An English brass Imperial Pint measure, for ‘ORANJE VRY STAAT’, dated 1875, by Potter, London and numbered 1581. Two proof marks struck to the rim, one being the crown over V.R. which is referred to as the Queen’s, or Sovereign’s Cypher. The V.R stands for “Victoria Regina”, Latin for Queen Victoria.

An English brass Imperial Pint measure, for ‘ORANJE VRY STAAT’, dated 1875, by Potter, London and numbered 1581. Two proof marks struck to the rim, one being the crown over V.R. which is referred to as the Queen’s, or Sovereign’s Cypher. The V.R stands for “Victoria Regina”, Latin for Queen Victoria.

Dimensions: 11.8 cm high by 9.2 cm top diameter.

The Orange Free State was an independent country within South Africa that was founded on the 23rd of February 1854, with the signing of the Orange River Convention, the capital being Bloemfontein.
With the expansion and mining of the diamond fields in the early 1870s there was an influx of British and other immigrants which saw prosperity for the Afrikaner Boers of the Free State. The diamond fields offered a ready market for stock and other agricultural produce and money flowed into the pockets of the farmers. To regulate this trade between the English and Boers these Imperial measures made in Britain would have ensured fair trustworthy transactions when buying any commodity that could flow such as grain, salt or oil. It is interesting to note the presence of proof marks on the rim, not seen on other measures made for the other republics.
The Orange Free State developed into a politically and economically successful republic and for the most part enjoyed good relationships with its neighbors. It was annexed as the Orange River Colony in 1900 and ceased to exist as an independent Boer republic on 31 May 1902 with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging at the conclusion of the Second Boer War.