Collect French Stamps?

The page below is from my grandfather's album. He was born in the late 1800s.

I have a Scott catalog that includes France, but I really can't figure out what I've got here. (I am definitely not a collector.)

Does anything here really stand out or are these all fairly common?

I am hoping to put the most desirable stamps from each country on ebay. The U.S. was pretty easy. :)


Thanks!

Nothing valuable. The Napoleon III and Ceres stamps (mainly on the second and third rows) are the best, and some catalogue up to £10, but go for much less in the real world. I'd put this on ebay as a page, rather than trying to split it up.

Thanks, Geoff.

Paul - It seems to me the 2c Ceres (on the third row) has been used to carry a periodical/newspaper or similar. The ´cancellation´ I believe emerged as the stamp was affixed to the paper before the periodical went through the press. Tough the stamp itself is pretty common, this usage is sought after by certain collectors.

Blaamand, do you mean something like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/France-Yv-4...WLnuhWpTJnXA

Agreed, the interest/value would be for someone hunting for cancels. I've always liked the étoile (star) cancels.

KGB - Exactly

khj - Absolutely - the Etoiles are good
I am in that group actively looking for interesting postmarks on the classic French. There are some quite nice large numeral strikes in the lot, like ´6316´on 80c Ceres and ´26(x)6´ on 40c Napoleon orange. Personally I am most interested in Anchor lozenges, Mute lozenges or PC / GC witnessing usage abroad. All of which which I cannot see in the lot - but probably someone else may find something that attracts him or her. That´s whats cool about cancels - any otherwise normal stamp may still be quite attractive for someone

As long as it is not CTO

Actually, I've only recently restarted going through my classic France. This time, I'll be paying a lot more attention to the cancels, rather than just looking at them. Fortunately, there are quite a few websites now that can identify the cancels, including the post offices associated with the numbers (both large/small numbers).

I had a dealer sell me a small batch of common French stamps once. He told me to pay special attention to those cancels, as that's where the value was. They were hotel cancels, but he told me there was something special about those hotels/dates, but he wouldn't tell me -- insisting I go find out myself. Don't know where I put them. But if I ever find them again, I might PM you or post on SCF to see what others can make out.

Is this the stamp in question? Thanks for your posts.

Yes, that is the one that appears to have been used for newspaper/periodical.

khj - Wow - hope you find them! I am not into hotel cancels - as yet anyway. Probably someone more experienced can help



I guess you are probably already familiar with this site - anyway this is my favorite: http://marcophilie.org/index.html
A brilliant reference for the PC and GC can be found here: http://marcophilie.org/b0.html

Yes! Marcophilie is GREAT! I use it along with Google Translate

As a non-collector, I am lost. Is it the cancel mark that indicates it was used for a newspaper/periodical. If so, is it worth listing on ebay (at least $25)?
Thanks again for your expertise.

The stamps would sometimes be affixed to the paper BEFORE the news was actually printed on it. As a result, part of the newsprint would print over the stamp, yielding the result you see. It's not really a cancellation, per se. But it does suggest that the stamp was used to pay for delivery of a newspaper.

The used stamp catalogs for $15 in the 2016 Scott catalog. But that is for a fault free Very Fine stamp. Your stamp has major faults, and would retail for <$1 tops.

The value would be in the newspaper usage, especially if it were still on the newsprint. Soaked off, I really wouldn't know the value. You'd have to find a buyer interested in the cancel/usage.

I think Geoff has the preferred suggestion -- put the entire page up in auction. You would probably get more than simply listing the individual stamps because you are unlikely to sell all the stamps individually.

Thanks again for the advice. What are the major faults? The bottom perfs?