French Stamps
Charity Stamps of 1914-1927
The first French stamps, issued for the purpose of raising extra money for charitable purposes, appeared in 1914.
The Scott Catalog lists these stamps separately from the regular postage
and commemorative issues, calling them "Semi-Postal Stamps". For the purposes of this category, they will be called "Charity Stamps".
These
stamps are actually postage stamps, intended for use by postal
patrons for various types of mail. Later issues are also commemorative stamps, as they honor
famous people, places, and events, in addition to their fund-raising purposes.
These
types of French stamps feature a "value added amount" or "surtax amount", in
addition to the postal denomination of the stamp. France, as well as
most other countries of the world, utilizes the added amounts on these
surtaxed postage stamps to raise money for national organizations,
public events, and public charities.
The issue of the French stamps, to raise money for charitable purposes, began out of necessity. All of the issues on this page were either issued during or just after World War I. Much of World War I was fought in Northern France and in Southern Belgium. As a result, the French people suffered tremendously. The war created multitudes of badly wounded soldiers and needy civilians, thus the necessity to quickly raise money to fund public charities.
On August 11, 1914, the 10 C. denomination of the Semeuse Type was surcharged 5 C. It is shown above, at the left (Y&T #146, Sc. #B1).
On September 10, 1914, a brand new 10 C. + 5 C. charity stamp, incorporating the Semeuse Type design, was issued. It is shown above, at the right (Y&T #147, Sc. #B2).
The surtax on these two stamps went to the Red Cross.
The eight charity stamps shown above (Y&T #148-55, Sc. #B3-10) were issued between 1917 and 1919.
The designs are:
- 2 C. + 3 C. (1917) - Widow standing at a grave.
- 5 C. + 5 C. (1919) - War orphans.
- 15 C. + 10 C. (1917) - Woman plowing.
- 25 C. + 15 C. (1917) - Woman plowing.
- 35 C. + 25 C. (1917) - "Trench of Bayonets".
- 50 C. + 50 C. (1917) - Lion of Belfort.
- 1 Fr. + 1 Fr. (1917) - "La Marseillaise".
- 5 Fr. + 5 Fr. (1917) - "La Marseillaise".
The surtax on these stamps went to aid war orphans.
In August 1918, the beautiful multicolored 15 C. + 5 C. charity stamp shown above (Y&T #156, Sc. #B11) was issued.
The design features a hospital ship and a field hospital. The surtax went to the Red Cross.
On September 1, 1922, the 1917-1919 charity stamp designs were overprinted and re-issued. The new surtax amount on these stamps (Y&T #162-69, Sc. #B12-19) was considerably lower than those on the 1917-1919 stamps.
The four re-designed charity stamps shown above (Y&T #229-32, Sc. B20-23), based on the 1917-1919 designs, were issued between 1926 and 1927.
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Charity Stamps of 1914-1927
