One of the scarcest types of French-area proofs, the sepia sunken die proof.
They are always found only in this color have the characteristic cutout
pattern (artificially highlighted in black), and are unsigned. Typically,
only about three to five of these are produced to check the engraving quality
of the master die. One of those copies is reserved for the French postal
museum. The sepia proofs above is from France; that below is from Algeria
The French stamp was released in 1959 and the Algerian one in 1962 —
both commemorate Algeria's Hassi-Messaoud oil field.

© Peter A. Scholle, 2000

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