Friday, September 06, 2013

The Joint Issue That Never Was

According to an entry on the Stanley Gibbons Facebook page, September 2, 1940 was the proposed date for release of  the joint French-British stamp issue shown above. 

According to Gibbons, "Following the outbreak of the Second World War, and the resulting greater co-operation between Britain and France, there were many calls for a joint stamp issue. The King approved the idea."

The post goes on to say, "The process of amendments and essays ensued, with both British and French agreeing the results. Likewise both the King [George VI] and French President [
Albert Lebrun] approved the final choice. It was hoped to use the design for a full range of values, with the first one or two released on 2 September 1940. On 17 June the French government sought an armistice with Nazi Germany: the issue was abandoned."
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posted by Don Schilling at 8:32 AM