French stamps, stars of June 2016 Stamp Magazine

French stamps are at the center of the June 2016 issue of Stamp Magazine of Britain, from a series of little classics to an over-technological new issue.

The June 2016 cover.

First feature article and main cover title, Adrian Keppel, specialist of all definitives of the world and webmaster of a database-blog of stamp engravers, proposes a six page introduction to the Blanc series of France. It was the low values of the country for the first third of the twentieth century.

A lot of ideas of collection are presented: a portrait of Paul-Joseph Blanc, the different types, uses, many of the numerous overprints (charitable, precancels, the government in exile of Montenegro) and projects of unissued overprints (for the prematured liberation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1915)

To end, two sentences on all the uses outside France, first overprinted, then a a keyplate design.


Two pages before, John Grace is this month's Devil's Advocate in which he proposes Royal Mail to issue a stamp that would create such an excitement in the general population to go buy stamps and booklets...

Let's accuse Phil@poste, the French philatelic service, that issued the scratch-and-sniff herb stamp for the European Football Championship...

The 1 euro version of the stamp ; a more expensive one with still another layer of special ink is currently sold at Paris Philex stamp show... Who say GREEDY?

For Grace, the scratch part would surely be a success in a nation of bookmakers, punters and lottery scratchers. Advantage for everybody, including the philatelic world: if there is a win, customer'll be happy ; if lost, let's send a letter!

In the next months Reader's Letters, all the lottery stamp experiments, including by scratching, will be reminded... Don't know if the French pre-personalised ones was so successfull last year.