The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century.
The Orange Free State was annexed to the British Crown and renamed the Orange River Colony on 28 May 1900. In 1910 this colony along with Cape of Good Hope, Natal and Transvaal formed the Union of South Africa.
The first Orange Free State stamps were issued in 1868. The sole design used was an orange tree, with the inscription "Oranje Vrij Staat" in the margin. The stamps were typographed by De La Rue and Company, and came in denominations from one penny to five shillings, in various colours. Periodic shortages forced the use of overprints, in 1877, 1881, 1882, 1888, 1890, 1892, 1896, and 1897. The stamps of the republic are generally common today, but some of the overprints are scarce. Many kinds of overprint errors are known (inverted, double, etc.), and some of them command high prices.
In 1900, the British occupied the Republic and the previous stamps were overprinted "V.R.I." (Victoria Regina Imperatrix, Latin for Victoria, Queen and Empress) and the same value of the original stamps. The colony was renamed in August 1900 and used Cape of Good Hope stamps overprinted with the new name "ORANGE/RIVER/COLONY." In 1902 a single 6d stamp was overprinted as the original occupation issues but with "E.R.I." (Edward Rex Imperator, for Edward VII) instead of "V.R.I.". In 1903 a set was issued portraying King Edward VII, a springbok and a gnu. This set was printed again in 1905-1909, and is the last set of the colony. [1]
A variety of revenue stamps were issued both for the Orange Free State and the Orange River Colony. The Orange Free State revenues were also postally used.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland Protectorate.
The following lists events that happened during 1906 in South Africa.
General elections were held in South Africa on 15 September 1910 to elect the 121 members of the House of Assembly. They were the first general election after the Union of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910.
The South African Postal Union Convention was signed during 1897, and came into effect on 1 January 1898.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Cape of Good Hope.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British Bechuanaland.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of South Africa.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Zimbabwe.
The Mosely Collection of British Africa stamps dating to 1935 was formed by Dr Edward Mosely of Johannesburg, South Africa. The collection was donated to the British Museum by his daughter, Kathleen Cunningham, in 1946 and is now held as part of the British Library Philatelic Collections. After the Tapling Collection, this is considered the Library's most important philatelic acquisition due to the number of countries represented and the number of unique items included.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Griqualand West, a former British colony that is now part of South Africa.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Transvaal, formerly known as the South African Republic.
South Africa issued revenue stamps from 1910 to 2009. Apart from national issues various provinces of the country issued revenues from around 1855 to c. 1970.
Archibald George Mount Batten was a British insurance industry executive and philatelist who was a specialist in the stamps of the Orange Free State. In 1976, he was awarded the Crawford Medal by the Royal Philatelic Society London for his work The Orange Free State - its postal offices and their markings 1868-1910 and in 1981 he was the first non South African to be elected to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists of South Africa. His collection of Orange Free State postmarks and covers received over 30 medals worldwide.
Basutoland, now known as Lesotho, first issued revenue stamps in 1900 and continues to do so.
Bechuanaland first issued revenue stamps as Stellaland in 1884. Note: this information is wrong. Bechuanaland was split into British Bechuanaland and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. British Bechuanaland was added to the Cape Colony and the Bechuanaland Protectorate was governed from Mafeking until the seat of government was moved to Gaberone.
The South African Republic (ZAR), later known as Transvaal issued revenue stamps from 1875 to around 1950. There were a number of different stamps for several taxes.
Cape of Good Hope issued revenue stamps from 1864 to 1961. There were a number of different stamps for several taxes.
