french revolution: varieties and errors

8/14/2019 French revolution: varieties and errors

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Varieties and ErrorsIn previous articles RALPH ADAM outlined the

history of French phonecards and described the

features that interest collectors. This month he

explains how French collectors categorise

different types of card, and describes the main

errors and varieties

[jirstly, let me repeat that

the cards I am looking at

in this series of articles

are exclusively the

products of France Telecom. These

French cards are usually divided into

the following categories:

1- Public

These are the cards available from the

45,000 official outlets, such as post

offices, tobacconists and telephone

shops. In the early days of chip cards

there was a clear distinction between

definitive and other cards.There have been three well-known

series of definitives: 'pyjamas',

'cordons' (telephone flexes:

'Choisissez Votre Heure') and '600

agences' (phone shops: '600 agences

partout en France'). All three series

have many variations in chip module,

printing method, shade or colour,

wording on reverse and other details -

collecting them is a major

specialisation and there is a catalogue

devoted to these types.

Since 1992, definitives have been

harder to distinguish: they tend to be

large issues publicising FranceTelecom's services which are

reprinted with slight variations.

Several definitives are usually

available at anyone time.

The other public cards carry short-

term France Telecom information,

commercial advertising or details of

special events. Some cards are

available in certain geographical areas

only and print runs for public cards

can vary considerably (from 15,000 to

four o r f ive million). Public cards are

normally available for a limited period

after issue from the official bureau,

the BNVT. However, there tends to be

a particularly high demand for those

public cards and varieties with low

production runs.An example of how great is this

demand was illustrated by a 120 unit

card issued in 1995, showing the

Eiffel Tower. The card was mainly

available from a set of machines

outside a post office at the top of the

Tower. However, not all the machines

there were dispensing the special

card. Collectors u sed all manner of

techniques to get this card: some rang

the post office, verified that the card

was available and paid to go to the top

of the tower, only to find that either

the machines had sold out by the time

they got there or else they put theirmoney in the wrong machines and

received the French equivalent of 12

'greenies' !Other collectors had the

bright idea of giving money to touriststo buy cards on their behalf. Of

course, the tourists suspected that the

cards were valuable and kept them.

Finally, following representations

from collectors, a nearby post office

was designated to issue the Eiffel

Tower cards. This issue should really

have been regarded as a private issue

as it had, in principle, been available

from only a single source which was

not accessible to the public. As a

result, the card's price rose to well

above what i t should realistically have

been. Out of consideration to

collectors who had experienced suchdifficulties, catalogue publishers

agreed to make a dispensation and

regard unused machine-vended copies

of this card as 'mint'.

2 - Private

Since 1991 these cards have been

known as 'private/public' as they have

been available to all collectors from

the BNVT. Some 'private' issues are

limited editions of public cards - with

minor variations of design or wording.

Private cards are mostly

promotional, but the rules regardingtheir issue have changed several

times. Almost all private cards issued

before 1989 are rare - and many of

those that do still exist are in poor

condition. A few of the early private

cards were made available to the

public at specific outlets (eg

museums) at special prices. Many

cards have been issued sealed in

sachets ('blisters'); in those cases

where cards have been issued

unsealed, mint examples are usually

considered as identical to 'excellent

used'.

In January 1991 France Telecomdecided to produce 10,000 extra copies

of each private card for sale by the

BNVT six months after the original


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issue date, at 70F. This figure was

reduced to 5,000 in 1993 and it has

recently been cut further to 2,000.

Current policy is for private cards

to be on sale at the BNVTuntil

exhaustion and they have about 1,300

issues available. However, this

continued availability makes it hard

for dealers and cataloguers to price

these issues realistically: value tends,

therefore, to depend on theme orappearance. Once exhaustion is

achieved, the prices of 'good' cards

can rise dramatically. Individually-

numbered, 'personalis ed' cards in

folders, with signatures or special

overprints are an exception. However,

the 'personalisation' does not

guarantee value. There must be

something extra: a number below

1000, the signature of a TV celebrity

or an attractive folder, for instance. It

helps, too, if the card is not available

from the BNVT.

C om m on C ard ? A m i l l ion pro du ced- bu t d i v i ded i n t o f i f t y va r i e t i e s

Prior to 1989, 'internal'

cards also existed. These were issued

solely for internal or promotional use

by France Telecom. As with certain

'private' cards, they were often special

editions of public issues.

3 - Five unit

Introduced in 1993 as a cheap

advertising or promotional medium

with a relatively high minimum order

(10,000). These cards were slow to

catch on both as a promotionalproduct and as a collectors' item.

However, there are now well over a

hundred varieties of f ive unit card and

they make an attractive collection in

their own right.

In 1994 a new development was the

introduction of public versions of

these cards. A range of 'fun' issues

was produced for sale at three Paris

outlets, each design having a print

run of 6,000. Twenty-six of these

'specials' were produced in two series.

The first consisted of greetings

phonecards sold at 29 Francs each:

Zodiac signs, flowers, birthday

greetings, sports scenes

and Paris tourist sites.

On the back was space to

write a message and each

card also came with an

envelope and small insert

for a further message.

The second series of

'specials' consisted of

personal cards - either in

the form of a blank which

could be printed up as (an

expensive) visiting card, or

else with a picture and space

for a printed message (such as a

child's name with home and other

phone numbers) on the reverse.

These cards retailed at 35 Francs.

The Main Varieties

The range of printing techniques and

the production policy for French

cards mean that there is great scope

for the appearance of varieties:

variations may be due to a change of

manufacturer or to an alteration to

one of the many items of information

printed on the card. I have already

mentioned that the early definitives

led to so many varieties that they

have their own specialist catalogue.

Later cards can be sub-divided by

module type, printing method, type of

serial number (specialists distinguish

varieties by length of number,

spacing between digits, typeface and

colour: eleven number varieties have

been noted so far), date of issue,

production run, address of Regie T


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TE L E C A R T E

50UN 'TES

and so on. All

the main varieties are listed in

catalogues. The abundance of

varieties means that a seemingly-

common card can, in fact, be quite

rare.

How to Look for Varieties

Last month I summarised the key

features of French phone cards.However, the number of different

points to look for can be daunting for

non-specialists who, as a result,

often pay attention to only the

picture. But for most purposes, a

card can be scanned in a few seconds

- especially with the aid of a good

catalogue. Obviously, the picture and

text on the face are the main item of

recognition. Cards with identical

visuals can then be divided by face

value and module type - and that is

often as far as one need go. After that

stage it is easy to note the issue date

and print run - but do remember tocheck that the value indicator on the

reverse matches that on the front:

this is a source of one of the

major types of error.

Catalogues use standard forms

of coding for module types,

layout of control numbers and

so on: use ofthese codes allows

collectors to list 'wants' in a

very small space.

Major Errors

In most areas of life, we expect

products to be perfect: ifwe buy

a car and find that the engine is

missing, we complain

vehemently. Yet for stamp and

phonecard collectors the opposite

applies: it is the items which are badly

or wrongly produced that create most

of the interest!

The production methods and

amount of information on French

cards lend themselves to the creation

of accidental errors. There is not

space to go into great detail in anintroductory article, but the main

types of error to look out for are:

1. Module errors: missing, wrong,

misplaced or damaged chip modules

2. Misplaced reverse: the reverse can

be inverted or the face may have been

matched with the reverse of a

different card. It has even been known

for a French card to carry the back of

a German one: perhaps someone in

the factory was

anticipating political

union!

'Py j ama ' w it h Bu l l mo du le

3. Printing errors: colour shifts,

missing or wrong colours or

partially -printed text

4. Missing, partial or inverted

serial numbers

5. Missing or misplaced direction

arrows

6. Wrong background to the

module

Some of these errors can be

introduced fraudulently. In such

cases, the extra value holds only if

the card is still in its original

'blister': the present sachet design

incorporates security features to

prevent tampering.

I hope that you have found this

brief outline of the types of

French cards useful. Next month I

shall deal with 'Cinderella' cards,

the approach of 1998 and sources

of further information.

french revolution: varieties and errors

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