SavStamp - first of all, very beautiful stamps! A pitty with the short border. Secondly I do not want to intend having any kind of expertize on the early french, but I will certainly share what I know. (or think I know....
)
I'm quite confident the stamp on left is actually Sc no.14 from the colonies. The most compelling way to differentiate between the mainland and French stamps are the postmarks. In your case it has the 'lozange muet' postmark - 8 x 8 lozanges in a diamond shape without any numbers or letters in the centre. (See the link concerning this cancellation on my previous post.) This cancellation was to the best of my knowledge never used in mainland France. I really like your stamp with this clear example of this cancellation.
There are also other signs to differentiate the stamps of the colonies with those of the mainland, however it's minute differences and it's difficult to say from your scan. Looking at the solid background of the medallion surrounding the head, it seems like your copy has some minor spots of ink missing. The first France issue of 1849 was printed in excellent detail, with perfect attention to pressure on the dies so the solid color around the medallion was supposed to be without spots. The later copies both from the mainland and the colonies started to get slightly worn plates and also the later printings was performed with less attention to the details in the printing technique. As far as I remember the 1871-72 issues from the colonies were printed with more or less the same technique, dies and colors as the 1870 perforated issues of France. According to this your no 14 from the colonies should be of equal printing quality to the perforated counterpart from France, scott no. 59. You do have that no.59 in your collection, so you can compare.
You can also compare with your Sc no.1 and no.3. These should be of the earliest printings, with better executed printing than your copy from the colonies.
Your France no.1 could potentially be no.9 from the colonies, but I think it's from the mainland as it has a cancel I think was not used in the colonies (gros points sans fin -
http://marcophilie.org/grille-de-gr...ans-fin.html) so my viewpoint it is from France)
Then, with regards to the stamp on the right side that is a Bordeaux for sure (Sc. no 47). This is litho and has a much more rough appearance than the first french issue (typo), so e.g the fine dots on the chin of the first french issue is now replaced by lines on your copy. These issues were not issued in the colonies as such, so it's a French stamp. However these French stamps were still used in the colonies.... your is a forerunner for Algerie, which adds a premium on top of the scott value. Very nice indeed!
Hopefully this was to some help and did not confuse you more than it did good.... Again, please recognise I'm no expert, only a WW collector with a passion for these beautiful stamps. Unfortunaetly there are also many forgeries, but I cannot help you in that respect.
Good luck with your french.... !
Posted 03/19/2015 08:12 am
