French post offices in Crete

The French post offices in Crete were among a collection of post offices maintained by foreign countries during the 1900s in Crete, after Crete had broken away from the Ottoman Empire, and until 1914 after Crete united with Greece in 1913. The offices were in Chania, Rethymnon, Heraklion , Sitia, Ierapetra and Agios Nikolaos.[1]

3-centime Type Blanc, used in May 1908

France issued postage stamps for its offices in Crete in 1902 and 1903. The first set included 15 values, from one centime to five francs, consisting of the design of the French stamps of 1900, modified to be inscribed "CRETE". This was only a partial solution, since the local currency was still in piastres, and so in 1903 the post offices issued five of the larger values surcharged with values from one to twenty piastres.

References

Feenstra, Rienk (2001). Crete : postal history, postage and revenue stamps, coins and bank notes ([2nd.] ed.). Athens: Collectio. ISBN 9608527562.

Sources

Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms
Encyclopaedia of Postal History
Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986. ISBN 0-356-10862-7

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[Feenstra-1] Feenstra, Rienk (2001). Crete : postal history, postage and revenue stamps, coins and bank notes ([2nd.] ed.). Athens: Collectio. ISBN 9608527562.