The Saar is a region of Germany with a checkered history that was marred by two world wars. Following World War I, it was occupied and governed by Britain and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate, with the occupation originally being under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles. It was returned to Germany following a plebiscite held in 1935. After World War II, the region became a French protectorate until 1955, when a referendum ended French rule and shortly thereafter returned it once again to Germany.
During the Mandate and French Protectorate periods, Saar issued its own stamps, the scarcest of which are of interest from an investment perspective because of their appeal to collectors of Germany and Area and France and Area- two powerful philatelic markets.
A number of Saar's semi-postal sets and souvenir sheets are attractive, including the third semi-postal set picturing paintings with religous themes (Scott #B9-15). Only 15,000 of this beautiful Art/Religion topical were issued, and the key 10fr +10fr high value (Scott #B15) is often sold alone. Scott '10 values the set at $ 480.00 for unused, and I recommend purchasing either the set or the high value (Sc. 10 CV= $ 400.00) in either VF NH or VF LH condition.
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