It is a tradition that La Poste respects each time a President of the French Republic dies: one year after his death, a stamp bearing his effigy is issued. This is the case today concerning Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who died on December 2, 2020. Some 495,000 copies of stamps bearing the image of the former head of state have been on sale since Monday, November 22. , at 1.28 euros, or the price of a stamp for a priority letter.
If for heads of state the decision is automatic, this is not the case for other personalities. First of all, there is an essential criterion to be respected. “You don’t shy away from a living personality”, explains Gilles Livchitz, director of Philaposte, the unit in charge of designing and printing each stamp in France. “We generally give ourselves five years before making the decision to issue a stamp in honor of a personality. Having this five-year hindsight makes it possible to verify that there is nothing sulphurous in the past of the character “, he explains.
Historians, scientists, philately experts draw up a list of ten names, twice a year and two years before each publication. A choice also validated by the Ministry of the Economy. In 2023, for example, the green light was given for Maria Callas and Gustave Eiffel.
Until then, it’s time, meticulous, for creation. “We already decide on a printing technology. Then there is the choice of an artist, and finally we stop first on a photo, the first artist’s essays, the first designs or co- designs “, details Gilles Livchitz.
/2021/11/21/phpfRzKe1.jpg)
These stamps remain on sale for a limited time. For that of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, it will be for nine months. Beyond that, the stock will be destroyed. What to give a little more value to those who have been put into circulation.