16-08-2025, 11:38 PM
I recently acquired two more Orange Free State (OFS) postal cards.
The first one is a 1½d. provisional card using a 2d stamp overprinted with the OFS arms (Setting 2, Die 2). The 1½ was added above the arms. The upper figure in the ½ uses a roman (serif) I and the lower element is a rather more cursive, antique 2. The I in BRIEF is fully formed ... that is, it is not missing the serif on the upper left. The address lines have been removed.
It is printed on a thick card stock. I got a micrometer from my woodturning shop and my estimate is that it is 0.4mm - within the recorded range of 0.33 to 0.47. I never thought of a micrometer as a philatelic tool, but I guess it is (smile).
From all this, it appears my new card is from an early printing.
It was mailed from Bloemfontein to Hansa Jewel in Cape Town in January of 1893. It is over-franked. The 1½d rate was meant for cards going overseas. The standard rate from OFS to the Cape was only 1d. There is no message on the card, Was it is pencil and erased over time or was it sent without a message? Who knows.
There is a very nice octagonal receiving cancel ('squared-octagonal'?] with BLOEMFONTEIN / O.V.S. and 17 JAN / 93. The single-ring arrival CDS reads CAPE TOWN * / CAPE COLONY * and is dated JA 19 / 93.
My understanding is that, by 1892, there was a railway line that joined the two colonies. I'm assuming, therefore, that the card travelled from Bloemfontein to Norval's Pint (Orange River Crossing) then on to Da Aar, Worcester and Cape Town. The January 17 to 19 travel time sounds very reasonable.
The second postal card is another provisional. This time it's an example of Setting 15A, Die 5. The B in BRIEF is missing its top left serif. The K in KAART is broken and the final T is split. The address lines, now back, have small breaks in lines 1,2 and 4 and the type used for the words Aan and Te have been changed. The card is thick, my estimate is again 0.4mm ... consistent with the known range of 0.39 and 0.44.
The OFS arms are overprinted on the card on top of a 1/2d stamp. The ½d overprint, above the coat of arms is the postcard rate for domestic use.
The card was sent from Winburg to J?.H. Wolmarans, Esq. in Kroonstad. There is a well-struck single-circle CDS from WINBURG * / O.V.S * dated P / SP 19 / 95. Which I assume means it was dispatched on the morning of September 19, 1895.
There is no arrival cancel. It was probably sent by horse cart or mail coach west from Winburg to a junction with the railway line about 30Km away. From there it would have traveled north about 140Km to Kroonstad.
I'm just starting to study this area .. it's rather an interesting period, just before the war.
The first one is a 1½d. provisional card using a 2d stamp overprinted with the OFS arms (Setting 2, Die 2). The 1½ was added above the arms. The upper figure in the ½ uses a roman (serif) I and the lower element is a rather more cursive, antique 2. The I in BRIEF is fully formed ... that is, it is not missing the serif on the upper left. The address lines have been removed.
It is printed on a thick card stock. I got a micrometer from my woodturning shop and my estimate is that it is 0.4mm - within the recorded range of 0.33 to 0.47. I never thought of a micrometer as a philatelic tool, but I guess it is (smile).
From all this, it appears my new card is from an early printing.
It was mailed from Bloemfontein to Hansa Jewel in Cape Town in January of 1893. It is over-franked. The 1½d rate was meant for cards going overseas. The standard rate from OFS to the Cape was only 1d. There is no message on the card, Was it is pencil and erased over time or was it sent without a message? Who knows.
There is a very nice octagonal receiving cancel ('squared-octagonal'?] with BLOEMFONTEIN / O.V.S. and 17 JAN / 93. The single-ring arrival CDS reads CAPE TOWN * / CAPE COLONY * and is dated JA 19 / 93.
My understanding is that, by 1892, there was a railway line that joined the two colonies. I'm assuming, therefore, that the card travelled from Bloemfontein to Norval's Pint (Orange River Crossing) then on to Da Aar, Worcester and Cape Town. The January 17 to 19 travel time sounds very reasonable.
The second postal card is another provisional. This time it's an example of Setting 15A, Die 5. The B in BRIEF is missing its top left serif. The K in KAART is broken and the final T is split. The address lines, now back, have small breaks in lines 1,2 and 4 and the type used for the words Aan and Te have been changed. The card is thick, my estimate is again 0.4mm ... consistent with the known range of 0.39 and 0.44.
The OFS arms are overprinted on the card on top of a 1/2d stamp. The ½d overprint, above the coat of arms is the postcard rate for domestic use.
The card was sent from Winburg to J?.H. Wolmarans, Esq. in Kroonstad. There is a well-struck single-circle CDS from WINBURG * / O.V.S * dated P / SP 19 / 95. Which I assume means it was dispatched on the morning of September 19, 1895.
There is no arrival cancel. It was probably sent by horse cart or mail coach west from Winburg to a junction with the railway line about 30Km away. From there it would have traveled north about 140Km to Kroonstad.
I'm just starting to study this area .. it's rather an interesting period, just before the war.
Hugh MacDonald, Wolfe Island
Member: BNAPS. PHSC, Auxiliary Markings Club, Postal Stationary Society, British Postmark Society,
AMG Collectors Club, China Stamp Society, France and Colonies Philatelic Socoety
ArGe Deutsche Feldpost: 1914-1918 e.V.
