2018-12-20 Thu

The stamps depicting the national crops of the Guadalupe were one of the last philatelic issues of Guadalupe which were issued on 2nd June 1947.

Guadalupe – a tiny country located in the Leeward Islands, was a part of French Empire as a French colony and hence came under the administration of the Postal Administration of France. Guadeloupe issued stamps from 1884 using French colonies stamps overprinted with G.P.E or GUADELOUPE. The first indigenous definitive stamps for Guadeloupe were issued in 1892.

As a part of the national identity, Guadalupe issued a set of 9 stamps depicting three major crops of the country termed to be the national crops viz. sugar cane, pine apple and coffee. The stamps of 60 centime, 1 franc, 1.50 franc depict a worker working in a sugar cane field. These stamps are based on a line drawing technique.
The stamps with the denominations of 2 francs, 2.50 francs, and 3 francs feature another national crop i.e. pineapples. The stamps show toe native women in native attire, one of them carrying a basket of fruits over her head.
10 francs, 15 francs, and 20 francs stamps are dedicated to the coffee plantation. The stamps feature two young women plucking the coffee fruits.

This series along with few other stamps were the last issue of Guadalupe after which the country has used stamps of France.

Image Courtesy: https://colnect.com

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