In 1949, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first French postage stamp, a group of British philatelists set up a pioneering specialist philatelic society devoted to the study of the stamps of France and the then French Empire. From small beginnings, the France and Colonies Philatelic Society now unites over 250 collectors in Britain and overseas in the many and varied delights of the stamps and postal history of la Francophonie.
The Society provides an extensive programme of meetings in several locations, holds an annual Philatelic Weekend, publishes a well regarded and authoritative Journal and series of monographs as well as several more extensive specialist philatelic books, operates a magazine circuit, two thriving exchange packets and three postal Auctions a year. It is a friendly and informal group to which non-members are welcome to attend any of our meetings.
FUTURE EVENTS
SPRING AUCTION 17 MAY 2025 - Images and catalogue are available on the Auctions page
Regrettably THE WESSEX AND LONDON GROUP MEETINGS are in abeyance for the foreseeable future. When information is available for the Northern Meetings it will be promoted on the website and regular members will be personally informed.
JOURNAL 307
Articles in the April 2025 Journal include:
– A France at Peace and a France ripe for development” Some perspectives on the Second Empire through Postal History Part 1: European diplomacy and the importance of railway (Roger Niven)
– Forbin Forgeries of the Merson Values for French Colonies (Miles Cerny)
– Albert Désiré Barre, 6 May 1818 - 29 December 1878 (Tony Howgrave-Graham FRPSL)
– Usage of the Série Sites et Monuments/Série touristique d’usage courant (1938 - 1941) - Part 2 (Edwin Voerman)
– Granet and Regents (Marden Blackledge)
– Publicité Dubonnet (David E Huckett)
– Precursors of the French postal card - The French balloon cards - Part 5b: Balloon cards sent abroad (Frans Jorissen)
– Marianne de Muller Part 7b: the 25 franc issue (YT 1011C) Booklets of 8, Postal Stationery and Postal Usage (Mick Bister)
– There’s No Business Like Show Business – Connections on French Stamps - Part 9 (David Parmley)
Shorter Items - including Questions and Answers
• A Postcard from the Early Exploration Period of the Upper Volta Region of French West Africa in 1886 (Peter RA Kelly)
• Ashley’s Letterbox (Mick Bister)
• The Story behind a Letter from Batavia to Reunion in 1867 (Peter RAKelly)
• Western Australia – Paris: REFUSED mail (Malcolm Brown)
• Somali Coast Antics (Mick Bister)
• Zoom Meeting Report 11 February 2025
Regular Features
Bookshelf (Reviewed by Michael Round)
• Yvert & Tellier ‘Timbres de France’ Catalogue 2025 (Reviewed by Richard Broadhurst)
• Yvert & Tellier ‘Colonies Françaises et Bureaux Français à l’Étranger’ Catalogue 2025 (Reviewed by
Miles Cerny)
Books Noted (Maurice Tyler)
Society Notes
Report of the Northern Meeting Group
List of Recently Published Articles (Maurice Tyler)
Advertisement for
• EUROPHILEX 2025
A selection of images from Journal 307 are illustrated above in the slider.
THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to to Journal WE ARE ALWAYS IN NEED OF ARTICLES, large or small, if you have something of interest please consider sending it for inclusion in a later edition. Type your text in Word or plain text, add any images, scanned at 300dpi as separate jpeg attachments and email them to
Mick Bister's magnificent display on the ‘Colonial Exhibitions of France from 1894 to 1931’ was a delight to watch. The full meeting can be seen here
All previous Zoom meetings are available to view here
Those members interested in joining please advise Chris Hitchen by email to let him know whether you would simply wish to view displays or whether you would be able to give a display as well. Those without a webcam can of course still view the displays but will not be seen by others.
Information on Zoom meetings will only be sent to those who express an interest, however the programme will be advertised on the website. Read more
Subject to sufficient offers we will run another Show and Tell meeting with the participation of anyone who cares to join. Here’s our idea for how it will work:
• 1. Scan a stamp, several stamps, cover or several covers or any other item philatelically related to France or its colonies. Save each item as a separate JPG file. (That is important. PDFs don’t work as well.)
• 2. Prepare a short description that will explain why you like the items you scanned – technical details, design quality, postal rates and routes, markings, social history of the writer or recipient, or anything else you would talk about if you were given five minutes to explain this to a group. Be sure it is obvious which part of your description applies to which JPG file.
• 3 Send that description as a Word document or just put it in an email along with the JPGs to
Mick will then put together a PowerPoint presentation with everyone’s scans and at least a portion of your written description. When we hold the Zoom meeting, you will be able to speak to the group about your “stuff” when it appears in the PowerPoint show.
There will be no indication of ownership in the PowerPoint file, so don’t let that limit you when you make your selection. The more of us who participate, the better it will be, of course.
The website will always have the latest information so members will need to consult that regularly to see what is going on. When things improve then Convenors will arrange meetings as soon as practical. It may well not be feasible to advise these in the Journal in advance. Details of convenors is here. Please consider using the FORUM in the meantime - perhaps share your latest acquisitions or any query or comment you may have. If you have not registered as a member, please contact the
JOIN OUR PHILATELIC FORUM
You can join our Forum without being a member of the Society - just contact the Website Manager with your name and preferred password and you will be supplied with a username - you don't have to be a member!.
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