Bilingual cancellation in Tunisia

Posted on 27 July 1961, this letter was sent by a insurance company in Tunisia to another in France. It was cancelled at the Thameur post office, in Tunis, certainly located on Habib Thameur Avenue, by the name of the independantist man.

The 30 milims (1.000 milims = 1 dinar) stamp pictured President Bourguiba, inspired by the official photograph in ceremony costum. This way of clothing and the engraving of the stamp remind a lot of French styles ; the 1960 stamp may be issued of an order to the French post and telecommunication cooperative bureau, the BEPTOM. It was engraved by French artist Jules Piel (Timbres-poste de Tunisie website).

The cancellation is bilingual, alternatively in latin alphabet and in arabic alphabet. What the Tunisian post is still doing.


4 November 2008 update:
To marcophils (specialists of postal marks) looking for study and investigative subjects, Yvon Nouazé wrote me that the machine that printed this continuous cancel (circa six centimeters period) is to be identify, and that it was used in Lebanon, Morroco and Guadeloupe too.