THE FORMAT INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PRINTERS LTD. ARCHIVE

Information and Reference of What was Found in the Archive

Stamp issues for Ivory Coast printed by the Format International Security Printers Ltd. and items found in the Archive

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast stamps printed by Format International Security Printers Ltd.
Links to pages with information on items found in the archive

Noting for the Ivory Coast that Stanley Gibbons nor any other catalog seems to note who the printers were during the time that Format printed stamps for the Ivory Coast. By scanning thousands of images looking for clues like the color guides and logo's and analyzing archival material I am able to present this page.

Scott Catalog notes that during from 1959 onward almost all sets were produced in limited numbers as imperforates, on deluxe sheetlets etc. Not only did Format have orders to produce them but De La Rue and other printing companies also had the same orders long before Format ever made stamps for the Ivory Coast. The evidence is the stamps themselves. Again I state that many other printing companies of the time were producing imperforates, deluxe sheetlets, specimen's, color proofs etc. in limited quantities exactly as the Format printers were. The quantities they produced were just never exposed because they were never put on trial. Therefore valuation of these varieties should be equal no matter who printed them.

1976 AMERICAN BICENTENNIAL
Scott #421-6, SG #479-83, Souvenir Sheet not listed

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.
They appear to be quite common on the market.


George Washington


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1977 HISTORY OF AVIATION
Scott #434-9, SG #497-501, MS502

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.
They appear to be quite common on the market.


Lindbergh and Spirit of St. Louis


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1977 HISTORY OF THE ZEPPELIN
Scott #440-4,C63, SG #503-7, Souvenir Sheet not listed

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.
They appear to be quite common on the market.


Graf Zeppelin LZ127 Over New York


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1978 RUBENS PAINTINGS
Scott #451-5, SG #525-8, Souvenir Sheet not listed

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.
There exists the set of unlisted souvenir sheets which were planned but never issued. Estimated quantity is around 3-5,000 sets. A couple of the uncut press sheets were found in the archive of these.



Virgin and Child


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


Unlisted Deluxe Souvenir Sheet Set


1978 NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS
Scott #460-5, SG #534-8, Souvenir Sheet not listed

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets although not many are offered at present. Deluxe sheetlet sets seem not to exist for this set. A couple of the uncut press sheets including composite sheets were found in the archive of these.



Max Planck, Rockets and Earth


1978 11TH WORLD CUP SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Scott #466-71, SG #604-8, Souvenir Sheet not listed

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets. A number of the uncut press sheets were found in the archive of these.



Ball as Globe with Argentina on Map of South America


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1978 CENTENARY OF THE CONGRESS OF PARIS
Scott #485, SG #561

There appears to be no varieties of this issue. It appears that a mint copy is getting difficult to find. The majority available are CTO.


1979 DEATH CENTENARY OF SIR ROWLAND HILL, TRAINS, LOCOMOTIVES
Scott #514-19, SG #594-8, MS599

The stamps and souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 2,000 sets. A popular stamp on stamp set.
A small number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.


Rowland Hill and Ivory Coast Stamp

Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1979 PRE-OLYMPIC YEAR
Scott #522-7, SG #607-11, MS612

The stamps exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.
A number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.


Gymnastics

Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1979 WILDLIFE PROTECTION (WWF)
Scott #528-33, SG #613-18

The stamps exist imperforate. 5,000 were produced. At the time I created this page no deluxe sheetlet sets seem to exist.



1980 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES, MOSCOW
Scott #C66-C70, SG #642-5, MS646

The stamps exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. I could not find the souvenir sheet as imperforate. Deluxe sheetlet sets seem not to exist.
A small number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.



Gymnastics


1981 CONQUEST OF SPACE
Scott #585-9, SG #673-6, MS677

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 2,000 sets.
A small number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.



Columbia Space Shuttle 1981


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1981 ROYAL WEDDING OF PRINCE CHARLES AND LADY DIANA
Scott #593-6, SG #681-3, MS684

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1,000 sets. They appear to not be very common.
I have discovered there are two perf varieties of the souvenir sheet. Scott catalog states the souvenir sheet is perf 12.5. It also exists as perf 13.5! In scanning the market both varieties are available but here again is the case where sellers, buyers and the major catalogs do not even notice such an important difference. Well to make this definite I present images of both types below. Just count the perforations!
Again the catalogs are confusing. The 1982 souvenir sheet with Prince William overprint is perf 13.5 not 12.5. Obviously what happened was the souvenir sheet was reprinted with perf 13.5 for the Prince William issue and some were not overprinted. The major catalogs just assumed that the original souvenir sheet was overprinted. Again...no proper research before listing them.
A number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.



The Royal Couple and Coach Souvenir sheet perf 12.5


The Royal Couple and Coach Souvenir Sheet perf 13.5


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1981 WORLD CUP SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP (1982)
Scott #600-5, SG #688-92, MS693

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets. Two types of deluxe sheetlet sets exist. A number of the uncut press sheets were found in the archive of these.



Soccer Player Kicking Ball


Deluxe Sheetlet Set with White Background


Deluxe Sheetlet Set with Decorative Green Background


1982 BIRTH OF PRINCE WILLIAM OF WALES
Scott #642-5, SG not listed?

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 3,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet sets do not seem to exist with the overprint.



The Royal Couple with Overprint


1982 PICASSO PAINTINGS
Scott #646-50, SG #734-8

The stamps exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.



Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1982 WORLD CUP SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS, SPAIN (1982)
Scott #651-6, SG #743-7, MS748

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 2,500 sets. Deluxe sheetlet sets do not seem to exist with the overprint.



Soccer Player Kicking Ball with Winners Overprint


1983 BICENTENARY OF MANNED FLIGHT
Scott #C71-C75, SG #760-4

The stamps exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set would be around 1-2,000 sets. At present I could only find the Zeppelin Stamp on Deluxe Sheetlets. It is possible the others (balloons) are still being held somewhere.



Zeppelin Deluxe Sheetlet


1983 PRE-OLYMPIC YEAR
Scott #C76-C80, SG #774-7, MS778

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet set around 1-2,000 sets.
A number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.


Water Polo

Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1984 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES, LOS ANGELES
Scott #C81-C85, SG #798-801, MS802

The stamps and the souvenir sheet exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet sets would be around 1-2,000 sets.
A small number of uncut press sheets were found in the archive for this set. Intact pieces from them as in cross gutters, gutters and large selvage pieces are very rare.



Equestrian


Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1984 TRAINS AND SHIPS
Scott #722-9, SG #812-15, 816-19

Noting Stanley Gibbons lists these as two separate sets.
The train stamps exist imperforate. I could not find any ships stamps as imperforates. The imperforates were produced in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet sets would be around 1-2,000 sets.



Trains Deluxe Sheetlet Set


Ships Deluxe Sheetlet Set


1984 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES WINNERS, LOS ANGELES
Scott #C86-C89, SG #824-7

The stamps exist imperforate. The imperforates exist in quantities of around 5,000 sets. Deluxe sheetlet sets would be around 1-2,000 sets.



Deluxe Sheetlet Set


These were the last stamps printed by the Format International Security Printers Ltd. for the Ivory Coast. The company went into bankruptcy in 1989.

As you can see every set has imperforates that were made as do most sets made by other printers during the same time era. This is proof that the printers were under contracts that allowed them to be made for promotional reasons and for sale to collectors. Therefore any discrepancy with pricing them for less because they were made by the Format Printers and more because they were made by Questa or De la Rue should be disregarded because the quantities that exist are equal no matter who made the stamps.

References taken from:
Scott Catalog
Inventory list for the Format Archive by Robson Lowe
Internet research

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