Remembering Jan Kindler: France Through Fraud Covers and the 10 Centime Sower

Edward Grabowski presents a tribute to Jan Kindler, the legendary France and Colonies specialist who spent decades obsessing over a single stamp: the French 10 centime Sower of 1906. Inspired by Jan's collection — recently recovered and auctioned by the FCPS after years of mystery — Ed dips into his own mail order fraud cover collection to find every piece bearing that same iconic stamp. The result is a wandering, richly illustrated journey through early 20th century France: from Mediterranean Monaco to the Loire Valley châteaux, from Calvados apple brandy to Lascaux cave paintings, from railway convoyeur cancel "wiggles" to rural facteur hand stamps. Along the way, Ed revisits three fraud organizations — the New York Institute of Science's hypnotism scheme, Professor Segno's Success Waves mentalism operation, and G.A. Mann's Radiopathy cure-all — all of which left their postal traces on small French villages. France and Colonies Philatelic Society: https://www.franceandcolonies.org/ Topics: French Sower stamps · philatelic fraud covers · FCPS · cancel varieties · franchise militaire · convoyeur railway cancels · French postal history