V.R.I. A T" overprint (Army Telegraph)

According to the Forbin guide an overprint "Ord. 22. 85" exists on the values 1 p brown, 3 p blue, 6 p red and 1 Sh yellow. The overprint is in red on the 1 p and in violet on the other values.

"Ord 22-85." overprint (succession rights fiscal stamps)

For typical cancels of Orange Free State, click here.

The 6 p blue was never issued without overprint (prepared in 1897):

Postcards:

Cut from a postcard, design as postage stamp, inscription "BRIEF KAART", reduced size.

'Halve penny' green with 'V.R.I. 1/2 d' overprint.

The following postal stationery was issued:
1/2 p green (inscription "ORANJE VRIJ STAAT ANTWOORD BETAALD BRIEF KAART BINNENLANDSCHE DIENST", issued January 1898)
1 p brown (inscription "ORANJE VRIJ STAAT ANTWOORD BETAALD BRIEF KAART'', issued January 1898)
1 p yellow (also orange, inscription "BRIEF KAART", issued 1884)
1/2 p red (inscription "BRIEF KAART", issued 1898).
They also exist with surcharge '1/2 d.' on 1 p yellow (1891 provisional issue) and "V.R.I" and value overprint (with "V.R.I" in two types).

Type 1 overprint, reduced sizes

Type 2 overprint

Postcards were also made with postage stamps, overprinted with the arms of Orange Free State (with inscription "VRIJHEID GEDULD EN MOED IMMIGRATIE", see pictures above). Two types exist, Type one with flags outside the arms and Type two without flags. These provisional issues were issued in 1889. The whole postcard was printed in one go (including the arms, the text "BRIEF KAART", lines for the address etc.).

Forgeries:

Several forgeries exist: A good overview of this and other forgeries can be found at http://www.ymw18.dial.pipex.com/ofs/catalog/forged/forger.html. It mentions the book of Buckley and Marriott for more information. Besides the rather common Spiro forgeries, this site mentions a forgery with a the base of the "j" almost level with the other letters (exists for the 6 p, 1 Sh and 5 Sh values, see image below). Unfortunately no image is available on this site. Also a third forgery of the 5 Sh with a larger dot above the "j" (an image can be found on the above mentioned website with a forged "1" numeral cancel) and more pronounced serifs to the "V" (see also the image below). Especially the forged overprints on genuine stamps are very dangerous!

Spiro forgeries: the examples given below are made by Spiro (note the strange cancels and that the perforation is wrong). There are 4 values of these forgeries: 1 p brown, 6 p red, 4 p greyish (instead of blue), and 1 Sh orange.

(A full sheet of Spiro forgeries, reduced size)

A forgery with a the base of the "j" almost level with the other letters

I presume this is the third forgery of the above mentioned website, with a larger dot on the "j" of "Oranje" and more pronounced serifs on the "V". Furthermore, I've noticed that the second "a" of "Staat" does not have a tail and that the "t" of this word ends level with the dot behind it. In all the genuine stamps I've seen the curl of the "t" ends well to the right of the dot behind it. Next to it a cancelled forgery.

Some cuts from a commemorative card issued in the 1980's by the South African Post Office (reduced size). See also: http://www.ymw18.dial.pipex.com/ofs/catalog/forged/forger.html. The cancel appears always to be in the same position "BLOEMFONTEIN 25". A 1 Sh is shown on this website.

I presume that the next forgery is a so-called Hialeah forgery, it was made recently with a computer scanner and printer. They were offered in large quantities on Ebay in 2003 and 2004. These forgeries are printed on modern paper, the design is very unclear and usually the size is wrong (though I don't know the size of this particular forgery):

(Hialeah forgery)

Some forged '3d' overprints from the forgery Fournier (image taken from a Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries), reduced sizes.

Presumably another forgery. The "E" of "Een" is touching the line above it. The perforation is totally wrong. It has 'Falso' written on the back.

Orange Free State, 1900 onwards and miscellaneous

Websites

http://www.orangefreestatephilately.org.uk/stampsrepublic.html with a lot of images and information on the stamps of Orange Free State.

http://www.postmarks.co.za/PH%20ORC%20BONCS.htm

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer