Orange Free State began to issue postage stamps in 1868, and continued until 1897. 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.