Introduction
A number of special printed issues or of tributes were produced containing at least a copy of the stamp 0,50F Marianne de Béquet. We will present them in this article.
Imperforates
Appeared by 1940, imperforates come from sheets of normal stamps having voluntarily escaped perforation. The number of issued imperforates for small-format stamps is 2000 (20 sheets of 100) (figure which, however, cannot be guaranteed). Imperforates are mainly intended for official collections and surplus is given to important personalities. These imperforates have no postage value on an envelope. An accidental unperforated stamp must be attached to a perforate one not to be confused with an imperforate. For the stamp 0,50 F Marianne de Béquet, the sheets of 100 imperforates were chosen during the first printing on 30.11.1970. We show below a plate block of 10 imperforates and a plate block of 10 perforate stamps stemming from the same printing and having the same printing day.
Deluxe sheets
A Deluxe sheet is an unperforated and non adhesive mini-sheet in the centre of which a stamp in its definitive colour is printed. It generally includes a control punch (only till 1967 however) and the inscription “IMPRIMERIE DES TIMBRES-POSTE - FRANCE” at the bottom of the sheet. These sheets are offered to official personalities. They are printed in 300 copies (figure which cannot be guaranteed).
We can see below a Deluxe sheet for the stamp 0,50F Marianne de Béquet and another one for the stamp overprinted 25F CFA:
Philatelic leaflet
A philatelic leaflet is published by the French Post Office for every stamp issue. It mentions the characteristics of the stamp and gives a brief description of the subject that is represented on the stamp.
The Philatelic leaflet P.O. N 1-71 has been issued for the stamp 0,50 F Marianne de Béquet.
Official Philatelic Document
An Official Philatelic Document is published for the Museum of the Post office on the occasion of the issue of each stamp since 1974. The Document 28-76, issued at the time of the publication of the green 0,80 F and red 1,00 F Marianne de Béquet stamps, contains a proof of the steel die for values 0,45F, 0,50F, 0,60F, 0,80F and 1,00 F of the Marianne de Béquet series:
“Le trésor des timbres-poste de France”, 1849-1973
In 1981, the Museum of the Post office has printed 5000 copies of a luxurious book “Le trésor des timbres-poste de France, 1849-1973”. In this book, a series of 36 plates reproduces blocks of four definitive stamps from the materials deposited at the Museum of the Post office archives. A block of four stamps 0,50F Marianne de Béquet is printed on page 31, together with a block of four stamps 0,30F “Marianne de Cheffer”:
Insert “DEL & SC”
In 1985, the association of engravers and artists “DEL & SC” published 5500 copies of a 25 leaves book "L’art évolution". One of these leaves shows a drawing by Pierre Béquet with a proof of the 0,50F Marianne de Béquet die. Three leaves of this book will be presented as a slide show.
Document "Les visages de Marianne"
In 2001, the French Post office produced a document called “Les visages de Marianne” on which are represented the thirteen Marianne stamps appeared since 1944 (among which the stamp 0,50F Marianne de Béquet). Reproductions are intaglio printed and produced by a new computer-aided engraving machine. This document will be presented as a slide show.
Booklet “Les visages de la Vème République”
In 2008, the French Post office produced a booklet called “La Poste célèbre les Visages de la Cinquième République” containing twelve self-adhesive postage stamps with value 0,55 € : “Marianne à la nef” by Regagnon (1959), “Marianne d’Albert Decaris” (1960), “Marianne de Cocteau” (1961), “coq de Decaris” (1962), “Marianne de Cheffer” (1967), “Marianne de Béquet” (1971), “Sabine de Pierre Gandon” (1977), “Liberté de Pierre Gandon” (1982), “Marianne du Bicentenaire” by Louis Briat (1989), “Marianne du 14 juillet” by Ève Luquet (1997), “Marianne des Français” by Thierry Lamouche (2005) and “Marianne et l’Europe” by Yves Beaujard (2008) :
Block “La Vème République au fil du timbre”
In 2013, the French Post office proposed an intaglio-printing made block called “La Vème République au fil du timbre” taking back twelve “Marianne de la Vème République” stamps issued since 1959 (1959 “Marianne à la nef”, 1960 “Marianne de Decaris”, 1961 “Marianne de Cocteau”, 1962 “Coq gaulois”, 1967 “Marianne de Cheffer”, 1971 “Marianne de Béquet”, 1977 “Sabine de Gandon”, 1982 “Liberté de Gandon”, 1989 “Marianne du bicentenaire”, 1997 “Marianne du 14 juillet”, 2005 “Marianne des Français”, 2008 “Marianne de l’Europe”). This block is black-and-white printed out:
Booklets “La République au fil du timbre”.
Self-adhesive booklet
In 2013, the French Post office issued a booklet of fourteen self-adhesive stamps called “La République au fil du timbre” with twelve Marianne type stamps issued since 1959, printed in black-and-white, and two “Marianne de la Jeunesse” stamps (a green and a red) appeared in 2013:
Gummed booklet
In 2013, the French Post office also issued a booklet of fourteen gummed stamps “La République au fil du timbre” with the same stamps than in the self-adhesive booklet:
The booklet for the 50 years of the Marianne de Béquet
In 2021, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the issuance of the Béquet type stamp, the post office issued a booklet of 14 gummed Béquet type stamps: 6 blue stamps at the green letter rate in 2021 (1.08 €) and 6 red stamps at the urgent letter rate in 2021 (1.28 €) on the lower sheet of the booklet, 1 large blue stamp and 1 large red stamp at the international rate in 2021 (1.50 €) on the upper sheet of the booklet.
