OFS VRI Overprints
For the last week or so now I have ignored a small a small black mount that was lying upside-down pretty much at my feet under my desk. I thought it was just another piece of my collector's clutter to be tidied up later, debris from a picked-apart display. In my defence I have been very busy on the South African Collectors' Society website. This evening I finally got around to picking it up and.... behold, it is the item below, a rather nice pair of OFS VRI 2d overprints stops raised, an unrecorded variety with a broken '2d' - but sadly missing corner perforation.
I had a look in the SACC 2009 and did not see it listed. I think this is possibly quite rare? Any advice??
That little find prompted me to dig out some more OFS material which I have long wanted to arrange into a proper display. Sadly, the OFS is an increasingly neglected country philatelically. In the UK the OFS Study Circle seems to be waiting for Godot to come along and rediscover it. This is my attempt to breathe new life into this wonderful little Boer state in the hinterand of South Africa.
The Orange Free Sate is one of the two republican Boer States that went to war with Britian in 1899. As a consequence, when it was overrun but not yet entirely defeated, its captured stock of postage stanps were overprinted with 'V. R. I." (Victoria Regina Imperatrix) by Curling & Co. , Bloemfontein. There were two prntings made. The first was on March 1900 (SACC) or June (Stanley Gibbons). There appear to be no details on the second printing. There is, however, a difference between them. In the first printing the stops between 'V', 'R' and 'I' are level with the bottom of 'V. R. I." while in the second printing the stops are raised. You can see this below.
The top two rows are the first printing with stops level while the lower larger block shows stops raised.
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The overprinting of Orange Free State (OFS) stamps began long before the British occupied the country during the South African War of 1899 - 1902. When the Free Staters found themselves running short of a particularly popular stamp value they would overprint sheets of stamps of other values that they had large stocks of and or which were not as widely used. The first overprinting began in 1877 when the original 6d stamp 0f 1868 was surcharged (overprinted) with 4d.
Another such printing was made in 1896 when the OFS 'Drie Pence' (3d) stamp was surchaged with the '½d' value, there being an excess of sheets of of the 3d value and a shaortage of the popular ½d value . There were seven different types of " ½d" signs used in this surcharge.
Two of them are below. There are a wide variety of flaws found in this issue, none of which are listed in SACC 2008/09.
Two of these seven, listed as No. 38 - 44, can be seen above. On the lest is No. 39 and on the right is No. 41. The differences between the surcharges are quite distinctive. No. 39's ½d print appears to be breaking up. As it is a mint samp this is likely due to the type becoming worn or being poorly inked during the printing rather than any wear and tear in the post.