FCPS-LogoIn 1949, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first French postage stamp, a group of British philatelists set up a pioneering  specialist  philatelic society devoted to the study of the stamps of France and the then French Empire. From small beginnings, the France and Colonies Philatelic Society now unites over 250 collectors in Britain and overseas in the many and varied delights of the stamps and postal history of la Francophonie.

The Society provides an extensive programme of meetings in several locations, holds an annual Philatelic Weekend, publishes a well regarded and authoritative Journal and series of monographs as well as several more extensive specialist philatelic books, operates a magazine circuit, two thriving exchange packets and three postal Auctions a year. It is a friendly and informal group to which non-members are welcome to attend any of our meetings.


PLEASE NOTE THE LONDON GROUP MEETING DETAILS HAVE CHANGED

The next meeting of France & Colonies Philatelic Society will be held on WEDNESDAY 1st OCTOBER 2025 in the Stockholm Room in the Royal Philatelic Society premises,  15 Abchurch Lane, London, EC4N 7BW.. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or text via 0776 675 1412 Roger Niven if you wish to attend as space is limited.  

THE NORTHERN GROUP MEETING - 25 OCTOBER 

•  Theme: To be advised - Meeting will be held as previous, at Ravenfield Parish Hall, Birch Wood Drive, Ravenfield, Rotherham S65 4PT Contact:by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mr. Roger Clapham, Tel: 01709 527673.   or John Morton by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Visitors most welcome
•  Forthcoming meetings: ~ 18 April 2026 theme: Easter

  JOURNAL 308 

Articles in the August 2025 Journal include:

– Usage of the Série Sites et Monuments/Série touristique d’usage courant (1938 - 1941) - Part 3 (Edwin Voerman)
– “What is Postal History?”        
– Precursors of the French postal card Part 6: The dépêche-réponse cards (Frans Jorissen)
– Marianne de Muller  Part 8: the 15 franc and 20 franc Algérie issues (YT 329 and 349) (Mick Bister)    
– There’s No Business Like.Show Business – Connections on French Stamps - Part 10 (David Parmley) 
– Maxi 3,70€ Cérès 1938 – How to distinguish? (Miles Cerny and Richard Broadhurst) 
– Why I collect, and what I collect (Roger Niven) 
Shorter Items - including Questions and Answers        
•  Spring fever at the Salon Philatélique de Printemps, 2025 (Ran van den Boom    
•  Algeria, a tempting offer (Michael Round) 
•  What’s in a date? (Roger Niven)          
•  The Paris Banlieue handstamp (David Huckett)
Reports of Meetings 
•  49th Annual weekend 6-8 March 2025 (David Parmley / Peter Kelly)        
•  Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 7 March 2025  (Chris Hitchen)     
•  London Group Meeting of 21 May 2025 (Roger Niven) 
•  Wallis and Futuna (Michael Round) 
•  Northern Group Meeting of 12 July 2025 (John Morton)         
Bookshelf (Compiled by Michael Round) 
•  Yvert & Tellier/A.C.E.P.  ‘Entiers Postaux’ Catalogue 2025 (Reviewed by Michael Round) 
New-issue listings from Gibbons Stamp Monthly: April - July 2025 (Michael Round)     
List of Recently Published Articles (Maurice Tyler) 
Society Notes
•  Appeals for Journal Manager / Journal Editor / Website Manager
Advertisement - The Postage and Revenue Meter Stamps of Cameroun by Marty Bratzel Jr. and Dr. Marc Parren 

A selection of images from Journal 308 are illustrated above in the slider. 

THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to to Journal WE ARE ALWAYS IN NEED OF ARTICLES, large or small, if you have something of interest please consider sending it for inclusion in a later edition. Let us know what YOU collect. If you are concerned about privacy - we won't publish your name. Type your text in Word or plain text, add any images, scanned at 300dpi as separate jpeg attachments and email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 ZOOM MEETINGS 

The next Zoom Meeting will take place on Tuesday, 14 October, starting at 2.30pm GMT. The display is entitled “Philately and Postal History ofWW2” with and Mick Bister Chris Hitchen presenting the two respective parts. Zoom meetings are a convenient way by which we can meet face to face and share our interests so please join us in what will be an highly entertaining and informative occasion. Those without a webcam can of course still view the displays but will not be seen by others. If you have a display that you would like to give on Zoom or you would like to join in in any way please let Chris Hitchen know by email

All previous Zoom meetings are available to view here

Information on Zoom meetings will only be sent to those who express an interest, however the programme will be advertised on the website. Read more

 Please consider using the FORUM - perhaps share your latest acquisitions or any query or comment you may have. If you have not registered as a member, please contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your preferred password and a Username will be provided.

A NEW PUBLICATION 

The Postage and Revenue Meter Stamps of Cameroun
Published by the authors with the support of the Stuart Rossiter Trust;  
A4. 149 pages. Full colour. Soft back, Laminated card cover.

The France and Colonies Philatelic Society is pleased to promote the new addition to its Publications list. 

Postage meter stamps, first introduced into Cameroun in 1953, comprise an integral part of the philatelic panoply of that country. However, meter stamps have been little studied and are often overlooked. Over 250 postage meter stamps are listed by town.  Each stamp is illustrated, accompanied by the earliest and latest recorded dates of use. Also illustrated are more than 50 alterations made to specific meter stamps.

Full details are listed on the Publications page 

 

JOIN OUR PHILATELIC FORUM 
You can join our Forum without being a member of the Society - just contact the Website Manager with your name and preferred password and you will be supplied with a username - you don't have to be a member!.

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Please note: The information displayed in these pages is copyright. The images used are used with permission from the owners’ of the material. Permission for the use of any material within these pages must be sought from the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.and must be quoted in references.

News

LATEST NEWS

PLEASE NOTE: THE LONDON GROUP MEETING DETAILS HAVE CHANGED

The next meeting of France & Colonies Philatelic Society will be held on WEDNESDAY 1st OCTOBER 2025 in the Stockholm Room in the Royal Philatelic Society premises,  15 Abchurch Lane, London, EC4N 7BW.. Email or text via 0776 675 1412 Roger Niven if you wish to attend as space is limited.  

THE NORTHERN GROUP MEETING - 25 OCTOBER 

•  Theme: To be advised - Meeting will be held as previous, at Ravenfield Parish Hall, Birch Wood Drive, Ravenfield, Rotherham S65 4PT Contact: Mr. Roger Clapham, Tel: 01709 527673.  Email or John Morton Email
Visitors most welcome
•  Forthcoming meetings: ~ 18 April 2026 theme: Easter

ANNUAL PHILATELIC WEEKEND

We will be celebrating the 50th Charlecote Annual Weekend 5 - 7 March 2026 David Parmley and Peter Kelly are working hard to ensure the Weekend is a very special one. If you have any suggestions as to how we should celebrate this special event to make it more memorable please contact David by email.

 ZOOM MEETINGS 

The next Zoom Meeting will take place on Tuesday, 14 October, starting at 2.30pm GMT. The display is entitled “Philately and Postal History ofWW2” with and Mick Bister Chris Hitchen presenting the two respective parts. Contact either to register your interest in joining,