Flick My Bic

Heres a block of French stamps with advertising in selvage !

What are those black numbers along the bottom? Could they they be the day, month, year or some sort of control/inventory numbers?

I'd vote for January 29, 1954, myself. I don't know why that date would be there, though. If this is 653 (and I haven't looked that carefully, so it may not be), it would have been issued in the very early fifties, which fits.

The Israelis often/always put the official date of issue/printing in the selvage so I assume that's what this is.

In most cases, the date on the sheet margins is the date the stamps rolled off the press, and not the date of issue. Some stamps can be seen printed many months earlier than issue date.

I would guess the same can be said of this French block. If someone has a specialized, or semi-specialized French catalogue, we can found out the truth !!

Londonbus1....can't we?

londonbus1,
The Truth Is Out There.

I recently got the same stamp with pointe Bic in the selvage. Anybody have an idea on how to find out more about these?

The Maury catalogue give useful information on both dated corner blocks ("coins datés") and booklet panes with advertising in the borders ("bandes publicitaires"). However, I've not found any specific comments about the combination of the two.

The dates seem to have a similar function to the earlier millésimes. Sometimes a stamp was printed with one date whilst for other stamps the date was changed over a number of years.

Adverts for Bic like these were printed in booklets for both the type I and type II 15f ultramarine stamp. I can only see coin datés for the type I stamp and these run from 1951 to 1955.

Thanks for the information nigelc I appreciate it.

Addendum:

The stamps with ad labels are nicknamed Pubs.

Coins datés are just like that of the sheet stamps, they're only in the margins of booklet panes cut from the sheet/pane corner position. Nothing I've ever found gives a premium for coin daté booklet panes or booklets; there should be a little premium paid by a specialist. Booklet covers from this period were made of heavy paper/flimsy card so it's enough to find nice complete booklets.