100 Years of

''La Semeuse''

15c. Lined Sower on first day cover, 2nd April 1903

Ashley Lawrence

The Royal Philatelic Society London

20th February 2003

"La Semeuse" de Roty

The Medallion which Louis-Oscar Roty designed for the Ministry of Agriculture in 1895

100 YEARS OF LA SEMEUSE'

Introduction

La Semeuse, the Sower, first appeared on French stamps in April 1903. This graceful figure, wearing the Phrygian cap of liberty, sowing ideas at sunrise, came to symbolise Republican France throughout much of the 20th century. This display celebrates her centenary.

Frame 1 The Early Years

The newly designed stamps of 1900. Louis Oscar Roty (1846-1911), designer of the Sower , Louis-Eugene Mouchon, engraver (1843-1914); Charlotte Ragot, model. Roty's original sketch, and design for a medallion. The Sower's first appearance on coins, 1897-98. The politicians' decision to replace Type Mouchon with Type Semeuse. Engraving dies, making essays and proofs.

Frame 2 The First Lined Sowers, 1903

Postal usage of the new issue of Sowers. The three Types of the 10c. Rose. The six Types of the 15c. Green. First day cover, 2" April, 1903. Varieties ; stamps produced for booklets, and issued in coils for use in vending machines. Use of Grande Consommation (GC) paper as wartime economy measure. Franchise Militaire (F.M.) overprinted stamps for use by the armed forces.

Frame 3 The First Lined Sowers continued

Type VI of the 15c. Lined Sower, "the rarest French definitive". Pre-cancel and other overprints. The 20c. Brown-Lilac, the 25c. Blue and 30c. Lilac issues, 1903. Examples of imperforate issues. Millesimes. 45c. Lilac, 50c. Blue and Red Sowers. Paper types. Booklet stamps.

Frame 4 Later Lined Sowers

50c. Red continued. B.I.T. Congress overprint of 1930 ; Le Philopode and other booklets ; coils. 50c. Turquoise. The 55c./ 60c. surcharged stamps used by Grands Magasins du Louvre, 1926. Colour trials for the 65c. Rose. Types I and II of the 75c. Lilac-Rose.

Frame 5 The Cameo Sowers 15c. Type VI

Dated comer block curiosities of the 1c. Bistre and the 2c. Dark Green Cameo Sowers. 5c. Green issued m 1907 : varieties ; 5c. Bistre ; Portes-timbres the first Sower Booklet stamps. The 5c. Orange, 1921. The 5c. Rose, 1934.

Frame 6 The 10c. Red Sower

The 10c. Red Sower on Ground, introduced in 1906 to mark the reduction of the internal letter rate. Replaced in turn by the 10c. Red Chiffres Maigres in 1906, and by the 10c. Red Chiffres Grasses in 1907. Varieties and shades, including

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the Scarlet issue of November 1907. Imperforate issues, booklets and coil stamps. First scheduled flight cover from Nancy to Luneville, 1912. Use of GC paper, 1916.

Frame 7 The 10c. Sower continued

Portes-timbres used for advertising and propaganda. Aiglon porte-timbre booklet. The 1919 booklet. The Turin forgery, 1909. F.M.overprints. The Red Cross stamps of 1914, and Red Cross Booklet issued in 1915.

The 10c. Green Sower, first to be printed by Rotary Press, 1922. Annule booklet of 1923 ; Mineraline and Phena booklets of chiffres maigres stamps of 1926-27.

Frame 8 The Cameo Sowers continued

Type III variety of the 10c. Green Sower. The 10c. Blue Sower, 1932. Types of 15c. Brown-Lilac. "Le Philopode" booklet, 1928. Pre-cancelled and coil stamps. 20c. Lilac-Brown Sower, 1907. 20c, Lilac-Rose Sower, Types III and V se-tenant.

Frame 9 The Cameo Sowers continued The Turin Forgery

The 25c. Blue Sower, 1907-27. Types and Varieties. The 1913 forgery. Timbres-monnaies. Booklet stamps, overprints, rotary coils.

Frame 10 The Cameo Sowers continued

The 25c. Blue Marseilles forgery. The 25c. Yellow-Brown Sower, 1927-38. Types of the 30c. Cameo Sower ; booklets, overprints. The 35c. Violet Sower 1906, chiffres maigres. The 35c. Viplet Sower of 1907-26, chiffres grasses. Types I and II, and overprints. The 30c,/ 35c. Green overprint, 1941.

Frame 11 Cameo Sowers and Postal Stationery

Types of the 40c. Cameo Sower. Envelopes, letter-cards, newspaper wrappers and other forms of postal stationery. Privately printed envelopes. Pneumatic postal stationery. The lFr.20 postcard introduced for liberated France in 1944.

Frame 12 Sower Miscellany

Contemporary postcards of the Sower design. The Haegelin trial printing for rotary presses, 1913. Franchise Militaire caxAs, 1914-18. Les Timbres-Monnaies, Timbres-Jetons, circa 1920. The Strasbourg Exhibition stamps, 1927. The Sinking Funds, 1927-31. La Semeuse re-engraved by Jules Piel, 1960. Journee du Timbre, 1996. "Farewell to the Franc, Welcome the Euro, 2002".

Ashley Lawrence

The Royal Philatelic Society London

"La Semeuse" - Chronology and Postal Usage

For ease of reference. Lined Sowers are shown on the right, Cameo Sowers on the left.

The first Sowers, which replaced Type Mouchon, served the tariff of 1900.

10c. Rose (Yv. 129) issued on 6th May, 1903. Until 16th April, 1906 it was used on postcards, internal and foreign. From 16th April, 1906 it was used on ordinary internal letters, being withdrawn and replaced by the 10c.Red camee at the end of August 1907, It continued to be used on postcards.

15c. Green-Grey (Yv. 130) was the first Sower stamp to be issued, on 2nd April, 1903. Until 16th April, 1906, it was used for internal letters weighing up to 15gms. Hardly used between 1906 and 1910, it then became the tariff for internal letters weighing 20-50gms. It served the ordinary internal letter rate from 1st January, 1917 to 1st April, 1920. Thereafter it had limited functions as a complementary value for other rates, for postcards of less than 5 words, and for non-periodical printed matter.

20c. Brown-Lilac (Yv.l31) issued on 29' June, 1903, was withdrawn m December 1907. Used for echantillons (commercial samples) and 4* grade printed matter.

25c. Blue (Yv. 132) issued on 28th April, 1903 was withdrawn in June 1907. It served as the ordinary foreign letter rate.

30c. Lilac (Yv.l33) issued on 29th June, 1903 was withdrawn in May 1907. It served as the double rate for internal letters, and as a complementary value.

The tariff of 16* April, 1906 reduced the internal letter rate from 15c.to 10c.

10c. Red Sower on Ground (Yv, 134) was issued on 13th April, 1906, Despite re-touches, it was rejected, and withdrawn in July 1906,

10c. Red Sower chiffres maigres (Yv.l35) was issued on 28th July 1906. Despite re-touches, it was replaced in September 1907. Booklet stamps were issued and sold from December 1906 until 1910.

35c. Violet Sower chiffres maigres (Yv, 136) was issued on 8th November 1906, and withdrawn in November 1907. It had a complementary value.

The tariffs of 16th April 1906 and 1st February, 1907,

5c. Green (Yv.l37) was issued on 6th March, 1907 and withdrawn on 15th July, 1921. Used for printed matter, and visiting card envelopes. It was printed in sheets by flat plate, and in booklets without adverts.

10c. Red chiffres grasses (Yv. 138) was first issued in September 1907 and was withdrawn in February 1922. It served the ordinary internal letter rate. Booklets of 30 stamps were issued in 1919.

20c. Lilac-Brown (Yv.l39) was issued in December 1907 and withdrawn m January 1926 ( flat plate being replaced by rotary printing in 1923). Various uses according to tariff changes.

25c. Blue (Yv. 140) was first issued in June 1907 and was printed (using 7 different dies) until it was withdrawn in June 1927. It served the ordinary letter rate to foreign destinations.

30c. Orange (Yv. 141) was issued in May 1907 and withdrawn in 1922. A complementary value, it served as the basic rate for the pneumatic post.

35c. Deep Violet (Yv. 142) was issued on 8th November, 1907 and withdrawn in April 1926. The highest value in the 1906-07 series, the 35c. was printed on rotary presses in March / April 1926 (Yv. 142b). Existing stocks were surcharged 25c. in 1926.

The Red Cross issues of 1914.

The 10c. Red surcharged 5c. (Yv. 146) was issued on 11th August, 1914, and withdrawn in October 1918.

The redesigned stamp (Yv.l47) was issued on 10* September, 1914 and withdrawn in October 1918. A booklet of 20 stamps was issued in 1915. Both Red Cross issues were demonetised on 1st April, 1921.

The tariff of 1st April, 1920.

5c. Orange (Yv.l58) was issued on 30th June, 1921 and withdrawn in 1924. Intended for internal printed matter, it served as a complementary value. Sheets and booklet stamps (without adverts) were printed by flat plate, and coils were printed by rotary press.

The tariff of 1st April, 1921.

50c. Blue (Yv. 161) was issued on 30' June, 1921, in sheets of 150 stamps and m coils, printed by flat plate. It served as the new foreign letter rate, being replaced by the Pasteur 50c.in 1923.

10c. Green (Yv,159) was issued in February 1921 and withdrawn in 1929. This was the first French stamp to be printed by rotary press, on 4th March 1922. It was also printed by flat plate, in sheets and booklets.

30c. Red (Yv. 160) was issued on 31st January, 1922 and served as the foreign postcard rate until it was replaced by the Pasteur 30c. in 1923.

The tariff of 24th March, 1924.

60c. Lilac (Yv.200) was issued on 17th June, 1924 only to be withdrawn in 1925 when new tariffs made it redundant. It was subsequently issued in pre-cancelled form surcharged 55c. in August 1926, for use by shops in the Louvre for postage on their catalogues (with a pre-cancelled 10c). It was surcharged 50c. in July 1927 (Yv.223).

65c. Rose (Yv.201) was issued on 1st October 1924, and withdrawn on 17th July, 1925. Remaining stocks were surcharged 50c. in August 1927 (Yv.224).

85c. Red (Yv.204) was issued on 9th July 1924. Withdrawn in 1926, and remaining stocks were surcharged 50c. (Yv.221)

30c. Rose (Yv. 191) was issued on 6th January, 1925, replacing the 30c. Red Pasteur and Milon de Crotone. It was printed by flat plate in sheets of 150 and booklets, and by rotary press, and used for the ordinary internal letter rate until the tariff was increased in July 1925.

The tariffs of 15th July (for internal post) and 16th August, 1925 (for foreign post).

30c. Blue (Yv. 192) issued in August 1925, served for the franking of ordinary internal letters until the rate was increased again in April 1926, and then for internal postcards. It was printed in sheets and coils by rotary press, and in booklets and on postcards by flat plate. It was replaced by the 30c.Green Pasteur, and remaining stocks were surcharged 25c. in 1926,

40c. Brown-Olive (Yv.l93) was issued in August 1925 and withdrawn in May 1926. It was printed in flat plate sheets and booklets, and rotary sheets.

1f. 05 Vermilion (Yv. 195) was issued in November 1925. It was intended for the franking of internal registered letters, but the change in tariffs made it redundant, and it was withdrawn in May 1926. Remaining stocks were surcharged 50c. in 1927.

80c. Red (Yv.203) was issued in November 1925, and withdrawn in April 1926. This new complementary value was only printed on rotary press. Remaining stocks were surcharged 50c. in 1927 (Yv.220).

15c. Brown-Lilac (Yv. 189) was issued in January 1926, printed until 1936 and withdrawn on 20th March 1939. First used for the franking of postcards of 5 words or more, it subsequently served a variety of uses. Sheets and coils were printed by rotary press, booklets and postcards by flat plate.

50c. Olive-Green (Yv.l98) was issued on 22nd January 1926, and was printed by flat plate and by rotary press. It was withdrawn in September 1926. It was intended for the franking of internal letters of the second weight band of 20-50gms.

The tariffs of 1st February (foreign mail) and 1st May, 1926 (internal mail).

20c. Lilac-Rose (Yv.l90) was issued on 20th July, 1926, printed until 1938 and withdrawn on 20th March, 1939. First used for the franking of postcards of 5 words or more, it subsequently served a variety of uses as postal rates changed. It was printed by rotary press in sheets of 100, in coils, in booklets, and (by flat plate) on postcards.

40c. Vermilion (Yv.l94) was issued in May 1926 and withdrawn on 9* August, 1926. Introduced as the stamp for the ordinary internal letter rate, it was made redundant by a new tariff change in August. It was printed in sheets of 100 stamps, in coils of 600 and 1200, and (by flat plate) as booklet stamps and on postcards.

1f. 40 Rose (Yv. 196) was issued on 6th August, 1926 and withdrawn on 9* August, 1926. Issued just three days before a new tariff change, this stamp was intended for registered internal letters of the first weight band. It is thus rare in this usage, especially alone on letters. After the tariff change, it served as a complementary value. Remaining stocks were surcharged 1f 10 in October 1926.

1fr. Blue (Yv.205) issued on 6th August, 1926 was withdrawn in 1933. Issued a few days after the change in tariffs, it had been intended for use on registered foreign mail. In the event it served as a complementary value until 1932.

Tariff changes on 1st August (foreign mail) and 9* August, 1926 (internal mail) led to the surcharging of stamps to alter their face value.

25c. on 30c. Blue (Yv.217) issued in October 1926, and sold until stocks exhausted. The surcharge was applied by rotary press on existing stocks. It was also applied on the half-sheets of 120 flat-plate printed stamps which had been prepared for use in booklets. The booklets were never issued, and the surcharged stamps were sold over the counter as normal sale sheets.

25c. on 35c. Deep Violet (Yv.218) issued in November 1926, and sold until stocks exhausted. The surcharge was only applied on the rotary sheets which had been printed in 1926. There were no remaining stocks of sheets produced by flat-plate; printing of these had ceased in 1924.

90c. on 1f.05 Vermilion (Yv.227) issued in October 1926, and sold until stocks exhausted. The lf.05 had been issued in 1925. The surcharged value of 90c. corresponded to the tariff for postcards to foreign destinations.

1f.10 on 1f.40 Rose (Yv.228) was issued in October 1926 and withdrawn in December 1927.

45c. Lilac (Yv. 197) was issued on 30th October 1926, in order to make a coherent series. It was used as a complementary value, and printings continued until April 1932.

50c. Red (Yv. 199) was first issued in September 1926, and printings continued until 1932. It was the most used value of the new series, franking ordinary internal letters of 0-20gms., the rate for which had increased from 40c. to 50c. from 9th August, 1926. It appears in sale sheets printed by flat plate and rotary press (the quality of printing is generally poor), in many booklets (with or without adverts), and on postal stationery. Overprinted B.I.T. in 1930 (Yv.264).

75c. Lilac-Rose (Yv.202) was first issued on 10th November 1926. It was printed by rotary press in 1926, and from 1928 to 1931. A new die (Type 2) engraved by Chevet was used for printing on three days only, 19th to 21st May in 1932.

Further surcharges were made during 1927 using the tariffs of 1926. The surcharge of 50c. (the rate for ordinary internal letters) was applied to use up the remaining stocks of earlier provisional values :

50c. on 60c. Lilac (Yv.223) issued on 11th July, 1927, and sold until stocks were exhausted.

50c. on 65c. Rose (Yv.224) issued on 18th August, 1927, and sold until stocks were exhausted.

50c. on 80c. Red (Yv.220) issued in January 1927 and sold until stocks were exhausted.

50c. on 85c. Red (Yv.221) issued on 13th February, 1927. The 85c. value became redundant after the tariff changes of August 1926.

50c. on lf.05 Vermilion (Yv.225) issued on 15th April, 1927, and sold until stocks were exhausted.

25c. Yellow-Brown (Yv.235) issued on 11th June, 1927 and withdrawn in November 1938. This stamp exists in two forms, in sale sheets of 100 stamps and coils of 1000. It was intended for the franking of illustrated internal postcards (with the address and up to 5 words of text) and for certain internal printed matter.

40c. Violet (Yv.236) issued in September 1927 and withdrawn at the end of 1928. This stamp was intended for the franking of invoices, which benefited from a preferential rate, and for ordinary postcards of 5 words or more. Printed in sheets and coils, and (by flat-plate) in the form of postcards on grey-green card. This value was replaced in 1928 by the 40c. Ultramarine (Yv.237), the violet being unsatisfactory.

The surcharges were a stop-gap measure to use up surplus stocks of redundant values. A new series of stamps was issued during 1927 to meet the new tariffs.

65c. Olive-Green (Yv.234) issued in January 1927, replacing the 65c. Rose (Yv.201) which had been issued in 1925, and printing of this stamp continued until 1931, the 65 c. stamp being withdrawn in November 1933.

1f. 10 Rose (Yv.238) issued in March 1927, and withdrawn on 18th July, 1932. This value appeared for the first time on a Sower stamp. It corresponds to the ordinary internal letter rate with cash on delivery (recouvrement). It replaced the 1f 40 (surcharged If 10) of the provisional series of 1925,

40c. Ultramarine (Yv.237) issued in December 1928, withdrawn in 1933. Replacing the 40c. Violet (Yv.236) which had appeared in 1927, this stamp was used for internal postcards and for invoices, it was printed in sheets of 100 and in coils of 1000, and (by flat plate) in the form of postcards.

"La Caisse d'Amortissement"

In each year from 1927 to 1931, France issued Three stamps of the Sower or Pasteur design, bearing a premium aimed at reducing the National Debt. These stamps are overprinted ''Caisse d'Amortissement'" or "C.A.", and show the amount of the premium to be credited to the Sinking Fund. The first series was issued on 26th September, 1927, and subsequent series were issued on 1st October from 1928 tol931.

2fr. Green-Blue (Yv.239) printed by rotary press was issued on 1st January, 1931 and printing ceased in April 1931. It replaced the 2fr. Merson which was no longer printed after 1929, and was itself replaced by the 2fr. Arc de Triomphe, in the Sites and Monuments series, which appeared in August 1931.

New tariffs of 6th April and 18th July, 1932.

10c. Ultramarine (Yv.279) was issued in September 1932, and withdrawn in October 1938. It was used for the franking of newspapers and printed matter. It was printed in sheets of 100 stamps, and was intended for coils, the sheets of which were eventually sold at post office counters. It was also printed by flat plate m the form of newspaper bands (Bandes pour journaux) in 1937.

1c. Bistre-Olive (Yv.277A) was issued in August 1933. Reserved for newspapers and electoral documents, replacing Type Blanc, this value was issued in two distinct colours. The first, Bistre-Olive, appeared in August 1933. On 25th and 26th March, 1936 in was printed in Bistre-Brown in error.

In order to avoid speculation, the PTT decided to continue the printing. 1c. Bistre-Brown (Yv.277B) was issued in July 1936 and was withdrawn on 15th May, 1941. The stamps are common in both colours. It was also printed by flat plate in the form of newspaper bands. Both colours were also surcharged 1/2 c.

2c. Dark Green (Yv.278) issued in March 1933, withdrawn on 15th May, 1941. This value was intended for franking newspapers and cecogrammes (printed in braille). It was also printed by flat plate on newspaper bands.

3c. Red Orange (Yv.278A) was issued in September 1933, and withdrawn in December 1937. It was used for the franking of certain newspapers.

1/2c Overprint on 1c. Bistre-Olive (Yv.279A) issued in December 1933, withdrawn in May 1937.

Vic. Overprint on 1c. Bistre-Brown (Yv.279B), issued in May 1937, withdrawn on 3rd August, 1937. The Yic. value was used for franking newspapers delivered within a limited radius (des journaux routes et hors sacs dans un rayon limitrophe). The surcharge was applied in black by rotary press to the stamps as they were being printed.

5c. Rose (Yv.278B) was issued in December 1934, and withdrawn in October 1938. The 5c. stamp was used for the franking of newspapers and electoral documents. To differentiate the new stamp from the earlier issues in Green and Orange, the face-value was re-engraved. The design is larger, and the 5 c is taller.

The tariffs of 12th July and 1st August, 1937 led to the introduction of new stamps.

30c. Dark Red (Yv.360) issued in November 1937, and withdrawn on 28th December, 1940. This was the new tariff for postcards of 5 words or more. The stamps printed by rotary press were issued in sheets and in booklets ; printed by flat plate, they appeared on postcards.

35c. Green (Yv.361) issued in September 1937, and withdrawn on 28th December, 1940. This was a complementary value, used for certain printed matter. Remaining stocks were surcharged in 1941.

50c. Turquoise (Yv.362) issued on 15th February, 1938, and withdrawn in June 1939. This was used for the first weight-band of printed matter and invoices and (except for the surcharged 35c.Green in 1941) was the last Sower to be issued before La Semeuse de Piel in 1960.

30c. on 35c. Green (Yv.476) issued on 25th January, 1941, withdrawn on 22nd September, 1941. 13,244 million were overprinted.

La Semeuse de Piel

Engraved by Jules Piel, the 0.20 value in Turquoise and Rose (Yv.l233) was issued on 2nd January, 1960, and was withdrawn on 15th January, 1965.

The 0.30 value in Black and Ultramarine (Yv.l234) was issued on 23rd February, 1961, and was withdrawn on 7* July, 1962.

10

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