Sower (stamp series)
Postage stamps with the motif Säerin (French "Semeuse") were issued in France from 1903. They show a striding female figure with a Phrygian cap and hair blowing in the headwind, holding a bag with her left hand and pulling it out with her right hand to eject the seeds. The same motif can be found on French coins issued in 1899 and 1960. The design comes from Oscar Roty , the engraver was initially Louis-Eugène Mouchon . Their names are given below the brand image.
The stamps were printed in two basic types: with a lined background (from 1903) and with a smooth background (from 1906). Most editions appeared before the Second World War .
Sower on a lined background
All stamps of this type except for the last two issues show a sun on the horizon to the right behind the figure of the sower (actually an illogical arrangement given the shadow cast in the picture).
They appeared in two large series in 1903 and 1921 to 1929 in letterpress in the format 17 mm × 21 mm and perforation 14: 13½ as well as in a modified version in 1960/1961, also in letterpress, the same format and the same perforation, and in 2003 as a self-adhesive stamp in Intaglio printing .
The 1903 edition includes the following values: 10c, 15c, 20c, 25c, and 30c. The value at 15c was withdrawn from sale in 1927.
The edition from the 1920s includes the following values (new editions of the same value levels were accompanied by color changes):
- 50c (1921),
- 60c, 65c, 85c (1924),
- 45c, 50c, 80c (1925),
- 50 c, 75 c, 1 F, overpressure 50 c to 65 c, overpressure 50 c to 80 c, overpressure 50 c to 85 c, (1926),
- Overprint 50 c to 60 c, 50 c with imprint "+ 25 c Caisse d'Amortissement" (1927),
- 50 c with imprint "+ 25 c Caisse d'Amortissement" (1928),
- 40 c (2 values), 65 c, 1.10 F, 2 F (1929)
In 1938 another 50 c stamp appeared.
Later, two values appeared in the new currency at 20 c (1960) and 30 c (1961) in a two-tone version without the sun in the background, which were designed and engraved by Jules Piel . This and all previous editions bear the inscription "REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE / POSTES".
In 2003 a stamp booklet was published with 10 self-adhesive stamps, 5 of them in the pattern " Marianne du 14 Juillet" with permanent validity and 5 in the pattern "Sower on lined background" in the format 15 mm × 21 mm at 0.50 EUR with the inscription "RF / LA POSTE ".
In the special edition for the Philex-Jeunes stamp exhibition in 1984 in Dunkerque , the motif is also taken up by depicting the sower stepping out of the stamp frame. A section of the pattern was also used in 1996 for the special edition for Stamp Day.
Sower on a smooth background
The first stamp of the design "Sower on a smooth background" with the value level 10 c appeared in 1906. The floor on which the sower walks is shown there. Two more stamps for 10c and 15c appeared in the same year without showing the bottom, which was also left out in the following issues of this type. From 1907 Jean-Baptiste Lhomme worked as an engraver, and later, among others, François Guilleman.
The other issues include the following values (new issues of the same value levels were accompanied by color changes):
- 5c, 10 c, 20 c, 25 c, 30 c, 35 c, 10 c + 5c (surcharge in favor of the Red Cross) (1907)
- 5c, 10c, 30c (1922)
- 15 c, 30 c (2 values), 40 c, 1.05 F (1925)
- 10c, 20c, 40c, 1.40 F (1926)
- 25 c, 40 c, 1.10 F, stamp booklet with values of 5 c and 10 c (1927)
- 40 c (also with imprint "Caisse d'amortissement + 10 c"), 2 F (1928–1931)
- 1 c (2 values, including one with overprint "½ centime"), 2 c, 3 c, 5 c, 10 c, 30 c, 35 c (also with overprint "30 c")
In 1940, the issue of stamps with the "Sower" pattern was stopped.
Web links
- Mag'Timbre: La Semeuse (French)
- semeuse22 (French)
literature
- Jean Storch, Robert Françon: Le Timbre-poste au type Semeuse camée de 1907. Paris, Spécialisé France, 1981. (French)