News JVTech La Poste replaces its emblematic stamps with a high-tech innovation to make grandma cry
It is clearly the end of an era. 173 years after its launch, one of La Poste’s most iconic services is about to bow out on January 1, 2023.
Summary
- The red stamp, symbol of the PTT and the Post office bows out
- What is the red postage stamp replaced by?
- Green e-stamp and turquoise stamp, what awaits you in 2023 at La Poste
The red stamp, symbol of the PTT and the Post office bows out
Even if it had been a little lost for a few years and its little brother the green stamp had stolen the show since its release in 2012, the famous red stamp remained the emblematic emblem of the Post Office and before that of the old PTT ( Posts, telegraphs and telecommunications).
Created in 1849, it was for more than 150 years the privileged companion of our letters and our postcards sent to our grandparents.. At the time, no Marianne on the stamps, but a portrait of Cérès, the Roman deity of agriculture, who however left his place in 1852 to Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, before returning again in 1870.
The first stamps in 1849
Note that if the red stamp, worth 1 franc at the time, is indeed part of the first series of stamps issued in 1849, the very first stamp to have seen the light of day on January 1, 1849 was a black stamp. “N°1” of 20 cents.
What is special about the “modern” red stamp? Delivery of urgent mail within a single working day. A more economical version than the famous “recommended” but poorly suited to current economic, ecological and climatic challenges. According to the Post, distribution volumes associated with the red stamp have been divided by 14 since 2008 and most trucks, trains or planes allowing the express delivery of mail are running half full. So it was time to act.
With it, another stamp disappears, much less known and used, it is the gray “ecolpli” stamp which will never have really found its public.
What is the red postage stamp replaced by?
To start, the green stamp does not disappear. However, its distribution has now been postponed to 3 days instead of 2. No noticeable impact on your postcards and for most administrative mail which clearly does not need to arrive within 24 hours.
La Poste also specifies that the “beautiful stamps” and the collection stamps in limited series will always be offered as well.
For your urgent or priority mail, La Poste is launching the “e-lettre rouge” service from 1 January 2023, a hybrid sending service, accessible from the laposte.fr site or from a post office equipped with an automatic machine or even with the help of a customer adviser for the elderly or people who are not comfortable with computer science. When we sometimes see the waiting time just to pick up a package, we are a little skeptical about this possibility…
This La Poste service prints your mail, puts it in an envelope, franks it and distributes it. All you have to do is go to laposte.fr, drop off your electronic mail or use the pre-written letters offered. It will then be printed by La Poste near its destination and delivered on D+1 in mainland France.
Green e-stamp and turquoise stamp, what awaits you in 2023 at La Poste
In addition to the red e-letter and the new green stamp which goes from 2 to 3 days, two other new features are expected at La Poste in 2023.
The first is the appearance of a new stamp, from January 1st, in turquoise color, for tracking large shipments and small goods for delivery on D+2. This service will be called “Letter Services Plus”.
Finally, and this is probably the most interesting, the green stamp should be offered digitally (green e-stamp)with a simple eight-character alphanumeric code to copy on your mail before depositing it in a mailbox.
By optimizing the filling of lorries and stopping the use of planes for transporting mail in France, the new mail range enables a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions (forecast for 2030).
