Lot of 19th Century French Cérès Napoleon cancelled stamps, blue, red, yellow

AFW - Antique France Worldwide

Description

This lot of stamps, visible in the photo, mainly gathers canceled 19th-century French specimens, recognizable by their Ceres and Napoleon III effigies. The majority of the stamps are blue, with a characteristic presentation: left profile, finely gridded frame, and the mention "REPUB FRANC" or "EMPIRE FRANC" clearly visible on several specimens. The cancellations, visible on each stamp, are made with dotted or numbered cancels, typical of the classic period.

The first row groups blue stamps, most of which appear to be "20 centimes Ceres" (female profile on the left), sometimes perforated, sometimes imperforate. Some stamps have clearly legible numbered cancels, others have more diffuse cancellations. The shades of blue vary slightly depending on wear and printing, providing interesting visual diversity.

The second row continues with similar stamps, still bearing the effigy of Ceres or Napoleon III, also in blue, some on letter fragments. The margins are variable, with some specimens being well-centered, while others show narrower or irregular margins. Several stamps are attached in pairs, which is observable on the right side of the photo.

The third row presents other blue variants, some of which appear to come from slightly different issues due to their shade or typography. One can distinguish some pairs and a variety of numbered cancels. The formats differ slightly, with some stamps being on paper fragments, others alone.

The last row offers a more varied color palette, with red, yellow/orange stamps, and one brown specimen. Several Ceres and Napoleon III effigies are recognizable, always against a fine grid background. The dotted and numbered cancellations are also clearly visible on these specimens.

Overall, the lot presents a typical appearance of old philatelic albums, with period stamps showing wear, traces of handling, sometimes blunted corners or incomplete margins. The ensemble offers a beautiful diversity of cancels and shades, faithful to the classic period of French philately.

Condition

Used items sold as is. Traces of use, marked cancellations, corners or margins sometimes altered, visible wear on some stamps, colors faded in places. Please refer to the photo to assess the precise condition of each stamp.

Did you know? Ceres and Napoleon III stamps are among the very first French postal issues, appearing as early as 1849. The profile of Ceres symbolizes the French Republic, while that of Napoleon III testifies to the Second Empire. The numbered cancellations, called "lozenges", were assigned to each post office to identify their origin.

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Keywords: France 19th century stamps, Ceres stamps, Napoleon III stamps, classic canceled, blue red yellow stamps, numbered lozenge, French philately, stamp lot France, old French stamps, Empire canceled, stamp