ources For collectors with an interest in

early definitive issues there is a

specialist catalogue, Repertoire des
tetecartes d'usage courant, covering
In previous articles RALPH ADAM concentrated on only these types. Again, the fourth (and
final) edition appeared some years ago.
the history and features of French phonecards. The The same publishers produced
Repertoire des telecartes illustrees et
next problem is how and where to find out what is cartes cinema with excellent
reproductions of the early picture
available cards.
For current information, two main
his month I shall suggest 2. Catalogues priced catalogues exist - both of which
some information sources: Catalogues can be divided into two currently have their texts only in
catalogues, magazines and types: specialised and general. For a French. They are:
data bases. UnfortunatelY, historical perspective, one of the best
for those not familiar with the language, sources, perhaps surprisingly, is the
many publications are in French. second edition of The Stanley Gibbons
However, this is likely to change in the catalogue of telephone cards by S.E.R.
future and, anyway, magazines and Hiscocks. Although this was published
catalogues are relatively easy to follow as long ago as 1990, the historical and
as they tend to rely heavily on technical explanations are clear and
illustrations. there is a detailed discussion of the
main varieties of early definitive
Where is the Information? ('pyjamas' and 'cordons'). Not only are
1. Handbooks the technical explanations in English,
but they are also clearer than those in
There are several collectors' handbooks the main French catalogues.
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.

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.
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
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:
La Cote en poche (quarterly, 30FF) is PMI has a World-
half catalogue, half magazine and the Wide Web page
one most often encountered. This is (http://www.kitecom.co.uk/phone/mags
regarded as the most serious magazine, /frmag.htm is the address). At present,
but many people read it for the up-to- the electronic version of the magazine
date prices. contains only limited information,
Infopuce (bi-monthly, 28FF). although the intention is to have the
Created in mid-1995 by a group of full-text of articles available as they are
friends to fill a gap in the market: published: it currently includes the
concentrates on technical information latest contents, a photo of the editor
(it has a 'star rating' for errors and and the latest editorial (in French:
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.

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 blow-
up of a card to show a newly-
discovered 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.
4. InternetIWorld Wide Web sites
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.
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.
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:
'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.
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.
What are the big Issues?
A quick flip through recent magazines
gives a flavour of the topics collectors
are discussing:
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
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
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
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.