"French Colonies" is the name used by
philatelist
Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...
s to refer to the
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
s issued by
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
for use in the parts of the
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
that did not have stamps of their own. These were in use from 1859 to 1906, and from 1943 to 1945.
First stamps
The first of these were small square stamps issued in 1859, depicting an eagle and crown in a round frame, with the inscription "COLONIES DE L'EMPIRE FRANCAIS". They were
imperforate
For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.
Methods of separation include:
# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes
# rouletting: small horizontal and vert ...
(as were all Colonies stamps until 1881). A total of six values, 1c to 80c, appeared between 1859 and 1865.
Ceres
![Napoleon3 laure Colonies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Napoleon3_laure_Colonies.jpg)
The next series appeared in 1871 and 1872, and borrowed the contemporaneous designs of France, with profiles of
Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...
and Emperor
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
. While some of the nine values can be distinguished from the French stamps by color or value, others are extremely difficult to identify.
Several of an additional series of Ceres heads issued between 1872 and 1877 have a similar problem, and are distinguishable only by being imperforate, as was the Colonies part of the
Peace and Commerce issue (Type Sage) of 1877 to 1880.
Commerce series
In 1881, a new series, featuring "Commerce" alone and inscribed "COLONIES", was issued, perforated 14x13.5. The 13 values, ranging from 1c to 1fr, were in colors comparable to those used for France. In 1886 the 25c stamp, previously printed in yellow, was reissued in black on a rose-colored
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
. Stocks of the Commerce issue were frequently
overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or ticket after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative pur ...
ed by the colonies during the 1880s and 1890s.
Navigation & Commerce series
France began issuing stamps printed with the territory name in 1892 as part of the
Navigation and Commerce issue
The Navigation and Commerce issue is a series of key type stamps issued for the colonial territories of France. It was designed by Louis-Eugène Mouchon.
The issue uses a standard design featuring allegorical representations of navigation and co ...
.
A series of common
postage due stamps was issued beginning in 1884, with a last one appearing in 1906. Thereafter each colony used only its own stamps.
World War II
The concept was revived by the
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
forces during World War II, who printed eight types of
semi-postal
A semi-postal stamp or semipostal stamp, also known as a charity stamp, is a postage stamp issued to raise money for a particular purpose (such as a charitable cause) and sold at a premium over the postal value. Typically the stamp shows two deno ...
stamps in 1943 and 1944. After the Free French landed in Corsica and Southern France, the stamps were used in those areas, and became valid throughout France in November 1944.
Finally, in 1945 a general issue of postage due stamps for the colonies was produced.
Postal stationery
Various items of
postal stationery
A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related servi ...
, in addition to postage stamps, were also produced for general issue to the French Colonies. A total of three
postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...
s were issued in 1876, followed by two different cards in 1880 and two in 1885. One reply postcard was issued in 1885. Six different
letter card
In philately, a lettercard or letter card is a postal stationery item consisting of a folded card with a prepaid imprinted stamp. That it is folded over gives the writer twice as much room for the message compared with a postal card. The messag ...
s were issued in 1885 and two in 1890. Two postal stationery envelopes were produced and issued in 1889. Five different values of
newspaper wrapper
In philately a wrapper is a form of postal stationery which pays the cost of the delivery of a newspaper or a periodical. The wrapper is a sheet of paper, large enough to wrap around a folded or rolled newspaper and with an imprinted stamp to pay ...
s made available to the colonies in 1889.
Higgins & Gage World Postal Stationery Catalog In philately, the ''Higgins & Gage World Postal Stationery Catalog'' is the most recent encyclopedic catalogue of postal stationery
A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, ...
See also
*
Peace and Commerce issue
*
Navigation and Commerce issue
The Navigation and Commerce issue is a series of key type stamps issued for the colonial territories of France. It was designed by Louis-Eugène Mouchon.
The issue uses a standard design featuring allegorical representations of navigation and co ...
References
External links
*https://mystampworld.com/indochina-french-offices
{{PostalhistoryEurope
French colonial empire
Colonies, French