France, 1849 Ceres Issue, 20 Centimes Black on White

France · 1849 · 20c

This stamp features a profile of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, grain, and fertility, wearing a garland of wheat and grapes. It is part of France's first postage stamp series, known as the Ceres issue, which marked the nation's entry into the philatelic world. The design, by Jacques-Jean Barre, is a classic example of 19th-century stamp artistry.

Issued in 1849 during the Second Republic, this was one of the first postage stamps of France, introduced just nine years after Great Britain's Penny Black. It standardized postal rates and represented a significant modernization of the French postal system.