Do You Collect France ?

France has always issued attractive stamps..and yet I do not hear much about people collecting them...the prices on the internet seem to be a bargain..i collect France as part of my worldwide collection to 1969 and like to dabble in the former colonies,those colorful stamps are what attracted me most to stamp collecting .

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France is not a country that I actively collect even though it has a number of attractive issues - I do have one french stamp in my collection though - It is part of my "150th Anniversary of the US Constitution" collection - But I do have some stamps and covers from various French colonies etc

Classic-era France and colonies, yes. Especially for the cancels. And there is a big world out there beyond the Scott catalogue.

France has had high production values on its stamps off and on over the years, and there are some great examples out there. I've sought out a number of stamps shown in the engraver's topic, even though they are outside my usual era of interest.

I collect Indo-China covers only sent from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. I also collect French military mail in Mexico during the French invasion Maximilian period.

Yes, I collect MNH France. Originally I stopped with the new currency in 1960, but I have since expanded until 2000. France issue some of the most beautiful engraved stamps out there. Works of art. You can get a pretty decent collection dirt cheap :-)

I collect France and would love to fill in some of the earlier spots. Here are a few from the beginning. Ceres is pictured in quite a few, then followed by President, then Emperor Napoleon.



I also find the Semi-Postals to be of great beauty, and will post more later after Easter Lunch.

I was attracted to France because of the beautiful engraved stamps. So far I only have about 7 or 8 stock pages of them up to about the late 60's.

Hi philb,

I have a few envelopes full of the stamps of France and her Colonies. Those I particularly like, and have so far removed, are the "Art Series" of stamps, see image for sample. Superior to many pictorial issues and quite beautiful, the issues range across the centuries and cover a wide variety of art styles. Also of note is the particular precision of cancellation by the French Post Office clerks. Exemplary.

Terry

France is my primary collection, and have almost completed it through the 1970s. I have been pleased to find ebay bargains for the nominally valuable early issues. I lived there for a year as a kid and that is when I started collecting.

France is a terrific country to collect.

I have a fairly comprehensive collection of France from the beginning to about 1965; but not including most of the real rare items. It's not a country I actively collect, but have acquired a lot through purchases of general, world-wide, collections and some past individual purchases. Same for many of the colonies. I do like the stamps and have noticed prices & catalog values rising for some of the earlier colonial issues.

Hi Philb
Here are a few "Colonials" that were in a recent collection I purchased
Horamakhet

Thanks all, received good input from this thread !

Oui..bien sur!...yes of course..the bulk of my small collection of stamps come from France...incredible engravings from the skilled hands of artists such as Decaris, Cottet Gandon, Ouvre, Serres, Bequet, Combet..and so on...i'm certain Nethryk will mention many more.

French stamps certainly show off the art of engraving. They also reflect their history. The first Ceres issues were right after the revolution of 1848. Though Ceres is an agricultural goddess, it is not entirely coincidental that she could pass for a goddess of liberty. The next round of issues show the rise of Napoleon III and his ego, as his portraits became increasingly grandiose. The collapse of his regime in the Franco Prussian war show up in the contrast between the issues from Paris, those from Bordeaux, and the occupation issues from Prussia. Later, there is propaganda for colonization, there is Vichy and the liberation.

I purchased a box of old albums and 2 of them had a huge collection of France.

Having no interest in France I placed them on a auction site and they were ramped up very quickly - being in New Zealand that really surprised me.