Unused card, heavily aged and smudged on the reverse.  Grade: 3

Wine lovers may recognise Chateau Cantemerle as a winery in the Haut-Medoc appellation of the Bordeaux region.  We did some modest research and learned of a certain controversy over classification, but that does not in any way diminish this unused card.  We put sic in the header just in case anyone were to confuse this Macau with the one right next to us here in Hong Kong.  Grade: 1

Mailed from Belgium (not France) with stamp and extra name sticker affixed.  This card has serrated edges.  Grade: 4

Looks a lot like Paris, but the card was mailed from China in 2012 with two large stamps and two Shanghai postmarks.  Grade: 3

Mailed in 2012, two stamps, postmark, and some orange postal barcoding on the reverse.  Grade: 2

This 4″ x 8-1/4″ card was mailed in 2012 with two “vegetable” stamps and mostly readable postmark.  Minor corner abrasions.  Grade: 2

Easier to describe than to grade, this card was mailed in 1905.  The stamp, and a small part of the message, are on the front.  On the reverse:  a very long message in tiny writing, most of one postmark and part of another.  If you have questions, please ask.  We will assign a provisional Grade: 3.

Imagine getting out to work on that facility.  This card, however, was mailed from Netherlands in 2012, with three different stamps and an abraded priority label.  Grade: 4

This very heavily handled card is unused.  On the reverse, the message area is pre-printed with:  “MY ADDRESS IS__________ CO., ________________, PARIS ISLAND, S.C.”  (“Paris”-sic, should be Parris) so this card was most likely for recruits or draftees to send from Basic Training.  Grade: 3

Mailed in 2012 with stamp, postmark, and address label taped on.  Grade: 4

Paris et ses Mervielles … L’avenue des Champs-Elysees et l’arc de triomphe de l’Etoile.  Card mailed in 2013, with two different and colourful stamps, and full modern postmark.  Postal creasing on lower right corner.  Grade: 2

Mailed in 2013 with stamp and readable postmark.  Orange postal barcoding, too.  Grade: 1

Mailed in 2013 with two stamps, and postmark.  Orange postal barcoding.  Grade: 1

Mailed in what we think is 1904:  the stamp is there, and parts of two postmarks, neither of them easy to read.  Writing on the front, as you see.  Grade: 4

With a quick Google, we were not able to determine whether this hotel is still there or not.  Probably not.  But we have the postcard, and therefore so can you.  Unused.  Grade: 1 

OK then, as a twist on cards that tell you that you can’t write on the back, this one says: Le Verso (côté vue) ne doit comporter aucune inscription manuscrite.  (That is:  don’t write on the front.)  Well, nobody wrote on either side, as it’s unused.  Some staining probably from an ancient rubber band on the front.  Grade: 3

Unused B&W card, very old, with a small streak of something along the lower right edge.  Grade: 2

Unused card, though long ago — nearly 100 years, in fact — someone wrote the date 2/10/18 in small numbers on the upper left reverse.  Grade: 3

We are indebted to Wikipedia for the essence of this:  The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher departement in France, in the center of the city of Blois.  The residence of several kings, it is also the place where Joan of Arc went in 1429 to be blessed by the Archbishop of Reims before departing with her army to drive the English from Orleans.  Built in the middle of the town that it effectively controlled, the chateau comprises several buildings constructed from the 13th to the 17th century around the main courtyard. It has 564 rooms and 75 staircases although only 23 were used frequently. There is a fireplace in each room. There are 100 bedrooms.  Too much information?  Mais, non.  The unused card is ornate but exceptionally flimsy, as if all the strength had been sucked out of it.  Grade: 1

Unused B&W card, fully explained on the front.  Grade: 1