Numeral cancels
The numeral cancels were used in France from 1852 to 1876. They consisted of a rhombus of dots with a number in the centre. The number was used to identify the post office responsible for cancelling the postage stamp.
Small and large numerals
Between 1852 and 1876, the size of the numerals on the cancellation increased from 4 to 7 millimetres.
Date stamps in use with numeral cancels
The numeral cancels were used with several types of date stamp between 1852 and 1876.
Large numerals in December 1862
Several post offices began using their large numerals cancels from December 1862.
List of French numeral cancels
In this section, you can find a list of the small and large numerals for each French post office in operation between 1852 and 1876.
