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France

Monday, January 1, 1849

Europe 2

Fra1
Fra3a
  France Sc1 France Scott #3a, the earliest issue  

Imperforate, no watermark, engraved.
Printed by Tacquin at the Paris Mint.

Description Paper # issued Scott # Gibbons # Yvert #
January 1, 1849
20 centimes black
yellowish
 41,698,800 3 6 (7-9) 3
1 franc vermilion
yellowish
 300,000 8 16 (17-19) 7
December 1, 1849
1 franc light carmine
white
 2,692,600 9   6
February 3, 1850
40 centimes orange
yellowish
 4,192,200 7 14 (15) 5
July 1, 1850
25 centimes light blue
blueish
 45,218,100 6 10 (11-13) 4
July 29, 1850
15 centimes green
greenish
 3,315,600 2 5 (6) 2
September 12, 1850
10 centimes bister
yellowish
 17,097,900 1 1 (2,3) 1

All issue quantities are approximate.
Scott #4 was prepared but not issued. There is no Scott #5.

Of the 20 centimes black, Scott #3, 31 million were sold to the public.

The 10 centimes stamp was used to free letters inside a commune, the 40 centimes freed letters bound for foreign countries. The 1 franc vermilion was replaced in less than a year because the color was deemed too close to that of the 40 centimes.

The Gibbons numbering is rather awkward: whereas Scott takes the 10 centime denomination and lists the paper variants as sub- categories (1 bister, 1a dark bister, 1b greenish bister etc.), Gibbons numbers them separately (SG2 greenish, SG3 brownish).

You might want to stop by Les émissions de timbres classiques for much more information.

Images from David Olson and Big Blue.

FI ref: 9 Page credit: JA

Page created 18 Nov 2015 Page updated 20 Jan 2016