Questions About Perforated French 25 Centimes 'Ceres' Stamps

Hi! For some unknown reason, my great-grandfather saved bundles of old French stamps. I believe the ones in this stack are Scott #58, but I don't know which type.

I read that there are 2 or 3 different types; how do I tell which one(s) I have?

Most of the stamps have cover residue, and some are stuck together, so I have some cleaning work to do. Is it safe to assume that any damaged stamps are practically worthless, in which case I will just toss them?

Crikey, stamps are not worthless, they are a limited resource.
Never toss out stamps.

"Bundling" was very common up till the 1950's

What you have is a lovely collection of diamond numeral Postmarks
a collection discipline for the French specialist.

If you do toss 'em, toss 'em my way.

True, they don't exactly make stamps like this any more (at least not genuine ones)!

I hadn't focused on the postmarks, but they are lovely.

I soaked the first bundle of these last night and found it difficult to remove the cover residue (the gum is very adhesive) and I ripped a few in the process. I'll hang on to them and add them to the pile of stamps I'll eventually give away.

Be sure to look for some special varieties. My Stanley Gibbons lists a 25c deep blue, type II that is worth $33 used. (Spot of color in upper right ornament block). It also lists some damaged frame varieties, and "REP" redrawn that are also worth $55 and up. If you do want to give them a good home, email me also.

Good luck in your search.

Thanks for the tip, Partime, and I will keep you in mind if I ever finish sorting through these stamps!
I'll try to find a copy of Stanley Gibbons at the library, because so far I haven't seen clear online illustrations of the differences between Types I, II and III.

I just found this one, though, which seems to have a damaged frame above and extending onto the "RE".

I'm not sure about the one you posted. I would need to see a better scan of the area of interest.

I tried scanning information from my 7th Edition of SG France. Unfortunately, the illustrations of interest are right at the spine, and it doesn't scan well. However, State I is the one where all corners are normal, and complete. State III is shown below, and what you see are the upper X's incomplete / spotty at the tops. State II is the valuable one, and you can barely see it on the left. Essentially, you have a spot of color that breaks into the box surrounding the right X. I tried to highlight that area.



The other interesting varieties are illustrated in the picture below. 211 looks pretty obvious,and 211a should also be visible. 211b and 211c look a little more challenging to locate. Good luck.

Thanks, that's very helpful! I'll take a look at them tonight.

I should note that your example of a damaged frame line "could" be an example of 211 or a redrawn 211a, or something intermediate. If you provide a better scan of the right "X" and the top frame line, I'm sure some people could better comment on that possibility. It would significantly increase the value of this one example.

Partime, I will scan that stamp; I just haven't figured out how to do it yet.

In the meantime, here's a photo of another stamp which seems to be a Type III (the X on the top right is incomplete). What really caught my eye, though, is the incomplete perforation on the right side.

Yes, Type III. The perforation is complete, though. What you have is a stamp from the very right edge of the sheet where the selvage was very thin. A keeper, but no extra value due to that fact.

I've found a number of stamps with damaged frames thus far.

I haven't gotten my scanner to work, but here's a larger image of the stamp with the broken frame line above the "RE" (first photo)...

...and a photo of another stamp with even more severe upper frame damage.

Nice finds. I think the real value, though, is if you can also find the corners damaged. Keep looking and posting.

Your stamp has a "bent perf" tooth.
Do not try and straighten it dry, soak in water first, otherwise they generally snap off.

Now here's one with a break in the upper left box, rather than in the upper right one.
I wonder whether that counts for a Type/State II? ...not that it matters from a value point of view because, unfortunately, the bottom part of this stamp is damaged in a bad way.

It still can be valuable, as an example of plate degradation, to a specialist.
Another reason never to toss out stamps.
We must be custodians.

I found two more with minor frame damage, neither with the break in the same place shown in Partime's book, though.