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Postage stamps and philately of France
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AOF 1947 definitive stamps - perforation mystery
At times I slam my head when I realize I have for years overlooked some information available on a stamp catalogue listing. Such is the case of 1947 French West Africa (AOF; Afrique Occidentale Francaise) definitive stamps which are likely among the most common and loved postage stamps of French colonial era. Michel very clearly states the perforation of these stamps varies between 12 and 13, but for some reason this had fully escaped my attention for decades (likely because nobody ever talks about this variety).
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Boite Mobile postmark and other musings with stamps of French Madagascar
At least for the next month or two I'll be rehousing and adding up to African part of my worldwide stamp collection. As such I'd like to take the opportunity to showcase some of the more interesting pieces from countries that I'm currently working.
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Postage stamps of Kingdom of Sedang (Deh Sedang)
Kingdom of Sedang was a short lived (1888-1890), self-declared micro-nation in eastern French Indochina. It was created by officer, engineer, self-proclaimed adventurer and wheeler-dealer Marie-Charles David de Mayréna aka.Marie I, King of Sedang. Possibly the most concrete legacy of this tiny state are the seven stamps inscribed Deh Sedang (meaning Kingdom of Sedang or more literally "Lord of Sedang") which are somewhat easily found in many old-time collections, but nowhere in traditional stamp catalogues. For many collectors the below stamps are possibly best known from philatelic literature of the yesteryear, where images of these stamps have been used as examples of classic cinderalla or bogus stamps. But as always, the story behind these stamps is more complex and more interesting.
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France 2011 Precancelled postage stamp - unlisted variant or forgery
Here's a good reminder how easily ultra-modern stamps are overlooked. According to general stamp catalogues as well as specialized Spink-Maury stamp catalogue this 2011 French precancel stamp (or préoblitéré as French would say) should have no major varieties. However, as the below picture displays, that is not the case.
...(260 words,1 images, 4 comments)
A review of Spink Maury Timbres de France 2016 (Kindle edition)
I admit I have got very mixed feelings against technology. As a geek I love building and trying all sorts of new and shiny digital things. But as an end user however I am likely more preserved and demanding than most casual users. A good example of this are eBooks. I have had Amazon Kindle subscription for some time, but I really have not used it that much besides few random titles. I just find it slightly awkward to use when compared to traditional touch interface (of pen & paper). As such I’ve been holding back for some time on writing this review of Spink-Maury ‘Timbres de France’ 2016 eCatalogue which I acquired earlier this year to learn more about Type Duval postage due stamps.
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Type Duval postage due stamps of France
For the past week I've been trying to make heads and tales out of French postage due stamps of 1881/1892 (aka. 'type Duval noir') and their colored successors of 1884/1941 (just 'type Duval'). The main problem lies with the unfortunate fact that though many of the issues are somewhat common and low value, about 25% of the issues catalog more than 100€. Needless to say this has attracted stamp forgers such Fournier to try their luck with these.
...(1590 words,11 images, 2 comments)
There is something terribly, terribly wrong with this postage stamp
Some people have asked me for what purpose does a 'general world collector' like me need a precision tool such as SCB's Digital Perforation Gauge, and I'm always responding with some stamp related story. The latest story occurred last weekend when I was sorting some new / incoming French stamps. And once again I noted that one of the stamps didn't exactly match with other copy. This time I was looking at a pair of French 2009 commemoratives for the 82nd philatelic congress of FFAP.
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Beautiful La Semeuse (the Sower) stamps of France
La Semeuse, the Sower, first appeared on French stamps in April 1903. The graceful figure (of model Charlotte Ragot) wearing the Phrygian cap of liberty, sowing ideas at sunrise, came to symbolise Republican France throughout much of the 20th century. The stamp was designed by Louis Oscar Roty and engraved by Louis-Eugène Mouchon. Without going deeper into this series, I'll just show an interesting item I found recently.
...(209 words,1 images, 25 comments)
Precancels on French stamps
To continue with last weeks theme with France, I'll be talking about precancels - or préoblitérés as French say - on French postage stamps. In short, a precancelled stamp is a stamp that has been cancelled before being affixed to mail. Precancels are typically used by mass mailers like newspapers and advertisers. The postal administration will typically offer an incentive in the form of a reduced price for precancelled stamps in volume.
...(258 words,3 images, 15 comments)
A French mystery stamp (Exportation Qualité Réglementée) - export quality control stamp
Back-of-book issues are always fun to receive, as you usually have to do some detective work to find out details and history of the item. Below is a mystery item I assume to be from France. I hope that french collectors could help me with this one as I have run to an dead end.
...(130 words,1 images, 19 comments)
Vive la France – some good reasons to collect French stamps
I confess that for a long time I didn’t like French stamps. The problem was pretty much the same as with any foreign country that one collects randomly – what you get is usually definite series with messy cancellations. Luckily my collection of French stamps has grown from my early collecting days, and currently France is one of my favorite European countries to collect. This is pretty much due to interesting themes that go on year after year.
...(313 words,5 images, 4 comments)
Q&A: stamps of France & colonies
Do you have question about stamps of France or French colonies? Your questions answered.
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Article categories
- Generally speaking about stamps, philately and collecting
- Learn the basics of stamp collecting - advice on how to get started
- How to preserve and build a stamp collection
- Philatelic knowledge base
- Stamp forgeries, philatelic fakes and other counterfeits
- Stamp collecting software (inventory programs and databases, online stamp catalogs etc)
- Straight talk about stamp values (both catalog and real world)
- Back of book stamps and other unusual stamp-like items
- EFO-stamps: errors, freaks and oddities on postage stamps
- Q & A - Ask anything about stamps and collecting
- Article index by country and topic
- SCB's Digital Perforation Gauge