By Georges Ferretti of the French association APCC
What connection could there possibly be between Morocco and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? What connection is there
be between a stamp dealer, a historian of Moroccan philately in the 1940s and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon stamps with a F.N.F.L. overprint?
Three or four years ago I purchased a binder of stamps from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon. I was immediately drawn to the stamps with a FNFL France Libre overprint from 1941 and 1942. I was very surprised, especially given that certain prices were quite high. I became increasingly sceptical the more I examined them front and back. However, many of the stamps had a signature: Benatar Morocco.
The signature was on the back of the stamps and in some of the margins of the sheets. Was this the signature of an expert or of the former owner of the stamps? Quite a few years ago, many collectors marked the backs of their main stamps with either a name or initials.
The stamps stayed in a binder but, from time to time, I would take them out and inspect them as if I was seeing them for the first time and I wondered about them. The former owner of the stamps? Maybe…a stamp expert? Maybe…I put the binder away a number of times telling myself that the stamps were likely fakes, but deep down, there was a glimmer of hope: you just never know!
Then I tried my luck on Google and got an answer right away. A Moroccan writer, Mr Mustapha Jmahri, had written a book on a Jewish family in Morocco called “Il était une fois la famille Benatar à Mazagan”. That was the icing on the cake because the author’s email address was included. Questions and answers the same day Mr Benatar had died quite a long time ago. He was a consular agent for a British office in Morocco. However, the family didn’t know if he had collected stamps, something he could do in his position, or if he dealt in stamps.
Reading the magazine “L’écho de la timbrologie”, I Iearnt that Mr Benatar was the author, together with Mr L.A. Guigue, of the first editions of the catalogue of Moroccan postal stamps in 1927 and 1930. This information was confirmed by a correspondent. I was on the right track.
Other information I collected confirmed that Mr Benatar was a stamp dealer in Casablanca and that he was knowledgeable and serious.
Saint-Pierre et Miquelon overprinted stamps were sent to Mr J.J. Tillard, well known in my opinion for his “high-end” writing on stamps from the region and an expert in those stamps. All of the Benatar-signed stamps were apparently fakes. I sent the stamps to the Contacts Experts Calves company and got the same answer.
According to the information gathered from Mr Mustapha Jmahri, the Moroccan writer mentioned above, who obtained information from the Benatar family himself, the dealer-expert died in 1940. In fact, the Saint-Pierre et Miquelon stamps with the F.N.F.L. overprint were issued in 1941 and 1942, according to the Yvert et Tellier catalogue.
Furthermore, and still based on information to be used with caution, Mr Benatar’s widow apparently continued the stamp business for several years with a stamp collector, which indicates that Mr Benatar’s seal was used after his death. I suppose that Mrs Benatar was knowledgeable about the stamp collecting business since she worked with her husband.
It’s clear that the seal was used after Mr Benatar’s death. But, by whom??? Was the Benatar Morocco seal used on stamps other than those from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon? I was told that it was, but I haven’t seen those stamps. Any information readers may have on the subject is welcome and will be shared. I’m sure that I’m not the only person to have stamps signed by Mr Benatar. For my part, the stamps in my possession have gone through a number of hands. I didn’t receive them directly, of course. In addition, when stamp collectors get taken, they prefer not to admit to it.
This article is illustrated with several Saint-Pierre et Miquelon stamps with the Benatar Morocco signature. The stamps have the Benatar signature on the back on the lower right side. However, in the third example, there are two signatures on the TP 251, upper right and left, but upside down: the seals are in black ink whereas all of the other ones are blue or blue-green. Strange coincidence: this is the third-most expensive one.
