France B2 from 1914, mint hinged. I have become a great fan of French and Swiss semi-postals. My father decades ago despised semis as charity stamps, not real stamps. But then, he liked airmails.
Another charity stamp, France B11 from 1918, mint hinged with one teeny, tiny perf tooth missing, but only a dealer would care. France 226b, the single 5fr from the 1925 Paris Expo sheet. I am very certain that this is as close as I'll ever get to that sheet.
Dear Phil Merrill I find your Favorite Photos & Philatelic Eye Candy simply delightful, and I am more than pleased that others (Scott, Ted, Greg, etc.) have joined with their pictures. It reveals again the art and design of stamps. One series of yours that I particularly enjoyed (and I have them) was the Vichy Colonial Airmails. You mentioned that these were issued for each of the 8 French African Colonies (i.e., Mauritania, Senegal, Sudan, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey, and Niger). This set is really quite lovely, and normally I limit myself to just an example or two when the designs are repeated—this is really necessary when one considers the various British Coronation sets!! Regarding the 8 colonies and the Vichy Colonial Airmails of 1942, I think there were only 7 Colonies in this set since Upper Volta was “divvied up” in 1933. Again, I truly appreciate your photos; they truly are “Philatelic Eye Candy” Best regards Berrien Moore
Berrian. Thanks much for your compliments. About the colonies involved with the airmail sets. Upper Volta was not in the set, but Togo was. So there's the eight. I wish I knew more about these and the other Vichy issues, but I'm only just getting started with them.
Found the Togo set--whew. Again, I greatly appreciate your photos and comments. I am learning daily as I reenter philatelic activities after 50 years!! Best Berrien
It's an odd balance, but there were Free French airmails as well, issued for 13 colonies during 1941-45. Cameroun C1-7, 1942, hinged.
Somali Coast C1-7, 1941, mnh. That's right. The stamps are inscribed :"Djibouti," the capital of Somali Coast/Afars and Issas/Djibouti. I wish I knew why, but the history and the name changes is too complicated for today. Check the wiki sometime. And a first flight cover from St. Pierre to Montreal. August of 1948.
Hey, lookit here, ya'll! I found me a whole new rabbit hole to jump down! New Caledonia C179 deluxe proof along with an imperf pair. This was issued in 1981 for the 50th anniversary of the first New Caledonia-Australia airmail flight. This is my first French Community de luxe proof.
DDR 144a and 146a, Karl Marx Year, 1953, both mnh. I really like the colors and graphics of the stamps.
There may be some few of you who don't remember the good old days of East and West Germany. Ah, the Cold War... And now every thing old is new again, and I think we all would have been wise to not dismiss history so readily as we did. But back to East and West Germany. I think it was Georges Pompidou who said, "I don't hate Germany, I love Germany. I love Germany so much I'm glad there are two of them."
Comments
Reunion 382 from 1972, imperf.
FSAT 1 from 1955.
FSAT C1-2 from 1956.
France B2 from 1914, mint hinged. I have become a great fan of French and Swiss semi-postals. My father decades ago despised semis as charity stamps, not real stamps. But then, he liked airmails.
Another charity stamp, France B11 from 1918, mint hinged with one teeny, tiny perf tooth missing, but only a dealer would care.
France 226b, the single 5fr from the 1925 Paris Expo sheet. I am very certain that this is as close as I'll ever get to that sheet.
I find your Favorite Photos & Philatelic Eye Candy simply delightful, and I am more than pleased that others (Scott, Ted, Greg, etc.) have joined with their pictures. It reveals again the art and design of stamps.
One series of yours that I particularly enjoyed (and I have them) was the Vichy Colonial Airmails. You mentioned that these were issued for each of the 8 French African Colonies (i.e., Mauritania, Senegal, Sudan, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey, and Niger). This set is really quite lovely, and normally I limit myself to just an example or two when the designs are repeated—this is really necessary when one considers the various British Coronation sets!!
Regarding the 8 colonies and the Vichy Colonial Airmails of 1942, I think there were only 7 Colonies in this set since Upper Volta was “divvied up” in 1933.
Again, I truly appreciate your photos; they truly are “Philatelic Eye Candy”
Best regards
Berrien Moore
Best and thanks
Berrien
PS I will now have to find the Togo set!!!
Again, I greatly appreciate your photos and comments. I am learning daily as I reenter philatelic activities after 50 years!!
Best
Berrien
I love this lady.
Cameroun C1-7, 1942, hinged.
Somali Coast C1-7, 1941, mnh. That's right. The stamps are inscribed :"Djibouti," the capital of Somali Coast/Afars and Issas/Djibouti. I wish I knew why, but the history and the name changes is too complicated for today. Check the wiki sometime.
And a first flight cover from St. Pierre to Montreal. August of 1948.
New Caledonia C179 deluxe proof along with an imperf pair. This was issued in 1981 for the 50th anniversary of the first New Caledonia-Australia airmail flight. This is my first French Community de luxe proof.
Next time I'm in Doha, from Nov - Apr I'll have to look out for them.
There. Try to unsee that...
DDR 144a and 146a, Karl Marx Year, 1953, both mnh. I really like the colors and graphics of the stamps.
There may be some few of you who don't remember the good old days of East and West Germany. Ah, the Cold War... And now every thing old is new again, and I think we all would have been wise to not dismiss history so readily as we did. But back to East and West Germany. I think it was Georges Pompidou who said, "I don't hate Germany, I love Germany. I love Germany so much I'm glad there are two of them."