The Essays “Cérès 1858”
Why are they an integral part of Greek philately?1
by Louis Fanchini
This article was originally published in Documents Philoteliques No. 198, 4th quarter 2008. Later, the first part was published in Philotelia No. 652, September - October 2008. Subsequent parts will be published in Issues No. 653 and 654 of the same journal.
It is an important contribution to the literature on the large Hermes heads of Greece because many of the same techniques used in engraving the dies and printing the stamps for the first French stamp issues were also used for the first stamps of Greece. Thus, it sheds some light on how the dies and stamps were manufactured for the first Greek issues, many details of which are not generally known to students of the large Hermes head stamps.
The above photo of the "“Cérès 1858”essays of France and the imprimatur 80 lepta large Hermes stamps of Greece is a composite synthetically produced in Adobe Photoshop using photos of actual blocks of eight of these two issues. It shows, dramatically, the similarity of these two issues and is based on an idea first published on the cover of Philotelia No. 653.
Introduction:
The classic philately of Greece and France are closely related; this will become obvious if we simply compare the first stamps issued by these two countries (Figure 1):
In fact, the first stamps of Greece, the “large Hermes heads”2 were produced in Paris in 1860/1861 by Désiré-Albert Barre3. As Chief Engraver of the French Mints in Paris, Barre fils, as he is commonly named, designed the mock-up of the effigy of “Hermes” (Figure 8) which was adopted by the Greek administration in 1860 to illustrate the first stamps of the new Kingdom. He also engraved the original dies which were used to manufacture the printing plates required to print the stamps. Producing the mock-ups and engraving the original dies were two tasks which were part of the usual prerogative of the Chief Engraver, and Barre fils was employed many times for all the stamps of France and the French Colonies of this period, but also for many other countries.
The printing plates of the first 7 values of the “large Hermes head” of Greece (1 lepton, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40 & 80 Lepta) were also produced by Barre fils, which is absolutely unusual. To accomplish this, he used a method which he had developed in 1858/1859 for the benefit of the French Administration: the “direct striking in the coining press” method.
To validate this new method, Barre fils produced proofs and essays of different colors, the “Cérès 1858”. Some of these essays are well known to Greek philatelists, especially those of blue color on bluish paper which have on their back the 8 mm high blue control numbers “10”.
These control numbers are exactly the same as those of the orange 10 lepta ,“large Hermes head” stamps of the Paris Issue except for their color (Figures 2 & 10). This is why many philatelists classify the “Cérès 1858” as the introduction of their “large Hermes head” collection.
We will discover, in the course of this study, that this fact is only a secondary reason for classifying the “Cérès 1858” essays in a “large Hermes head” collection. In fact, the principal reason for this direct relationship comes from the fabrication method used for the printing plates which was the same for the “Cérès 1858” essays as that used for the “large Hermes head” stamps. Furthermore, this “direct striking in the coining press” method had only been used for the fabrication of the plates of the 7 first values of the “large Hermes head” stamps.
1This study has been published, in French, in Documents Philatéliques No. 198 of the 4th quarter 2008, ( http://academiedephilatelie.org).
2Hermes is the god of arts and sciences of Greek mythology. He is the messenger of the Gods of Olympus, but also the god of merchants and thieves… The Romans called this same god Mercury. In the 19th century, Greece being under the Ottoman yoke for more than 3 centuries, the history of its antiquity was much less known in France, than that of Rome. Therefore, the Roman names were used for the divinities of antiquity. The first Greek stamps with the effigy of Hermes were thus called the “head of Mercury”, a term which, wrongly, still persists.
3Désiré-Albert Barre (1818 -1878) was the son of Jacques-Jean Barre. Following his father, Barre fils was Chief Engraver of the Mints of France in Paris from 1855 to 1878.
I. Fabrication of stamps in France in the 19th century:
a. Fabrication methods used for the first French postage stamps:
The fabrication of postage stamps is subdivided into three essential phases each of which requires some very different skills:
The engraving of the first French postage-stamp, the black 20 centimes Type “République”4, which was placed in circulation on January 1st, 1849 (Figure 1) was produced by the then Chief Engraver of the French Mints in Paris, Jacques-Jean Barre5. He engraved the medallion die on soft steel, using the “relief” engraving technique (“taille de relief”)6; in other words, he engraved the steel “en épargne”7. His son, Desiré-Albert, who succeeded him as Chief Engraver, also used this same engraving technique.
The fabrication of the printing plates was assigned to Anatole-Auguste Hulot8. Hulot had developed an electrolytic method called “galvanoplasty” whose secret he protected jealously. After the final die was tempered, some pieces of lead, called “flans”, were struck in the coining press. These “flans” were assembled as a plate of 150, and then immersed in a chemical bath where the transfer of copper was achieved by electrolysis. The copper plate thus formed is called a “galvano”.
The printing plates, composed of 300 copper clichés, were produced by the assembly of 2 “galvanos” of 150 clichés each (10 x 15).
The printing of the stamps also remained the responsibility of Hulot and was done by “Typography” (the parts of the printing plate which are in relief are inked and imprint the paper by pressure)9.
b. The search for alternative methods to lower the costs of the production of postage stamps in France, after 1857:
The new manner of franking mail using postage stamps was very successful during the ten years which followed its introduction in France (Figure 3). In fact, the number of postage stamps delivered, all values combined, went from 46,340,400 stamps in 1849 to 293,293,800 in 186010. This increase was due to the establishment of the premium for franking letters inside the French territory in 185411. Moreover, at the end of the 1850’s, the administration foresaw the need for the introduction of postage stamps to frank printed materials and journals; this caused a huge increase in the requirement for postage stamps…
Starting in 1857, (195,192,600 postage stamps10 were delivered in that year) and, in view of the explosion of demand, the French administration sought, by all means possible, to reduce the costs associated with the manufacture of postage stamps; these costs had not changed since 1851. Hulot continued to collect the same fees, i.e. 1,500 Francs per “galvano”12 produced and 1.50 Franc per 1,000 printed stamps, regardless of the total number of stamps produced…13
4The first French postage stamp called Type “République” was engraved in 1848 by Jacques-Jean Barre (see footnote 5 below). It is the effigy of Ceres, the goddess of fertility, (Demeter of Greek mythology). This stamp is usually called Cérès.
5Jacques-Jean Barre (1793 – 1855) had been Chief Engraver of the French Mint in Paris from 1840 to 1855. His son Désiré-Albert Barre, succeeded him in this position in 1855.
6Michèle Chauvet and Jean-François Brun, Introduction à l’histoire postale de 1848 à 1878, Paris 2007, page 41.
7Docteur Robert Joany, Les outils de fabrication des timbres-poste, Paris 1971, page 1 and, Michèle Chauvet, Le poinçon au type Aigle, Documents Philatéliques, No. 195 of the 1st quarter 2008, page 4 ( http://academiedephilatelie.org).
8Anatole-Auguste Hulot (1811 - 1892) was named assistant to the Chief Engraver in 1848. He produced the printing plates and printed the postage stamps of France and its Colonies from 1848 to 1876 as a private entrepreneur. He was promoted to Director of the Production of Postage Stamps on January 30, 1860 and was removed from this function on July 30, 1876.
9Pierre de Lizeray, Les méthodes d’impression des timbres-poste, Paris 1955, page 2.
10Archives of the Musée de La Poste in Paris (Donation Bentley).
11By the changing of the postal rate of July 1st 1854. Michèle Chauvet and Jean-François Brun, op. cit., page 42.
12Hulot was paid 1,500 Francs for each “galvano” necessary for a new type of stamp. Nevertheless, the cost of replacing the “galvanos”, after they were worn by prolonged use or even accidentally damaged, was at his own charge.
13By the Ministerial decree of April 2, 1851. Michèle Chauvet and Jean-François Brun, op. cit.,, page 42.
The cost of engraving the die (invoiced at 1,500 francs per unit by Jacques-Jean Barre, and later by his son Désiré-Albert Barre), was almost negligible compared to the total cost. A single die was necessary for printing all the values of the same type of postage stamp, such as, for example, the type “République”, the type “Présidence” or even the type “Empire/Napoléon lauré”.
It was thus necessary to find a way to leave the monopolistic control of Hulot who possessed, until then, not only the “galvanoplasty” process, which properly belonged to him, but also that of the printing of the stamps.
With the aim of finding some alternative solutions to the methods used up to then, the administration proceeded to thoroughly examine costs. In particular, Théophile-Jules Pelouze15, President of the Commission of the Mint, asked Barre fils, in 1858:
“… to urgently research the means of reproducing the printing plates for postage stamps by other processes than that of galvanoplasty…”, specifying that, in case of success, he “…would render a remarkable service to the commission…”16.
Concerning the printing of postage stamps, the administration asked for an estimate from the printing shop Christofle in Paris, a specialist in the “galvanoplasty” process. The cost given by this private company was 40 centimes per thousand, compared to 1.50 franc that Hulot had collected since 1851… Moreover, the postage due stamps which were printed at that time in the Imperial Mint were invoiced at 25 centimes per thousand…17
All these elements were intended to eliminate the Hulot monopoly by replacing it for certain tasks, or at least in compelling him to lower the costs that he invoiced to the administration.
c. Experimentation of a new method for fabricating printing plates: the “direct striking in the coining press” method:
To respond to the request of the President of the Commission of the Mint to find “…the means of reproducing the printing plates… …by some processes other than galvanoplasty…”, Barre fils experimented for the first time with the method called “direct striking in the coining press” or also called “par enfoncement”18.
Barre fils used a modified die from one which was used for the printing of the first French stamp, the type “République”.
To avoid any confusion with the official French stamps issued starting in 1849, he replaced the inscription “· REPUB · FRANC ·” by “· ESSAI · 1858 ·” in the upper cartouche of the stamp and substituted a double “00“, surrounding the word “POSTES”, for the values in the lower cartouche (Figure 4).
14Table from the Administration of the Mint of February 13th, 1859. Archives of the Musée de La Poste in Paris (Donation Bentley).
15Théophile-Jules Pelouze (1807 – 1867), eminent chemist and member of the Academy of Sciences, was President of the Commission of the Mint and Medals of France in Paris from 1848 to 1867. He was the superior of Désiré-Albert Barre to whom he transmitted the necessary instructions to fulfill the orders submitted to the Mint for the production of pieces, medals and postage stamps.
16Henri Regnoul-Barre, Les Barre, graveurs généraux des Monnaies, créateurs des premiers timbres-poste français et grecs, Paris 1978, page 30.
17Michèle Chauvet and Jean-François Brun, op. cit., page 43.
18Pierre de Lizeray, op. cit., page 29.
Barre fils perfected the manner of reproducing the typographic die called “cold striking” to fabricate the printing plates; this method already had been used in France for the printing of paper money at the end of the 18th century. These plates were composed of clichés (95% bronze & brass)19, struck individually in the coining press by a steel matrix, then placed side by side and soldered onto a bronze base20. The plate was composed of 150 clichés (10 x 15).
To validate the engraving of his dies, Barre fils produced final proofs21 in black (Figures 5 and 6). After completing the fabrication of the printing plates, he printed some sheets of essays of 150 stamps in 5 colors (black, bistre, green, blue and blue on bluish) on different types of paper (cardboard, “pelure”, satiny…) (Figure 7).
In one of the records of Barre fils, visible at the Musée de La Poste in Paris, is found the text of a letter addressed to Pelouze, President of the Commission of the Mint, dated November 10th, 1859 from which is presented the following extract:
“Mr. President,
You have given me the honor in the last months of the year 1858 of inviting me to attempt the reproduction of printing plates for postage stamps in a coining press. These attempts have produced some results that you have received favorably. At the beginning of this year I have had the honor to give you:
1°) A half-plate executed mixed in bronze and in brass
2°) Several proofs printed in different colors using this plate
This plate remains in my hands, as well as the dies, matrixes and ferrules which have been used for the reproduction; today I take the liberty to ask you if you do not judge it more suitable for these various objects to be placed in the special cabinets of the Museum of the Mint.
The result that I have obtained has apparently interested you on several matters, and perhaps it would not be useless for the future, to preserve the record of this trial…”
All of this work was carried out between the end of the year 1858 and the beginning of the year 1859. It is more than probable that all the sheets of essays produced at that time were devoid of all control numbers on the back; we will return to this point with more details in paragraph III. a. below.
On February 16th, 1860, Barre fils invoiced the sum of 1,500 francs to the French Administration for all of the work concerning this operation and was paid on March 14th of the same year25.
d. Epilogue:
Under the pressure of the administration, Hulot, who was almost dismissed in 1859, had to compromise in order to preserve his employment at the beginning of 1860; he had to accept new conditions which were much more reasonable than those of his contract of 1851.27
The initial methods for production of postage stamps were thus maintained by the French administration for the production of almost all of the stamps of France and its Colonies during all of the 19th century and even beyond. They were used also for the production of all the postage stamps ordered from the French Administration by numerous foreign countries during this period, with the exception however of the “large Hermes head” stamps of Greece in 1861, as we shall see in the next paragraph.
Hulot retained management of the production of postage stamps until July 30th, 187528; the production of French postage stamps was then transferred to the Bank of France.
19 Letters of Barre fils addressed to Pelouze on November 10th & 29th, 1859, describing the “direct striking in the coining press” method as well as the list of objects which he had sent to the Monetary Museum of the Mint in Paris. Minutes of Désiré-Albert Barre, visible at the Musée de La Poste in Paris.
20 Natalis Rondot, Les timbres-poste – Royaume de Grèce, Magazine Pittoresque, July, 1864. The English translation by Louis Basel, The Report, Journal of the Philatelic Society of Chicago, Vol. XX, n°2 of June 1987. This translation is available on the internet site of Louis Basel,
( http://hermesheads.home.comcast.net.)
21 See the article of the author, Definitions of the terms PROOF and ESSAY and their application to the large Hermes head stamps, Philotelia n°644 of May/June 2007,
( http://www.hps.gr/en/main.htm.), available on the internet site of Louis Basel, ( http://hermesheads.home.comcast.net.).
22 & 23 Proofs of Figures 5 and 6 belong to the collection of Raymond Beaussant.
24 As observed by Raymond Beaussant: On the proof made from the original die of Figure 6, as well as on both the “Cérès 1858” and “Cérès without inscription” essays, there exists a notch in the exterior circle at the north-west corner, between the second and third wavy lines. This defect can originate from an unexpected event during the tempering of the original die or even during the striking of the counter-die. However, this defect does not appear on the proof made from the original die of Figure 5
25 Minutes of Désiré-Albert Barre, visible at the Musée de La Poste in Paris.
26 Only the blue on bluish paper has the control numbers “10” on the back.
27 By the decree of January 30th, 1860, the prices for printing stamps, which were granted to Hulot by the French Administration, were reduced according to the number of stamps produced: 1 franc/thousand for the first 200 million, 90 centimes/thousand for the next 200 million and 80 centimes/thousand after. On January 30th, 1869, by a new decree, Hulot’s fees were reduced further: 60 centimes/thousand for the first 500 million stamps. Michèle Chauvet and Jean-François Brun, op. cit., page 43.
28 Hulot was dismissed on July 30th, 1875 and the last delivery of French postage stamps printed by Hulot took place on June 29th, 1876.
Michèle Chauvet and Jean-François Brun, op. cit., page 43.
(to be continued)