France Stamps

France stamps – The first French mail service was set up on 19th June 1464 by decree of Louis XI, however, only operated for the king and royal court. The first France stamps were the 20 centimes black, and 1 franc orange-vermilion issued on 1st January 1849. They were an original signatory of the UPU in 1874. On 1st 1899, following the introduction of the Imperial Penny Post a week earlier, they established a Colonial rate equal to the internal mail rate. 

In 1914, France entered the war against Germany after the invasion of Belgium, immediately moving into German Alsace, and horrendous trench warfare followed. In 1916 German stamps overprinted for the Western Military Command were therefore used in occupied areas. In May 1939 the Germans invaded Holland and Belgium and quickly passed through to enter France from the northeast and also directly south of Luxembourg. The French army fell back and its British allies, pinned to the Channel coast, were forced to withdraw from Dunkirk. On 6th June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy and in August, southern France. By the end of 1944, virtually all of the country was liberated and Paris became the capital again in August, with new designs printed in Washington and brought to France by the Allies in June, these were used in liberated areas as forces advanced.

In summary, France issued beautiful stamps depicting outstanding art and culture. Collectors enjoy a rich diversity of early classics, in addition to fascinating wartime postal history, postage dues and revenue stamps.

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French Colonies, French Dependencies