Inexpensive French Guiana 1935 set has great appeal

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

The stamps of France’s colonial empire have special appeal for collectors who love classic stamps. The stamps feature high design quality, are often engraved, and typically picture exotic and interesting subjects printed in bright colors.

As a bonus, many stamps and sets issued 75 to 125 years ago are still affordable to most collectors.

One appealing set is the French Guiana set commemorating the tercentenary of the founding of French possessions in the West Indies (Scott 156-161) issued Oct. 21, 1935. The engraved stamp designs feature the recapture of Cayenne by d’Estrees in 1676 and products of French Guiana.

Today, the former colony, located on the northern coast of South America between Suriname and Brazil, is an overseas department of France. Heavily forested and thinly populated, it boasts a population of about 300,000 people, almost half of whom live in the capital, Cayenne.

Also, the once dreaded offshore penal colony of Devil’s Island now hosts a tracking station for the French National Center for Space Studies and is a tourist attraction bringing in some 55,000 visitors a year.

The Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 values the set in unused, hinged condition at just $54.50. A set in mint, never-hinged condition is valued at $79.

You can find a set in unused, hinged condition for $45 or less. A set in mint, never-hinged condition is a good buy at $60 or less. That is a great deal of classic stamp collecting enjoyment for not much money.

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