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Telegraph stamps of the World Click here for a site-map.

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Up a level							Not my site, but a good reference:
GB	Ceylon	Hong Kong	India	Jamaica	Natal	OFS	Australia and states
Up a level							by Dave Elsmore.
Other Africa	Sarawak	Sudan	Transvaal	Uganda	New South Wales	Western Australia	Other Australia

Orange Free State.

Steve Hiscocks wrote:
Sources differ on the date of the first telegraph service in the Orange Free State (OFS) with some setting it in 1885 with the issue of the first specifically
Telegraph stamps and others some five years earlier with the suggestion that postage or fiscal stamps, pen-cancelled, were used initially. All telegraph
stamps throughout the issuing period were 'provisionals' — postage or fiscal stamps overprinted 'Telegraaf' or 'TF'. The overprinting was done
by C. Borkenhagen in Bloemfontein using the same types used in printing the local newspaper which probably accounts for the wide variety of
types used and the somewhat inaccurate type-setting leading to many errors and varieties. The telegraph stamps were very occasionally used for
postage, either by accident or to fill a temporary shortage, but this was frowned upon and perhaps 99% of so-called 'postally used' telegraph
stamps derive from the fact that many small offices used the same cancellations for both purposes.

With the take-over by the British in 1901 and the change to the Orange River Colony (ORC) the same stamps continued in use but now overprinted V.R.I.
(Victoria Regina Imperator) for public use and, additionally, AT (Army Telegraphs) for military use. It would seem that the same printer was retained!
There appears to have been no rule against the sale of telegraph stamps to the public and, although in theory no used stamps should have reached the
market, in practice large numbers were 'liberated' by departing Boer postmasters and, no doubt, by their arriving British counterparts. Those issued
for a few years before 1901 are thus relatively common in used condition while the earlier ones had already been officially destroyed by then and
are much less common. Some overprint errors, such as double, inverted or at extreme angles may be met with.
This is because there was no 'printers waste' allowance, and every stamp was issued regardless.

Chapter 1 of Volume 2 in the table above contains maps and a list of Offices which could be very useful to anyone trying to identify a place from a cancel on a stamp.
I have therefore created this V2Ch1 html version of it for convenience.

September 1885 - 1st Telegraph Issue.

Initially the current postage stamps were overprinted with type-1 in Red, Violet or Black, reading in various directions.
The first printing was reported to be 100 sheets of 1s (240 stamps per sheet); 100 sheets of 6d; 50 sheets of 3d and 50 sheets of 1d. Anticipated to be sufficient for four months.



This shows two rows of six stamps from the left-hand pane of a sheet, together with the gutter running down the middle of the sheet.
I have not actually seen any gutter pairs, but in principle they could exist, though it was probably normal practice to divide the panes before overprinting.
The overprinting was by handstamping leading to some variability of the result - Image courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

H1	H1a courtesy of Jack Koster.	H1b pair courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

H2a	H2b	* H2d	H3a mint pair	H3a used
One of mine.	Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.		Courtesy of Ian Paterson.

Though the early ones looked fairly neat and tidy, the later ones deteriorated so that often hyphen and/or stop could not be seen.
Hiscocks described the H3a overprint colour as 'red', Ian Paterson describes it as 'magenta'. Personally I think it's carmine .
Either way, it isn't violet or black, and is prone to showing through the back. I have not yet seen an overprint on the 3d reading downwards.

Presumably the different overprint colours related to different printings.

H4	H4b - 2 examples	H4c	H5
One of mine.	Courtesy of Jack Koster.	Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

H6	H6a	H6a used	H6 used
Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.		Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	Courtesy of Bram Leeflang

3 used examples courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht. They are all pen cancelled, which was normal for telegraph and fiscal usage,
but the shilling stamp also has a telegraph cancel giving it more credibility. The last example shows more of the oval cancel, with O. V. S. at the bottom. The overprint is very dark violet.
The second overprint also looks reasonable, but I'm not convinced about the first.

RH # Hisc. First issue Description Mint Used RH1 H1 1d lake-brown, Ovp.Violet, vertically down. 25.00 10.00 RH1a H1a         reading vertically up. 30.00 12.00 RH1b H1b         reading diagonally. 35.00 15.00 RH1c H1c         overprint double. 120.00 80.00 RH2 H2 3d ultramarine, Ovp.Violet, vertically down. 35.00 15.00 RH2a H2a         reading vertically up. 30.00 12.00 RH2b H2b         reading diagonally. 40.00 17.00 RH2c H2c         overprint double. 120.00 80.00 *RH2d -         overprint diagonal inverted. - - RH3 H3 3d ultramarine, Ovp.Red, vertically down. 120.00 40.00 RH3a H3a         reading vertically up. 120.00 40.00 RH3b H3b         reading diagonally. 140.00 45.00 RH3c H3c         overprint double. 240.00 160.00 RH4 H4 6d rose(shades), Ovp.Violet, vertically down. 32.00 12.00 RH4a H4a         reading vertically up. 35.00 13.00 RH4b H4b         reading horizontally. 40.00 15.00 RH4c H4c         reading diagonally. 37.00 14.00 RH4d H4d         overprint double. 120.00 100.00 RH5 H5 6d rose(shades), Ovp.Black, reading horizontally. 160.00 50.00 RH5a H5a         reading diagonally. 170.00 55.00 RH6 H6 1s yellow-orange, Ovp.Violet, vertically down. 250.00 125.00 RH6a H6a         reading vertically up. 260.00 130.00 RH6b -         reading horizontally. 270.00 140.00 RH6c -         reading diagonally. 265.00 135.00 RH6d H6b         overprint double. 350.00 325.00 RH7 - 1s yellow-orange, Ovp.Black, vertically down.  300.00 150.00 RH7a -         reading vertically up. 315.00 160.00 RH8 H7 5s bluish green (unissued), Ovp.Black, vertically down.   800.00 - RH8a H7a         reading vertically up. 800.00 - * I have added RH2d due to the example illustrated.

A block of RH4c showing variability courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe. Whilst the early ones were generally vertical, later ones were always stamped horizontally or diagonally.

RH8a ? Timothy Bartshe tells that this is from an eBay sale. Sorry, I do not know who to attribute, if it's you, please get in touch. The overprint is clearly forged. The 'T' and 'G' are totally wrong and it has a stop before 'GRAAF'. On top of that, cancellation of these was normally by initials in pen. This has a postal cancellation. I would really like to be able to illustrate an example of a genuine RH8 or RH8a (if such a thing exists). Can anyone help with that ?

These overprints were poor quality and often parts are missing, especially the period and hyphen.
The orientation and position is also highly variable. The 5s is not known to have been issued.

September 1886 - 2nd Telegraph Issue.

Revenue stamps overprinted as above, 60 stamps (6 x 10) per sheet.



Block of RH9 showing overprint variability, courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s   RH9	1s   RH10 pair
Courtesy of ibredguy.co.uk.	Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s   RH10	1s   RH11	1s   RH11
A couple of mine.		Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s   RH9 - signature of R-van-Acton (Heilbron 1888-98 then  then Winburg)	1s   RH9 - Barred 16 (Wepener)	1s   RH9a - overprint doubled
Images courtesy of Jack Koster.		Image courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

Other 11-barred numerals: 8 = Boshof; 11 = Bethlehem; 12 = Rouxville; 17 = Ladybrand; 20 = Brandfort; 25 = Frankfort; 29 = Senekal; K = Zastron

1s   RH10 / 10a pair - overprint doubled on second

Images courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

 
A couple of presumed bogus items. There is no record that genuine overprints of this type were ever applied to these stamps. Images courtesy of Les Bottomley.

April(?) 1888 - 3rd Telegraph Issue.

Revenue stamps as above overprinted T  F.



Block of RH12 showing broken bar under 'li' at top centre and various damaged letters of the overprint. This is the largest known multiple, courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

Strip of four RH12 showing gap in bar 7mm left of 'E' of 'Een' on the third stamp. The 'n' of 'Een' and the 'g' are also damaged. This is the second largest known multiple, courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

		Detail from first stamp of strip.		It is known that the basic stamp was in 10 rows of 6 stamps. In principle, the forme used for overprinting could be of the full 60 impressions, or only 3 x 10 applied twice. This strip is important because in the latter case there would only be 3 different stamps on each row. These details from the first and last stamps of the strip show that the spacing between the 'g' to the stop is different, so the forme must have had the full 60 impressions.		1s on 7s ('TF' 8.2 x 2.9mm)   RH12. The bar typically stops short of the ends of the row.
		Detail from last stamp of strip.

RH12a - bar missed, manuscript bar added.	RH12b error - 'Shiliing'.	RH12d gap in bar under 'n' of 'Shilling' and 10mm left of 'E'.
Image courtesy of Jack Koster.	Images courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.	Image courtesy of Jack Koster.

RH12e gap in bar under 'E' of 'Een'.	RH12f wide gap (3mm) in bar under 'n' of 'Een'.	RH12g gap in bar under 'S' of 'Shilling'.
Images courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.	Image courtesy of Jack Koster.	Images courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

RH12h gap in bar under 'li' of 'Shilling'.	RH12j gap in bar 7mm left of 'E' of 'Een'.
Images courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

Hiscocks' reference to two bars in H11a probably refers to the overprint plus a manuscript penstroke through the value, missed by the overprint.
This was sometimes done to ensure the old value was obliterated.

September(?) 1888 - 4th Telegraph Issue.

Revenue stamps overprinted as above.

1s on 8s ('TF' 6.6 x 2.9mm)   RH13	1s on 8s RH13c - error - 'Shiiling'.	1s on 8s RH13d - gap in bar under 'n' of 'Shilling'.
Image Courtesy of ibredguy.co.uk.	Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 8s RH13e - gap in bar under space between 'n' and 'S'.	1s on 8s RH13h - gap in bar 1.5mm right of stop.	1s on 8s RH13i - 'T' 3.4mm, 'F' 2.9mm.
Image courtesy of Jack Koster.	Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 8s RH13j - broken 'g' in 'Shilling'.	1s on 8s ('TF' 6.6 x 3.4mm) RH14.	1s on 8s ('TF' 6.6 x 3.4mm) RH14b - error - 'Ecn'.
Courtesy Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.	Courtesy of Jack Koster.	Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 8s RH14f - gap 8mm right of stop, or 7.2mm left of 'Een'.	1s on 8s RH14h - gap in bar under 'S' of 'Shilling'.	1s on 8s RH14i - gap in bar under the stop. Signed (inverted) ARA by A. R. Ashman who was at Edenburg in 1895
Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 8s RH14j - gap under 'ili' of variety 'Shiliing'.	1s on 8s RH14k - gap in bar 4mm right of stop.
Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 8s RH14m - gap in bar just left of 'Een' and under 'lli'.	1s on 9s ('TF' 6.6 x 2.9mm)   RH15	1s on 9s   RH15d - gap in bar under 'n' of 'Shilling'.
Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 9s   RH15e - gap in bar under space between 'n' and 'S'.	1s on 9s   RH15g - gap in bar under 'ill' with short bar to right.	1s on 9s   RH15i - gap in bar 3.0 mm right of stop.
Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 9s ('TF' 6.6 x 3.4mm)   RH16	1s on 9s   RH16e - gap 3.5 mm left of 'E' in 'Een'. Bar short to right.	1s on 9s   RH16f - gap 7.2 mm right of stop, or 8 mm left of 'Een'.
One of mine.	Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 9s   RH16g - wide gap in bar under 'E' of 'Een'.	1s on 9s   RH16j - gap under 'ili' of variety 'Shiliing'.
Courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s on 9s   RH16 - bar shifted downwards. Signed (inverted) NJAG for N.J.A. Galloway, Wepener 1898.	1s on 9s   RH16 - no bar. Top row ? Same cancel, sideways.
Images courtesy of Jack Koster..

On the first, the bar is sloping downwards and part of the bar from the stamp above can be seen at the top.
On the second, no bar is apparent. Presumably this was from the top row of the sheet. Used at Wepener.

* Hiscocks notes: "Morley describes the error on 13c and 15c as being all in capital letters.
This seems likely to be a printing error in Morley (of which there are many!)."

On H13f, depending on the placement of the overprint, that may be off the edge of the stamp.
8mm to the right is about 32mm to the left.

1888 - 5th Telegraph Issue.

These and the rest of the TF overprints, were produced by Borckenhagen on existing postage stamps by overprinting 'T F'.

Postage stamps as Type-1 shown above, overprinted 'T F' 6.5 x 2.8mm

1d   RH17	3d   RH18	6d   RH19	1s   RH20

RH17, RH19 and RH20 are courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

The "overprint misplaced horizontally." error on the 6d have the " T " on the right, and the " F " on the left. The others are not quite so bad.

1890 ? - 6th Telegraph Issue.

Overprinted 'T F' 6.75 x 2.8mm (as above) but thicker letters.

3d   RH21	6d   RH22	1s   RH23

3d   RH21a - " F T "	6d   RH22b and RH22a - " F T "	6d   RH22d - dropped 'F'.
Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

6d   RH22e - 'T' and 'F' further apart.	6d   RH22i - 'slug' between.	1s   RH23a - " F T "	1s   RH23 and RH23f - 'TF' closely spaced.	1s   RH23g - overprint misplaced.
Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

RH # Hisc. Issue 6 description Mint Used RH21 H20 3d ultramarine. 10.00 3.75 RH21a H20a         error - 'F T'. 75.00 50.00 RH21b H20b         error - 'F T' with broken 'F'. 75.00 50.00 RH21c H20c         error - dropped 'T'. 40.00 15.00 RH21d H20d         error - dropped 'F'. 40.00 15.00 RH22 H21 6d rose to rose-carmine. 10.00 3.75 RH22a H21a         error - 'F T'. 75.00 70.00 RH22b H21b         error - 'F T' with broken 'F'. 75.00 70.00 RH22c H21c         error - dropped 'T'. 40.00 15.00 RH22d H21d         error - dropped 'F'. 40.00 15.00 RH22e H21e         'T' and 'F' further (4mm) apart. 40.00 15.00 RH22f H21f         overprint double. 125.00 125.00 RH22g H21g         overprint double - 'T F' offset on reverse.   200.00 200.00 RH22h -         'TF' closely spaced. 50.00 20.00 RH22i -         'slug' between ' F ' and ' T '. 75.00 70.00 RH22j H21h         overprint inverted. - - RH23 H22 1s yellow-orange. 10.00 3.75 RH23a H22a         error - 'F T'. 75.00 50.00 RH23b H22b         error - 'F T' with broken 'F'. 75.00 50.00 RH23c H22c         error - dropped 'T'. 40.00 15.00 RH23d H22d         error - dropped 'F'. 40.00 15.00 RH23e H22e         'T' and 'F' further (4mm) apart. 40.00 15.00 RH23f -         'TF' closely spaced. 50.00 20.00 RH23g H22f         overprint misplaced horizontally. 75.00 50.00		Top stamp is RH22 - TF Bottom stamp is RH22a - FT	Top stamp is RH22 Both stamps are RH22f - doubled.
		Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

H21h, inverted overprint, was reported, but none have been seen. It was likely a forgery.

1889 ? - 7th Telegraph Issue (1s) and 8th (6d).

Postage stamps as Type-1 shown above, small 'T F' overprint, slightly different on the two values.

6d   RH24 - De Wetsdorp cancel	6d   RH24 - mint	1s   RH25 - used	1s   RH25 - mint
Image courtesy of Jack Koster..	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.		Image courtesy of Jack Koster..

1891 - 9th Telegraph Issue.

Postage stamps as Type-1 shown above, with 'T F' overprint.
There are two different overprints on the same sheets, so that pairs exist with one of each.

1d   RH26	1d   RH29	6d   RH30	1s   RH28	1s   RH31
Some of mine.			Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

RH30 has a postal cancel of Bethlehem, however it may still have been telegraphic use, since the staff of busy offices often may have used the wrong hand-stamp.
In small offices there may only have been one hand-stamp for everything.

1s   RH27c 1s   RH31b Narrow setting images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.				Pair of RH26b (or RH29b), courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe. The top half of the sheet was RH26 stamps, and the bottom half was RH29.		RH29 at the top RH29c (narrow) at the bottom, courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe. <—————— The cancel used on these, repeated again on the left for clarity, has "Office of the Manager of Telegraphs" over "Oranje Vry Staat" with BLOEMFONTEIN in the middle. This image also courtesy of Hiset and Bartshe.
('T F' 9.4 x 3.9mm)		('T F' 8.8 x 3.3mm)
RH # Hisc. Issue 9 description Mint Used RH26 H25 1d lake-brown. 6.25 2.50 RH26a H25a         'T F' inverted. 125.00 50.00 RH26b H25b         se-tenant with H28.   200.00 - RH27 H26 6d rose-carmine. 6.25 2.50 RH27a H26a         overprint double. 125.00 50.00 RH27b H26b         se-tenant with H29. 200.00 - RH27c -         narrow (8.9 mm). - - RH28 H27 1s yellow-orange. 10.00 3.50 RH28a H27a         se-tenant with H30. 200.00 -		RH # Hisc. Issue 9 description Mint Used RH29 H28 1d lake-brown. 6.25 2.50 RH29a H28a         'T F' inverted. 125.00 50.00 RH29b H28b         se-tenant with H25.   200.00 - RH29c -         narrow (8.3 mm). - - RH30 H29 6d rose-carmine. 6.25 2.50 RH30a H29a         se-tenant with H26. 200.00 - RH30b -         double overprint ? - - RH31 H30 1s yellow-orange. 10.00 3.50 RH31a H30a         se-tenant with H27. 200.00 - RH31b -         narrow (8.3 mm). - -

Hisey & Bartshe reported that they had not seen any of these with inverted or double overprints. They considered them to be "dubious".
Hiscocks provided moderate prices for three such examples. I would welcome images of any of these.
Hisey & Bartshe did discover the narrow settings that I have added. They seem to be rare.
There are probably narrow versions of at least some of the other types, and I would again welcome images.

1892 - 10th Telegraph Issue (6d) and 11th (1s).

'T F.' and 'T. F.' overprints.

6d   RH32	6d   RH32b	6d   RH32 and RH32c "T E".	6d   RH32d - broken ' T '.	6d   RH32f - stop after ' T ' instead of ' F '.
One of mine.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s   RH33	1s   RH33a - extra large stop after ' T '.	1s   RH33b - large stop after ' F '.	1s   RH33c - comma after ' F '.
One of mine.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s   RH33d - no stop after ' F '.	1s   RH33e - no stop after ' T '.	1s   RH33f - no stop after ' T ' or ' F '.	1s   RH33g - no stop after 'T', raised after 'F'.
Courtesy of R. W. Hisey and R. T. Bartshe.	Courtesy of Bram Leeflang	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

1893 - 12th Telegraph Issue.

Postage stamps as Type-1 shown above with poor quality 'T F' overprints   (4.7 x 2.6mm).

1d   RH34	3d   RH34a - inverted ' TF '.	3d   RH34c - raised ' T '.	3d   RH35	3d   RH35 and RH35d - stop between ' T ' and ' F '.
Courtesy of Bram Leeflang	Images courtesy of R. W. Hisey and R. T. Bartshe.		One of mine.	Image courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

6d   RH36	6d   RH36b - raised ' F '.	6d   RH36e and RH36 - raised stop between ' T ' and ' F '.
One of mine.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

1s   RH37	1s   RH37a - 'F T' for 'T F'.	1s   RH37b - raised (broken) 'F'.	RH37f - raised stop between ' T ' and ' F '.
One of mine.	Courtesy R. W. Hisey and R. T. Bartshe.	Courtesy of Jack Koster..	Courtesy R. W. Hisey and R. T. Bartshe.

* These are the result of horizontal shifting so the F is on the extreme left and the T on the extreme right.

1898-1899 (New colours, about 4.8 x 2.7mm).

1d   RH38	1d   RH38a - raised 'F'.	RH38c - stop between 'T' and 'F'.	6d   RH39	RH39b - raised stop between ' T ' and ' F '.
One of mine.	Images courtesy of Jack Koster.		One of mine.	Courtesy R. W. Hisey and R. T. Bartshe.

1s   RH40	RH40a - raised ' F '.	RH40b - raised stop between ' T ' and ' F '.
One of mine.	Courtesy of Jack Koster.	Courtesy R. W. Hisey and R. T. Bartshe.

images of RH39b and RH40b are courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

RH # Hisc. Description Mint Used RH38 H37 1d deep mauve (May 1899) 3.00 2.00 RH38a H37a         raised 'F'.   16.00 8.00 RH38b -         raised 'T'. 16.00 8.00 RH38c -         stop between 'T' and 'F'. 32.00 20.00 RH39 H38 6d ultramarine (August 1898) 3.00 2.00 RH39a H38a         raised 'F'. 16.00 8.00 RH39b H38b         raised stop between 'T' and 'F'. 32.00 20.00 RH39c H38c         comma 4mm below 'F'. 32.00 20.00 RH39d -         raised 'T'. 16.00 8.00 RH40 H39 1s light red-brown (June 1898)   3.00 2.00 RH40a H39a         raised 'F'. 16.00 8.00 RH40b H39b         raised stop between 'T' and 'F'. 32.00 20.00 RH40c -         raised 'T'. 16.00 8.00 The block of four to the right shows the variability of the overprint. I am puzzled by the cancel however. It appears to be dated in 1919. I also have a scan of a block of six H39 with a similar type cancel used in Bloemfontein supposedly 13 January 1919. In 1910 O.V.S was part of the Union of South Africa, I will admit that I do not know what the USA used for Telegraph stamps or cancels, but these stamps should have become obsolete after 1901 and OVS became ORC in 1900. It is possible that the overprints are forged, but it still does not explain the cancel on a postage stamp used from 1894 to 1902. Perhaps the cancels on both blocks are forged. Bram Leeflang gave me the answer to this: (He cites Postmarks of the Orange Free State (1973) by Archibald. G. M. Batten pages 64-67) The answer is simple: The Anglo Boer War started on 11 October 1899 and the peace was signed on 31 May 1902, between the representatives of the British and the ex-republican Boer Republics (The peace of Vereeniging). The Orange Free State post offices were not supplied with the necessary '00' digits in 1899 to indicate the year change to 1900. War time, they had 'some' other problems to deal with! Some offices used the '19' instead of the year '1900' or no year at all.

Explanation to left.

FORGERIES.

This is fairly obvious, since this 1897 stamp was not given this 1891 overprint.
The letters are very rough when magnified, the middle bar on the ' F ' is too low, and the 1898 postmark also offers a clue.

TF on ½d	closeup	genuine

These are obvious, since these values were not overprinted. They serve to illustrate a type of forgery.
The letters are very rough when magnified, and the serifs are splayed. There are probably forgeries that are not so obvious.

TF on ½d	TF on 2d	TF closeup
FORGERIES

1901 V. R. I. overprint (series 1)

Prior to the occupation, the Orange Free State used definitive stamps overprinted 'TF' for Telegraph purposes.
Some of these were additionally overprinted 'V.R.I.' and used by the British Army from 1900 for the Orange River Colony
The overprints were created and applied by Curling & Co., of Bloemfontein.
These stamps were in sheets having 10 rows of 6 stamps, giving 60 positions. The position/s of varieties in the sheet is given in brackets.

1d   RH41, courtesy of Bram Leeflang. 1d   RH41b 3d   RH42 3d   RH42j - double overprint, courtesy of R.W. Hisey and R.T. Bartshe Another RH42j courtesy of  Deverell & Macgregor click image for listing. 6d   RH43 6d   RH43b (positions 6,30,55) 6d   RH43b (Large stops, position 53) Images of and information for H43b kindly supplied by Bruce Warrender.   1s   RH44 1s   RH44h courtesy of Jack Koster 1s   RH44n*

RH41c and RH41d, courtesy of Bruce Warrender. The cancel of  HS  7.V.01.  M-  confuses things.

RH # Hisc. Description Mint Used RH41 H40 1d deep mauve 5.00 3.75 RH41a H40a         raised 'F' in 'TF' 20.00 10.00 RH41b H40b         'V' stop low (6, 30, 53, 55) 30.00 20.00 RH41c H40c         'V' and ' I ' stops low; all stops larger (52)   40.00 30.00 RH41d H40d         'R' and ' I ' stops low; ' I ' dropped (58) 40.00 30.00 RH41e H40e         no left serif on 'V' (4, 57) 40.00 30.00 RH41f H40f         'R' stop low (46) 40.00 30.00 RH41g H40g         'R' and ' I ' stops low (40) 40.00 30.00 RH41h H40h          ' I ' stop low (11, 36) 40.00 30.00 RH41i H40i         nick in curve of 'R' (16) 40.00 30.00 RH41j H40j         in gutter pair with 'V.R.I.' omitted 1000.00 - RH41k H40k         'TT' altered to 'TF' 50.00 40.00 RH41l H40l         ' I ' almost omitted 40.00 30.00 RH42 H41 3d ultramarine 10.00 8.75 RH42a H41a         raised 'F' in 'TF' 25.00 15.00 RH42b H41b         'V' stop low (6, 30, 53, 55) 30.00 20.00 RH42c H41c         'V' and ' I ' stops low; all stops larger (52) 40.00 30.00 RH42d H41d         'R' and  ' I ' stops low; ' I ' dropped (58) 40.00 30.00 RH42e H41e         no left serif on 'V' (4, 57) 40.00 30.00 RH42f H41f         'R' stop low (46) 40.00 30.00 RH42g H41g         'R' and ' I ' stops low (40) 40.00 30.00 RH42h H41h         ' I ' stop low (11, 36) 40.00 30.00 RH42i H41i         nick in curve of 'R' (16) 40.00 30.00 RH42j H41j         'V.R.I.' overprint double 150.00 125.00 RH42k H41k         'TT' altered to 'TF' 50.00 40.00 RH42l H41l         ' I ' almost omitted 40.00 30.00 RH42m H41m         'FT' for 'TF' 75.00 50.00 RH42n H41n         much of 'V.R.I.' omitted 75.00 50.00

RH # Hisc. Description Mint Used RH43 H42 6d ultramarine 10.00 7.50 RH43a H42a         raised 'F' in 'TF' 25.00 15.00 RH43b H42b         'V' stop low (6, 30, 53, 55) 30.00 20.00 RH43c H42c         'V' and ' I ' stops low; all stops larger (52)   40.00 30.00 RH43d H42d         'R' and ' I ' stops low; ' I ' dropped (58) 40.00 30.00 RH43e H42e         no left serif on 'V' (4, 57) 40.00 30.00 RH43f H42f         'R' stop low (46) 40.00 30.00 RH43g H42g         'R' and ' I ' stops low (40) 40.00 30.00 RH43h H42h         ' I ' stop low (11, 36) 40.00 30.00 RH43i H42i         nick in curve of 'R' (16) 40.00 30.00 RH43j H42j         ' I ' almost omitted 40.00 30.00 RH43k H42k         'TT' altered to 'TF' 50.00 40.00 RH43l H42l         'stop' between ' T ' and 'F' 40.00 30.00 RH43m H42m         comma 4mm below 'F' 40.00 30.00 RH44 H43 1s light red-brown 7.50 5.00 RH44a H43a         raised 'F' in 'TF' 15.00 10.00 RH44b H43b         'V' stop low (6, 30, 53, 55) 20.00 15.00 RH44c H43c         'V' and ' I ' stops low; all stops larger (52) 40.00 30.00 RH44d H43d         'R' and ' I ' stops low; ' I ' dropped (58) 40.00 30.00 RH44e H43e         no left serif on 'V' (4, 57) 40.00 30.00 RH44f H43f         'R' stop low (46) 40.00 30.00 RH44g H43g         'R' and ' I ' stops low (40) 40.00 30.00 RH44h H43h         ' I ' stop low (11, 36) 40.00 30.00 RH44i H43i         nick in curve of 'R' (16) 40.00 30.00 RH44j H43j         'V.R.I.' misplaced and slanting 150.00 125.00 RH44k H43k         'TT' altered to 'TF' 50.00 40.00 RH44l H43l         ' I ' almost omitted 40.00 30.00 RH44m H43m         'stop' between 'T' and 'F' 40.00 30.00 *RH44n -         dropped 'F' in 'TF' 40.00 30.00

RH41c,RH42c,RH43c,RH44c. Pos 53 (larger stops, R & I) RH41d,RH42d,RH43d,RH44d. RH41e,RH42e,RH43e,RH44e. RH41f,RH42f,RH43f,RH44f. Positions 5, 7. Position 32. Position 22. Position 12. Pos 39. RH41i,RH42i,RH43i,RH44i. Position 36. Position 31. RH41b,RH42b,RH43b,RH44b Positions 40, 46. Positions 11, 36, 40. Variety illustrations courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

The overprints were in panes of 10 rows of 6. Numbers in brackets are positions within the pane of 60.
*RH44n has been added due to the example shown above, courtesy of Bruce Warrender.

1901 (series 2)
The 6d is of the (unissued 1899) Issue 13

The V. R. I. overprints were the same as above and subject to the same flaws.

6d   RH45 (wide 'T F', 6.8mm). On what would have been issue 13.	6d   RH45f ('R' stop low). Courtesy of Jack Koster - Ex Hiscocks.	6d   RH45h (' I ' stop low). Courtesy of Jack Koster - Ex Hiscocks.	1d on 1d  RH46e - courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

1d on 1d  RH46 -  FORGERY	Closeup - the R, F are particularly wrong, so is the d	Comparison

The image of the RH46 forgery is kindly provided by Bas van der Hoek.

Variety illustrations shown above are applicable to these.

* For RH45a, I would take that as being significant dispacement, as all of these overprints normally have some variability in placement.
ƒType RH47 is supposedly similar to RH46 but with a tall-thin 'TF' in blue-black ink. It would seem to be bogus, an attempted forgery of RH46.
(see Volume 2(pdf) page 49)

1903 (March ?, series 3)

6d on 2d   R RH48	6d on 2d   R RH48b (' 1 ' for ' I ' )	6d on 2d   R RH48c	6d on 2d   R RH48e
Ex-Hiscocks. Courtesy of Jack Koster.	Ex-Hiscocks. Courtesy of Jack Koster.	Image courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.	Image courtesy of Bram Leeflang.

1903 (March ?, series 3)

1s on 3d   RH49c	1s on 3d   RH49c   (position 21)	1s on 3d   RH49a / RH49d
Image courtesy of Bram Leeflang.	Image courtesy of Bruce Warrender	Image courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

The last image provided by Bruce Warrender shows how the overprints are combined,
The 'V. R. I.' plus '3d' was originally for postage stamps, followed by 'T' and also 'One Shilling' and bar
It seems strange that they did not simply apply a 'TF' to the 6d on 6d and 1s on 1s values ?
The 'T' aligns differently to the 'Shilling' on these two. Also the 'g' is very different.
In fact all of the letters of "Shilling" use a variety of fonts at different positions on the sheet.
The "Six Pence" is the same font at all positions.

Types RH45 - RH49 are all relatively scarce.

(series 4)
By July 1900 the definitive stamps were being overprinted 'V.R.I./AT' and used by the British Army, although
The TF stamps were still in use at least a year later. Hiscocks listed 1d, 3d, 6d, 1s and 5s as types 49-53.

1d   RH50	3d   RH51	3d   RH51a - thick 'V'	3d   RH51c - inverted overprint.	3d   RH51h - dropped "V."
two of mine		Courtesy of Jack Koster.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

6d   RH52	6d  RH52a (thick 'V')	1s   RH53	RH53a (thick 'V'), courtesy of Jack Koster	RH53b (dropped 'V'), courtesy Jack Koster	RH53g, courtesy of Bruce Warrender.

RH # Hisc. Description Mint Used RH50 H49 1d deep mauve 10.00 7.50 RH50a H49a         thick 'V' (5, 17, 23, 39, 45, 48) 15.00 12.50 RH50b H49b         dropped 'V.' (24) 40.00 25.00 RH50c -         clipped 'V' (37) 40.00 25.00 RH50d -         both 'V' serifs damaged (2) 40.00 25.00 RH50e -         right arm of 'V' damaged (31) 40.00 25.00 RH50f -         no top serif 'R' (16) 40.00 25.00 RH50g -         top serif 'R' clipped to point (38) 40.00 25.00 RH50h -         broken comma after 'R', ' I ' clipped (60) 40.00 25.00 RH51 H50 3d ultramarine 20.00 15.00 RH51a H50a         thick 'V' (5, 17, 23, 39, 45, 48) 30.00 20.00 RH51b H50b         dropped 'V.' (24) 50.00 40.00 RH51c H50c         overprint inverted 150.00 125.00 RH51d H50d         overprint inverted and thick 'V' 250.00 200.00 RH51e H50e         overprint inverted and dropped 'V' 300.00 250.00 RH51f -         inverted and broken 'V' 300.00 250.00 RH51g -         clipped 'V' (37) 50.00 40.00 RH51h -         both 'V' serifs damaged (2) 50.00 40.00 RH51i -         right arm of 'V' damaged (31) 50.00 40.00 RH51j -         no top serif 'R' (16) 50.00 40.00 RH51k -         top serif 'R' clipped to point (38) 50.00 40.00 RH51m -         broken comma after 'R', ' I ' clipped (60) 50.00 40.00

RH # Hisc. Description Mint Used RH52 H51 6d ultramarine 10.00 7.50 RH52a H51a         thick 'V' (5, 17, 23, 39, 45, 48) 20.00 15.00 RH52b H51b         dropped 'V.' (24) 40.00 30.00 RH52c -         clipped 'V' (37) 40.00 30.00 RH52d -         both 'V' serifs damaged (2) 40.00 30.00 RH52e -         right arm of 'V' damaged (31) 40.00 30.00 RH52f -         no top serif 'R' (16) 40.00 30.00 RH52g -         top serif 'R' clipped to point (38) 40.00 30.00 RH52h -         broken comma after 'R', ' I ' clipped (60) 40.00 30.00 RH53 H52 1s light red-brown 15.00 10.00 RH53a H52a         thick 'V' (5, 17, 23, 39, 45, 48) 25.00 15.00 RH53b H52b         dropped 'V.' (24) 40.00 25.00 RH53c H52c         overprint inverted (one weakly printed) 200.00 150.00 RH53d H52d         overprint inverted and thick 'V' 250.00 200.00 RH53e H52e         overprint inverted and dropped 'V' 300.00 250.00 RH53f -         inverted and broken 'V' 300.00 250.00 RH53g -         clipped 'V' (37) 40.00 25.00 RH53h -         both 'V' serifs damaged (2) 40.00 25.00 RH53i -         right arm of 'V' damaged (31) 40.00 25.00 RH53j -         no top serif 'R' (16) 40.00 25.00 RH53k -         top serif 'R' clipped to point (38) 40.00 25.00 RH53m -         broken comma after 'R', ' I ' clipped (60) 40.00 25.00

RH50a,RH51a,RH52a,RH53a. RH50b, RH51b, RH52b, RH53b. RH50c, RH51g, RH52c, RH53g RH51h, RH51i RH51j RH51k RH51m Variety illustrations courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

1901 (series 5)

These all have the 'A T' 7.7 mm wide. The large size of the higher values is helpful in seeing the whole telegraph code.
According to Steve Hiscocks, the V. R. I. / AT overprint came out in 1901, but there is evidence that it was in 1900.

5s   RH54	5s   RH54a  - thick 'V'
One of mine.	Courtesy of Jack Koster.

10s   RH55	10s   RH55a  - thick 'V'	10s   RH55b  - low, larger stop after 'V'
Images courtesy of Jack Koster.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

10s   RH55e (Large stop after ' I ')	10s   RH55f  - inverted overprint (Kroonstad Military)	10s   RH55 with vertical displacement
Images courtesy of Jack Koster.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.	Images courtesy of Jack Koster.

£1  RH56 - courtesy of Jack Koster.	£1   RH56   with a non-Army cancel, courtesy of Ian Paterson.	£1   RH56   H- 30.V.90. N   (Heilbron, opened 31/5/1900) with a date error. Image courtesy of Elizabeth Hitchcox.

£1   RH56a   -   thick 'V'	£1   RH56d   -   broad short 'A'	£1   RH56e   HS 30.X.00. M-   (Harrismith Military, opened 7/8/1900)
Images courtesy of Jack Koster.	Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.	Images courtesy of Jack Koster.

£1   RH56f   -   "VRY-STAAT" (hyphenated). The hyphen was (erroneously) present on all three master dies and not noticed until after the leads were made. An attempt was made to remove it from all positions of all three plates (pence, shillings and pounds), but position 5 of the pound plate was missed.
Images courtesy of Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

£4   RH57  mint, courtesy of Jack Koster.	£4   RH57a   B     FN   (Bloemfontein), courtesy of Bram Leeflang.

FORGERIES.

These again are obvious, since these values were not overprinted. They serve to illustrate a type of forgery.
The letters are very rough when magnified, and the serifs are again splayed. These could also be applied to V.R.I. stamps that did not have it
The V.R.I. Telegraph stamps usually had an Army Telegraph cancel.

AT on ½d	AT on 1d	AT closeup
FORGERIES

Stationery.

A Sending Form (A) of 1898. 10 words, including names and addresses for 1/=.

Image courtesy of R. Timothy Bartshe.

The following forms are all from the Telegraph PDF. (28.7 MBytes) by Robert W. Hisey and R. Timothy Bartshe.

A similar Sending Form A of 1899.

Reverse of the form above.

Tan Form A with 1/6d franking for 36 words

Grey Form A with 1/6d franking for 35 words

Form C, Receiving Office copy

Form Ca or D, Recipients carbon copy

Form FA Press Telegram of 1895

Field Telegraph Service

Cape GPO Form 506 / T.17 printed by W. A. Richardson & Sons.

Form T.4 Delivery envelope used 1901.

Franked pieces of various sending forms:

 

 

Form C. Imperial Military Telegraphs, printed by Argus Press

Army Book 295 C. Army Telegraphs. Printed by Wyman & Sons.

GPK-PW Advice Form - Authorization.

GPK-PW Advice Form - Postmasters copy.

GPK-PW Receipt - Sending.

GPK-PW Receipt - Receiving.

There is more information and illustrations at: ORANGE FREE STATE STUDY CIRCLE
Varieties are documented in Stamps from the Orange Free State by Buckley & Marriott available from the study circle.

Comments, criticisms, information or suggestions are always welcome.

Please include the word 'Telegraphs' in the subject.

Last updated 30th. September 2023

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