French Revolution - Information Resources

ources the history and features of French phonecards. The

For collectors with an interest in early definitive issues there is a specialist catalogue, Repertoire des tetecartes d'usage courant, covering only these types. Again, the fourth (and final) edition appeared some years ago. The same publishers produced

next problem is how and where to find out what is

Repertoire des telecartes illustrees et cartes cinema with excellent

available

reproductions of the early picture cards.

In previous articles RALPH ADAM concentrated

his month I shall suggest some information sources: catalogues, magazines and data bases. UnfortunatelY, for those not familiar with the language, many publications are in French. However, this is likely to change in the future and, anyway, magazines and catalogues are relatively easy to follow as they tend to rely heavily on illustrations.

Where is the Information? 1. Handbooks There are several collectors' handbooks covering the French phonecard scene. More specialised is Les tetecartes by Vincent Vidal (Paris: Syros Alternatives, 1992. ISBN: 2 86738 710 8; price: 85FF). This is a fully-illustrated paperback giving a history and explanation of the ins and outs of French cards. The book is one of a series on different collectables: other volumes cover Zippo lighters, sugar and orange wrappers, cheese labels and biscuit tins! Regie T, the telecard arm of France Telecom, until 1992, produced an annual album (called Le livre de la telecarte) with illustrations of both sides of every card issued that year. The France Telecom collectors' service, BNVT,also produces a free pamphlet on the history of phonecards in France.

2. Catalogues Catalogues can be divided into two types: specialised and general. For a historical perspective, one of the best sources, perhaps surprisingly, is the second edition of The Stanley Gibbons catalogue of telephone cards by S.E.R. Hiscocks. Although this was published as long ago as 1990, the historical and technical explanations are clear and there is a detailed discussion of the main varieties of early definitive ('pyjamas' and 'cordons'). Not only are the technical explanations in English, but they are also clearer than those in the main French catalogues.

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For current information, two main priced catalogues exist - both of which currently have their texts only in French. They are:

contains much the same information, but with better illustrations and both alphabetical and subject indexes (for French cards only). 3. Magazines In general, French phonecard magazines are produced in pocket format. All contain articles on recent developments (with an emphasis on varieties and errors sometimes competing for obscurity!) and catalogue updates: all the magazines try to price both recent issues and varieties but, as with the catalogues, differences can be quite large. The main publications currently in print are: Polynesia, Monaco, New Caledonia, and Wallis & Futuna. Phonecole's main feature is a detailed specialist section listing errors and varieties. It also has a keyword index to the names of all issues.

La Cote en poche (quarterly, 30FF) is half catalogue, half magazine and the one most often encountered. This is regarded as the most serious magazine, but many people read it for the up-todate prices.

The second catalogue (currently in its fourth edition) is l'Officiel des telecartes. This is published by Yvert & Tellier, who produce the standard catalogue of French postage stamps. It covers the same territories as Phonecote and

Infopuce (bi-monthly, 28FF). Created in mid-1995 by a group of friends to fill a gap in the market: concentrates on technical information (it has a 'star rating' for errors and varieties) 'as well as covering phonecard and electronic card developments in the rest of the world (for example, the May 1996 issue listed the manufacturers of the phonecards of 206 countries); it is also widely involved in fairs and other collectors' activities. A presence on the Internet is planned. Infopuce gives value estimates for errors whenever possible. The latest innovation was a supplementary issue in June consisting of a priced list, not only for French public issues but also for those of other countries (notably Canada). Phonecote magazine international (bi-monthly, 34FF), as its name suggests is produced by the publishers of Phonecole. It first appeared at the beginning of this year and has moved to an A4 format. Articles tend to be longer than those in the other magazines (for example, a seven-page feature on Coke cards). It also tries to lighten things with a cartoon: the adventures of a card collector.

PMI has a WorldWide Web page (http://www.kitecom.co.uk/phone/mags /frmag.htm is the address). At present, the electronic version of the magazine contains only limited information, although the intention is to have the full-text of articles available as they are published: it currently includes the latest contents, a photo of the editor and the latest editorial (in French:

For anyone interested in the technology behind French chipcards, there is a technical explanation (in English) at: http://www.hutJi/-then/smartcard/tele card.htm!. If you are using one of the search indexes (such as Excite, Infosearch, Lycos or Yahoo), you can find other phonecard sites with material relevant to France by typing 'telecartes' (other relevant terms include 'phonecards', 'moneycards' and 'telecards' but these are likely to produce fewer 'hits') with 'france'. I have come across references to two telecard newsgroups (effectively electronic notice boards). Their names are:

the current one as I write is a plea for everyone connected with phonecards to breathe new life into the hobby!). For no obvious reason, the page also sports a colour blowup of a card to show a newlydiscovered variety - but, in this case, it appears with no text at all! Telcarte cote (bi-monthly, 25FF) also comes from the publishers of Phonecote and also has international coverage (a recent issue contained a list of catalogues from around the world). Telecarte actualite is the free monthly bulletin produced by France Telecom's collectors' bureau, BNVT, in Nancy. It illustrates both sides of recent issues and selected ones from its back stock. The BNVTalso has displays on both Minitel and the Internet. As well as the various publications specialising in cards, several of the French stamp magazines also have sections devoted to phonecard collecting.

'alt.collecting.phonecards' and 'rec.collecting. phonecards'. However, the first appears not to exist and the second is empty. There are also several more general 'card collecting' newsgroups but, again, they are mostly concerned with US sports cards and not phone cards. Perhaps telecard collectors have nothing to discuss! 5. The Museum The Telecommunications Museum at Pleumeur-Bodou in Brittany sponsors its own cards which are much sought after (one of the general issues is shown) and it is expanding its exhibition programme to include phonecards. In June it organised a collector's fair which will become a regular event. An exhibition on the history and development of the phonecard is planned for next year.

it).

New also is the MOSAIC card (Micro-chip on Surface And In Card) which was developed by Solaic and demonstrated at Carte '95 last November (a souvenir card was given to the conference participants). This recyclable card, which has been under development since 1991, was created to reduce production costs and is based on the principle that a card needs only three parts: a body, a chip and a module with contacts. It, therefore, eliminates all the other elements found in chip cards, including the gold contacts.

Other Developments 6. Buying and swapping There are many collectors' clubs (some specialising in, for example, the history of phonecards) and numerous fairs in different parts of the country. These, as well as shops, advertise in the magazines. Some also have Internet sites.

4. InternetIWorld Wide Web sites

What are the big Issues?

I have already mentioned some Internet sites, including Kitecom. Other material of interest to French collectors on this site are a collector's detailed swap/wants list (he's got a lot of BT 'greenies' to swap for French cards!), a summary of recent news, a brief history of card systems and a planned gallery of phonecard images.

A quick flip through recent magazines gives a flavour of the topics collectors are discussing:

Another site (http://wwwJunet.fi/index/p h 0 necards /guide.fr/) contains pictures of cards, the text (with illustrations) of BNVT's Tetecarte actualite and a linked file containing illustrations of about 30 chip modules.

is the Second Generation Phonecard (T2G), under development since 1990. This card was tested during 1994 in Rennes and on the French Riviera and, subsequently, in other parts of the country. It is based on CMOS EEPROM (re-writable memory) technology and is part of a plan to standardise cardphone systems within the EU (this system is not the only candidate, though), as well as working as a multi-purpose card, like the Mondex experiment in Swindon. The T2G uses only six contact points (to cut production costs) has greater counting capacity, does not require an external programming power supply and is designed to work with simplified readers having no moving parts. All French cardphones have now had their software and billing mechanisms modified to accept the T2G and France Telecom sees major export potential (Argentina and Mexico are already planning to use

The French phonecard scene is moving fast: many collectors now specialise by theme (very popular subjects are telecommunications, airlines and food-related) but interest in the history and the technology behind the cards is growing. As a result, an increasing number of technical books dealing with card technology is appearing and these are being read by collectors. There are several technical innovations currently in progress. One

Other developments are also raising issues. For example, what counts as a 'mint' card? Last Spring, Paco Rabanne sponsored a promotional card with a 'scratch and sniff' pad on the reverse: when you scratch it, a scent is released. The problem is: should the scent be retained if the card is to be considered as 'mint' (and what if it evaporates)? Another question is raised by the increasing number of promotional cards giving discounts, sometimes big ones, on products. The problem is: should one keep the card in the hope that its future value will rise by more than the advertised saving? This becomes important when collectors keep every card in case one has a rare error or variety which will only come to light later. In these brief articles I have tried to give an introduction to the main features of French cards. I hope that you have found them interesting. If you have any comments or questions do, please, write in.