France Scott #24 / Yvert #35 (Probably)

I picked up a nice Emperor Napoleon, which I think should be Scott #24, Yvert #35, green on pale blue, issued in November, 1871. (The other choice is Sc#23, issued in 1862, yellow-green on greenish.)



Sc#23 has a much lower catalogue value, so I would start out expecting that is what I have, but I think it is #24. The #23's are much more yellow, to my eyes.

Anyone else care to guess?

The cancel is a light strike of a pearled cds from Erquy, a small town on the northern coast of France. The (21) in the bottom of the ring represents the department within France in which the town is located, in this case Côtes-du-Nord, now known as Côtes-d'Armor, in Brittany. The cancel appears to be '1872' which fits in with Sc#24 (though it doesn't rule out Sc#23).

That looks very much like the green paper. The blue is a distinct shade of blue similar to the paper shade of your avatar item on my screen (which is colour calibrated).

I don't spend a lot of time with France, so my opinion is easily swayed. If I have some time tonight, I'll dig out a sure 23 and scan them side by side to see if that sheds any light on things.

It was in a small lot with the losange cancels I've posted in your cancel thread, along with another half dozen or so stamps.

I didn't buy it as a 24, so I only have upside, either way.

I'll agree with AnthonyUK, looks greenish paper to me. The bluish paper is distinctively bluish.

The US "bluish" paper is actually more grayish (at least to me) -- that threw me off when I first started getting into the early France paper varieties.