Conclusion
This provides a brief, broad overview of the War issue booklets, and hopefully has helped you make some sense of these booklets. Once you become comfortable with the varieties shown here, the next step would be to add the bilingual booklets into the mix.
Fortunately this is NOT the case. It turns out that there are quite a few attributes, that if studied with great care will bear fruit in this regard. The attributes are:
I won't talk about tagging errors or double paper varieties in this post, except to say that they could potentially exist on any stamp in the set, and if they do, they would be extremely scarce to rare. I will briefly discuss each of the others.
Appearance of the PVA Gum
The PVA gum can be found in three distinctly different sheens, which will take some experience to identify, but once you become familiar with them will not present too much trouble:
Paper Fluorescence
Both the lithographed and engraved and photogravure and engraved stamps will be either DF or NF on the front most of the time. Occasionally, if the fluorescence on the back is MF, it will appear LF on the front. The back fluorescence varies from NF to MF, and the colour varies from a grey, to greyish white, to bluish white. There is also a yellowish grey caused by the taggant, as well as an ivory colour. I haven't yet found HF or HB stamps, though I believe that they could exist, based on the fact that the parliament stamps are known to exist thus.Shades
Appearance of the Background on Photogravure Printings
On the photogravure printings, the vast majority of stamps have what appears to be mottled background colour. If you look closely with a loupe you can usually see traces of the screening dots under the mottled layer of ink. Occasionally though, you can find stamps that do not appear mottled, and instead appear to be entirely screened. These seem to be quite a bit scarcer than the mottled stamps.
The Colour of The Paper
The paper of the lithographed printings is usually an off-white creamy paper that is plate-glazed on the printing surface giving a glossy sheen. Ocasionally, if the plate has not been fully wiped clean prior to the glazing, some of the ink residue will tint the surface of the paper. Thus, I have found, for example, copies of the 1c where the paper has a light violet surface tint, or the 2c with a light rose tint, and so on.
The paper can also be a bright white, which looks very bright compared to the off-white paper.
On the photogravure printings the printing surface is coated in a very bright white layer of chalk, but the back can be either white or off-white. I would say white is more common at this point in the life of the issue, though both have been seen on most values.
Appearance of the Tagging
The tagging can appear different colours in normal light on the lithographed stamps, being anywhere from nearly invisible to a medium yellow, running down the sides of the stamp. The medium yellow I refer to as dark tagging. Lighter yellow is referred to as moderate tagging, and off white tagging is referred to as light tagging. The tagging on the photogravure printings that I have seen is either invisible in normal light, or it is very light. However the bands themselves are quite glossy, so the tagging can be seen quite clearly.
Paper Texture
The default for this issue is smooth paper. However, Unitrade lists a vertical ribbed paper on the photogravure printing of the 2c Western Columbine. The ribbing is usually very distinct and visible on the gummed side, but sometimes you need to view the gummed side at an oblique angle to a good light source to see it.
The existence of this paper on the 2c naturally led me to posit that the ribbed paper must, or should exist on the other values also. I'm pleased to report that I have found it on the 15c Canada Violet as well, on both precancelled and regular issue stamps.
Size of Perforation Holes
In the 1970's starting around 1973 I started to notice examples of stamps where the perforation holes are unusually large. Although difficult to see on singles, it is very obvious when viewing pairs or larger multiples. Size of holes has been a characteristic that is often covered when studying perforations on classic stamps. So, I see no reason why it should not be covered here also.
So far, I have seen variations in hole size on the lithographed and engraved printings. These are best collected as horizontal pairs, or larger blocks, so that the differences can be readily seen.
Colour Shifts
Unitrade does not list colour shifts, which may give collectors the impression that shifts are extremely common, or that there are hundreds or thousands of different ones out there. The truth is, that the vast majority of stamps were well printed, with the correct registration of colours. Consequently, I consider colour shifts to be as legitimate an aspect of study as any other.
One thing that is important in the study of shifts is to differentiate how the shift occurs: is it a shift of the engraved portion of the design? or is it the flower colour? Or a combination of the two?
Here is an example of a shift involving the flower colour:
Here, if you look at the top edge of the plant you will see that the orange spills over into the green. Normally it would be contained within the outline. The shift itself has caused white spots to appear also, as the yellow orange would normally have covered those spots, were it not for the shift.
Here is one that is caused by a shift of the engraving:
Here, the stamp colour was printed in the correct location, but the black engraving was shifted rightward. The result is that portions of the flower appear doubled.
Most of the shifts found in this issue are minor in nature, but still can be quite striking and dramatic. The first one I show on the 12c Jewelweed is minor, but the one shown above on the 5c precancel is quite major.
Doubly Printed Inscriptions, Once Albino
One some of the lithographed and engraved stamps you can find the inscriptions printed twice, where the second impression is albino. Usually, the albino impression is shifted slightly in relation to the printed impression, so that if you look carefully with a loupe, you can see the second impression of the letters of "Canada". The numerals of the demomination are not nearly as clear, and the "Postes Postage" is printed with so little pressure that the albino impression would not be visible at all.
I have so far only found this variety on the 5c and on the $1 Fundy National Park, though I would expect that it likely does exist on the other values also.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above overview, this issue, though it appears at first to be extremely simple, can be studied quite extensively, if you get into all the above aspects and study each of your stamps with a keen eye, and a good dose of patience.
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Stamp collecting has long been a beloved hobby, filled with historical significance, artistic beauty, and the joy of building a unique collection. However, biases within the hobby have often shaped collectors' perceptions of scarcity and desirability for certain stamps and covers. In this blog post, we will explore a prime example of how biases have caused stamp collectors to overlook genuinely scarce and desirable items: Canadian First Day Covers issued since 2000.
The Rise and Fall of First Day Covers
Before 1971, Canadian First Day Covers were a niche market, cherished by devoted collectors and artists who produced limited edition covers with hand-painted and hand-designed cachets. However, the entry of Canada Post into production changed the landscape. The increased competition and mass production capabilities of Canada Post made it difficult for cachet makers to compete, ultimately forcing many of them out of business.
The Popularity Plunge
With Canada Post's involvement, the popularity of First Day Covers plummeted. In the 1970s, vast quantities of covers were produced for each issue, ranging from 250,000 to 300,000 covers, in various stamp configurations (singles, pairs, blocks, plate blocks etc) for each and every issue. These excessive numbers exceeded demand, leading to a decline in perceived desirability. Older and experienced collectors began viewing them as mere junk, further reinforcing biases against First Day Covers.
Consequently, these items are now frequently offered at auction in massive box lots of several thousand covers at a time, with little to no distinction being made between the covers from different issues, and all of them being factored in at little more than 25c per cover.
A Shift in Demand
Over the past two decades, a significant shift occurred. Canada Post responded to the falling demand by reducing the production quantities of First Day Covers, as well as the actual stamps themselves. By 2007, the number of first day covers produced for each issue had dropped to approximately 21,000 for most issues - a considerable decrease compared to previous years. However, this official issue data doesn't tell the whole story.
The Hidden Scarcity
The decrease in production quantities doesn't account for unsold remainders returned by post offices, which are likely destroyed. Postal clerks have confirmed the low demand for First Day Covers, with some post offices even excluding them from their regular inventory, only ordering them for specific customers. Hence, the actual number of surviving covers is significantly smaller than the official figures suggest. This scarcity, overlooked for decades, has made these once-disregarded covers increasingly desirable to collectors.
Future Desirability
The trend observed in the production quantities of modern Canadian stamp issues suggests a broader phenomenon. Over the past 10-15 years, the numbers have dropped drastically, making these stamps and souvenir sheets rarer than ever before. Considering the potential destruction of unsold remainders and the growing digitalization of communication, these items may become sought-after collectibles in the future.
Reassessing the Desirability of First Day Covers and Modern Issues in general
Biases within the stamp collecting hobby have often led collectors to dismiss certain items as common or unworthy. The example of Canadian First Day Covers highlights how decisions made by Canada Post have unintentionally transformed these covers into genuinely scarce and desirable collectibles. It serves as a reminder that scarcity and desirability can evolve over time, and collectors should remain open-minded and reevaluate their perceptions. I am confident that many of the commemorative souvenir sheets, that are being issued in quantities of 50,000 and only up to 250,000 will become highly sought after, as Canada Post is now back to 1930's production levels of the special commemorative issues.
Conclusion
The biases prevalent in stamp collecting have sometimes caused collectors to overlook material that is genuinely scarce and desirable. The case of Canadian First Day Covers demonstrates how decisions made by Canada Post have inadvertently shaped collectors' perceptions and undervalued these items for decades. As the hobby evolves and digitization becomes more prevalent, collectors may rediscover the hidden gems within their collections and appreciate their true scarcity and desirability.
]]>The low value Caricature definitive stamps of Canada offer an intriguing field of study, with numerous attributes that extend beyond the surface-level descriptions found in reference sources. While Unitrade and Harris provide valuable information, they only scratch the surface of the characteristics that can be observed and analyzed. This blog post aims to delve deeper into the unexplored attributes of these stamps, focusing on paper texture, variations in color under UV light, compound fluorescence readings, taggant intensities in normal light, perforation anomalies, and color shades. By understanding these often-overlooked attributes, collectors can expand their knowledge and appreciation for the intricacies of the low value Caricature definitive stamps.
Paper Texture
The low value Caricature definitive stamps exhibit a range of paper textures, including smooth, rough, horizontally ribbed, and vertically ribbed. While the smooth paper is the default type and is found on all values, the rough paper is exclusive to the non-fluorescent (NF) plate three printings of the 6c stamp. Horizontal ribbing can be observed on the 1c, 2c, 6c, and 8c stamps, while vertical ribbing is primarily listed on the 2c stamp, but exists on other values as well. Identifying ribbed paper requires magnification or backlighting, highlighting the subtleties of these unique paper variations.
Taggant Colour Under Normal Light
The appearance of tagging, which denotes the presence of fluorescent bars, can vary significantly under normal lighting conditions. From nearly invisible bars to deep brownish-yellow ones, the range encompasses light tagging (very light yellowish cream) and moderate tagging (creamy yellow). These variations in taggant intensities contribute to the diversity and visual appeal of the stamps.
Fluorescence and UV Color
Fluorescence on the low value Caricature definitive stamps is a complex characteristic, often exhibiting different fluorescence levels on the front and back of the stamps. While Unitrade has acknowledged this phenomenon, many unlisted combinations still exist. Under UV light, the color can vary from deep bluish grey to bluish to bluish white, adding an additional layer of intrigue to these stamps.
Color Shades
The color shades of the low value Caricature definitive stamps also present noteworthy variations. The 1c stamp showcases a deeper orange shade in addition to the standard orange, while the 2c stamp can be found in green, deeper green, and slightly brighter green variations. The 3c stamp typically appears in maroon, but duller and brighter versions can also be found. The 5c lilac stamp exhibits a rosier version alongside the normal shade, while the 6c stamp can be found in dull red, red, deep red, and deep bright red. The 7c stamp offers two shades of brown, with the CBN printing being deeper. The 8c and 10c BABN stamps are fairly uniform in ultramarine or dark carmine, but the CBN printings display a milky blue hue. The booklet stamps may feature pale versions of the normal colors, adding to the visual diversity within the issue.
Perforation Anomalies
The low value Caricature definitive stamps were the first to be comb perforated by CBN, who previously used line perforating. Comb perforating involves multiple strikes to perforate the sheets, and misalignments between successive strikes can occur. Collectors can find blocks or pairs that exhibit these misalignments, showcasing the challenges faced during the production process.
Conclusion
The exploration of uncharted attributes in the low value Caricature definitive stamps expands our understanding and appreciation of these
]]>Within the realm of Canadian philately, the study of booklets holds a unique place. In this blog post, we will delve into the intricacies of the 1972-1978 Caricature Issue booklets of Canada, focusing on three key booklets: BK74, BK75, and BK76. These booklets present a variety of attributes, including stamp composition, pane widths, fluorescence, sealing compounds, and shades of color. By developing an overall nomenclature, we can better understand and appreciate the nuances of these captivating philatelic artifacts.
BK74 comprises six stamps that commemorate Sir John A. Macdonald, Lester Pearson and Queen Elizabeth II. The booklet includes three 1c Sir John A Macdonald stamps, a 6c Lester Pearson stamp, and two 8c Queen Elizabeth II stamps. Notably, these booklets exhibit variations in paper fluorescence, with panes being found with all different levels of fluorescence as discussed below, as well as the covers themselves. The panes' lengths in BK74 vary from 70 mm to 76 mm as discussed below also. Additionally, the sealing compound used varies, with some booklets featuring self-sealer and others with clear sealer. Self Sealer was a glue that was appled in a wide strip and usually appears brown now. Clear sealer is a thin bead of glue that usually still appears clear, though it can brown with age. But the amount of glue is the key difference between the two types.
In BK75 the stamp composition expands to a total of 18 stamps. It contains six 1c Sir John A Macdonald stamps, a 6c Lester Pearson stamp, and eleven 8c Queen Elizabeth II stamps. Unlike BK74, the fluorescence of both the paper and cover stock appears to be much more limited, with the covers generally always being dull, and the panes being either LF or MF. However, the length of the panes in BK75 is consistent, maintaining a uniform appearance. The sealing compounds used on these booklets exhibit the same variation seen in BK74, though McCann makes no mention of this.
BK76 includes four 10c Queen Elizabeth II stamps, four 2c Wilfred Laurier stamps, and two 1c Sir John A Macdonald stamps. While the stamp composition differs from the previous booklets, the variation in fluorescence, and pane widths, remains consistent.
In all three booklets, the shades of color of the stamps themselves vary, adding an additional layer of complexity and intrigue.
Developing an Overall Nomenclature
To better understand and catalog these booklets, we can establish an overall nomenclature system. Here's a suggested approach:
Booklet Code:
Pane and Cover Fluorescence:
Pane Length:
Sealing Compound:
Stamp Color:
Pane and Cover Fluorescence
The levels of fluorescence found are non-fluorescent (NF), dull fluorescent (DF), low fluorescent (LF), medium fluorescent (MF), high fluorescent (HF) and hibrite (HB). One of the complicating factors in examining the fluorescence of the booklet panes is that the fluorescence level on the front of the pane can be different under UV light from what is seen on the back of the pane. Also, a particular paper can derive its overall fluorescence from the presence of tiny fluorescent fibres. The number of fibres present and the brightness of those fibres can elevate the perceived fluorescence significantly, so that a pane which appears LF overall, may actually be NF, but contain, say a sparse concentration of MF fibres in the paper that make the whole pane appear LF overall. Finally, a particular fluorescence level can appear different colours under log-wave ultraviolet light. Blue and bluish white are the commonly seen colours of the paper under UV on this issue, but cream, grey and blue grey can be found also.The inclusion of aircraft designs on the covers of BK74 and BK76 adds an aesthetic and thematic element to these booklets. These aircraft designs are a captivating representation of aviation history and showcase the technological advancements of their time. With up to ten different types of aircraft displayed across these booklets, collectors are presented with a unique opportunity to assemble a comprehensive collection encompassing various aircraft models.
Pane Lengths
The panes included in BK74 and BK76 also vary in length. McCann lists 70mm, 72 mm, 74 mm and 76 mm lengths for BK74, with 70mm being the most common by far, and with the other widths being quite scarce. BK76 panes also vary, though curiously McCann does not discuss this. We have found that most panes measure between 108 mm and 110 mm with 111-112 mm being scarcer.
The understanding of pane length variations opens up avenues for collectors to delve deeper into the Caricature Issue booklets, while presenting opportunities to appreciate the craftsmanship and intricacy of the printing and production process.
Paper Texture
We have made fascinating discoveries regarding the subtle variations in paper texture. While Unitrade has traditionally listed only the horizontal ribbed paper for BK74, further exploration has revealed additional nuances. We have identified vertically ribbed paper with a smooth gummed side, as well as vertically ribbed paper displaying very fine vertical ribbing on the gum. Notably, this type of paper has also been encountered in certain printings of the 1977-1982 floral issue, indicating a potential correlation between the two. By discerning these paper texture variations, collectors can deepen their understanding of the production process and gain insights into the chronology of these booklets. I
One notable discovery is the presence of vertically ribbed paper in the Caricature Issue booklets. This type of paper exhibits fine, closely spaced vertical ridges, which can be observed under a 10-power loupe or against backlight. These ridges create an uneven appearance on the printing surface. The vertically ribbed paper has also been identified in certain printings of the 1977-1982 floral issue, suggesting a possible correlation and providing valuable insights into the production timeline.
Another variation in paper texture is the presence of vertically ribbed paper with a smooth gummed side. This type of paper can be more challenging to spot, as the smooth gummed side masks the vertical ribbing. However, upon closer examination under appropriate lighting or with a loupe, collectors may notice the uneven appearance of the printing surface caused by the underlying vertical ridges. This variation adds an extra layer of depth and intrigue to the booklets.
The ability to identify these subtle textural variations in the Caricature Issue booklets allows collectors to refine their collection and gain a deeper understanding of the production process. It provides a new dimension to appreciate the craftsmanship and intricacies involved in the creation of these philatelic artifacts. Additionally, the presence of vertically ribbed paper in certain printings may offer collectors insights into the chronology of production, particularly as it correlates with the 1977-1982 floral issue.
Patterns of Scarcity
Introduction: As collectors delve deeper into the world of the 1972-1978 Caricature Issue booklets of Canada, they begin to unravel intriguing patterns of scarcity. While traditional pricing references may not explicitly differentiate among the various combinations, seasoned collectors have observed distinct trends emerging over time. Here, we shed light on these patterns, focusing on the cover and pane combinations that dominate the booklets and identifying the rarer variations. By understanding these scarcity patterns, collectors can refine their pursuit and gain a deeper appreciation for the unique attributes within the Caricature Issue booklets.
BK74 Scarcity Patterns
In the case of BK74 booklets, there are clear patterns that emerge with regard to cover and pane combinations. The majority of BK74 booklets feature dull fluorescent (DF) or non-fluorescent (NF) covers, combined with DF or low fluorescent (LF) panes. This combination constitutes the most commonly encountered configuration. However, booklets with fluorescent covers, as well as panes with fluorescence levels higher than LF, are scarcer and considered more sought-after by collectors. This differentiation in scarcity highlights the desirability of booklets featuring covers and panes with higher fluorescence levels.
BK76 Scarcity Patterns:
Similar scarcity patterns can be observed in BK76 booklets, with some variations depending on the presence of wavy lines on the covers. Initially, the earliest BK76 booklets without wavy lines inside exhibit a prevalence of high fluorescent (HF) and hibrite (HB) covers, coupled with dull fluorescent (DF) or low fluorescent (LF) panes. Covers duller than HF and panes with fluorescence levels higher than LF are considered scarcer in this context. However, as the wavy line covers start to appear, a reversal in the trend occurs. Dull fluorescent (DF) and non-fluorescent (NF) covers become the norm, with brighter covers becoming scarcer. Similarly, low fluorescent (LF) panes become the norm, while panes with higher fluorescence levels become scarcer.
Implications for Collectors:
Recognizing the scarcity patterns in cover and pane combinations allows collectors to refine their strategies and focus on acquiring the rarer variations. Collectors can seek out booklets with fluorescent covers or panes exhibiting fluorescence levels higher than LF to add unique and sought-after pieces to their collections. Additionally, the emergence of wavy line covers presents an opportunity for collectors to track down booklets with duller or brighter covers, depending on their personal collecting preferences.
Conclusion: Overall Implications of Complexity To The Collector
Given the multitude of attributes present in these booklets, collectors can embark on a remarkable journey of collecting and categorizing. The combination of aircraft designs, fluorescence variations, pane widths, sealing compounds, and other factors offers an abundance of possibilities. Each unique combination becomes a distinct booklet variation, expanding the scope of a collector's pursuit. Considering all of them together, it becomes evident that the possibilities for collecting these booklets can quickly multiply. Collectors can amass a comprehensive assortment, potentially acquiring numerous booklets to capture the full range of variations. This level of depth and breadth adds excitement and depth to the collecting experience.
At least a part of this is because most collectors probably couldn't see these differences, because they were viewing the tagging using a normal black light that emits long-wave ultraviolet light. While the tagging does show up under long-wave UV, it appears only as darker bands and does not glow any particular colour. Also, the afterglow that is supposed to be visible after the lamp is switched off, is not generally visible when the stamps have been viewed with long wave UV light.
We viewed all the commemorative issues from 1964 to 1972 under short-wave ultraviolet light instead. What follows is a comparison of how the tagging appears under both types of light for the early Winnipeg Tagged issues and the later ones, as well as a discussion of the following aspects of the tagging:
Appearance Under Long Wave and Short Wave Ultraviolet Light
Early Issues - Shortwave
This picture was taken while the stamps were viewed under short wave UV light and you should be able to see that the colour of the tagging varies from bluish white on the left three pairs to yellowish cream on the right pair. Also you can see very clear differences in the width of the tagging bars.
Later Issues
This picture was taken the split second after the shortwave lamp was switched off and shows the bands appearing their characteristic bluish white colour.
This picture is taken while the light is on and is identical to how the block would appear under long wave UV light. Here the bands appear a light colour, but are completely overshadowed by the HB glow of the paper.
Visibility of the Tagging
The tagging bars of all issues are highly visible on all issues, except the 1972 Christmas issue, which are very difficult to see under the short-wave lamp. Up until the 1968 Christmas issue the tagging glows bluish white while the light is on. From the 1968 Christmas issue to the 1972 Christmas issue, the tagging appears as dark bands under the lamp, with the bluish white colour only being visible as an afterglow after the lamp is switched off.
Duration of Afterglow
The afterglow duration varies very widely from a low of almost nothing to up to 8 seconds. Generally the duration increases as one moves forward it time. Most of the 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967 issues have a 4 second duration, with a few printings having only a 2 second afterglow. Starting in 1968-1969 the afterglow increases to 5-6 seconds for most issues, and then in 1970-1971 it is between 7-8 seconds for most issues. The 1972 Christmas issue is the major exception to this, with almost no discernable afterglow, given that it fades almost as soon as your eye can process it.
Colour of the Tagging Under Shortwave UV light
The most common colour up to the 1968 Christmas issue is bluish white to a very bright bluish white. There are some printings of some of the 1966 and 1967 Christmas issues that have clearly yellowish to yellowish cream coloured tagging. Starting in 1968 the tagging appears dark brown under the light, and this continues up to the 1971 Christmas issue. The only exceptions in this period are the Manitoba Centennial, United Nations and Expo'70 issue, which again appear bluish white.
Tagging Bar Widths
The tag bars vary between 4 mm and 10 mm for all issues, with the centre bar tags being 4 mm and some bands at the margins of the sheets being 5 mm to 6mm wide. Most 2-bar tags are between 7.5 mm and 10 mm wide.
Spacing Between Tagging Bars and Varieties
While most issues showed some shifting of the tagging bars, most all stamps I looked at showed very consistent spacing between the tagging bars. However, there were some differences of between 1/2 mm to 1 mm on some stamps.
Conclusion
The study of the tagging using shortwave UV light was worthwhile as it did highlight some differences that were previously unknown. There may be others that we haven't yet found, as I only had very limited quantities of material to work with for some issues like the 1970 UN issue. Also, I didn't have a lot of marginal blocks for some issues, so studying the tagging bar widths at the margins was somewhat limited. However the preliminary findings suggest that it will be worthwhile to study Winnipeg tagged material carefully going forward.
]]>One of the things that I do like about this issue is that it is NOT beset by tons and tons of plate flaws and varieties. For the most part, the stamps were very well printed, and you can go through thousands of stamps and not find any plate varieties. While this might seem boring and disappointing to many collectors, to me it simply heightens the thrill when you discover a freak variety or something truly spectacular, and such items do come up from time to time.
In collecting this issue, the key to unlocking the complexity and to forming a full and comprehensive study lies in collecting and studying the plate blocks. The reason, is that they are the only way you can chronicle the printings and put them in date order. Also, there are many splendid shade varieties to be found, as well as several varieties of paper, other than fluorescence varieties that can be collected and studied. While it is indeed possible to study singles of this issue, the plate blocks are readily available and affordable, and they make comparing and contrasting much easier, and thus the varieties present better when you arrange a series of blocks on a page.
Many collectors have grown up with the idea that there is no philatelic significance to plate blocks. However, this is not true of this period, as the blocks contain markings, which will prove invaluable to identifying different printings. The stamps were printed continuously over their life, and the plates used were only replaced when they wore out. In addition, several plates were often employed all at once for the same printings. You can see this when you compare the shades, papers and gum types, as the same characteristics will be found to predominate a small group of plates. Conversely, there can be many printings that employ the same plate, so while there may be up to 20 plates of some values, there were many, many more than 20 printings over an eight year period.
Let's take a quick look at a typical lower left plate block from this issue:
As you can see, apart from the plate inscription, there are three other pieces of information on this block:
The order number only appears on the lower left block, and only until the use of order numbers were discontinued. All three other positions contain only the inscription and the plate number, as well as the plate dots, where they are to be found.
After you have been collecting these blocks for a while you will begin to notice a difference between the earlier blocks printed from the low plate numbers, which are generally below 10 and those printed from the higher plates, which usually start at 13 for most values except the 1c. If you look at the block above, you will see that the plate inscription is quite close to the inner perforations of the selvedge. On the blocks of the higher plates you will see that the imprints are located near the edge of the selvedge, away from the stamps. The plate dots are usually much smaller on these blocks and are often found on the sides, as well as the bottom selvedge.
One other nice aspect of this issue, if you find paper fluorescence confusing is that there are not a lot of fluorescent variations, and those that can be found tend to be quite obvious and easy to identify. So, if you prefer a more old-school style of philately, and would prefer to just casually dip your toe into the field of paper fluorescence, this issue is an excellent choice, and will not overwhelm you.
Collecting the Plate Blocks - What to Look For
In collecting and studying the plate blocks, you want to look at four things:
Paper Types
Unitrade barely gets into this, but does identify two basic papers:
The problem, I find with Unitrade's nomenclature is that there are many low plate printings on paper that looks quite smooth, and there are also printings on very deeply ribbed paper, while other ribbed papers show only light ribbing. Also, the effect on the back of the ribbing varies also. There are printings of the vertical ribbed paper that are completely smooth. So, these two categories oversimplify things quite a bit.
In actual fact, for the low plates, I have found five types of paper:
On the high plates, the same kind of variations can be found, only this time any ribbing runs vertically, rather than horizontally.
If you study the progression of paper types found on the various plates you will see that they tend to follow a progression in that the early plates will tend to be ribbed on both sides. As the plates get to the mid-point of the low numbers you will begin to see more and more blocks that are smooth on the front, and either ribbed on back (most) or smooth on the back as well. Finally the very last of the low plates are almost always on completely smooth paper. There are exceptions though, such as plate 1 printings on smooth paper. This is where it may be possible to establish that some scarce variations exist. I've never studied them comprehensively enough to look at the incidences of the different types to know which ones are the scarce ones, though it would seem that smooth paper printings from plate numbers below 5 or 6 are much less common than the ribbed ones.
Plate Dots
As I said before, the plate dots are usually only found on lower left or lower right positions, for the Wilding designs, However, on the higher values you can find them on blocks from all four positions. Sometimes you will see more than one dot, and other times you will see that the placement of the dots varies. These differences do have a significance, and finding out what they mean should be an important goal to any aspiring specialist of this issue.
Shades
The range of shades that can be found on this issue rivals that of the King George V admiral issue. At first, this may not seem to be the case, but that is likely only because you have not seen the more outstanding variations that can be found. The 4c violet and 5c blue are particularly good for finding shades, followed by the 2c, and 10c Inuk and Kayak. The other values have between 2 and 3 shade varieties each, and I find plate blocks overlapped are the best way to see them clearly.
Fluorescence
The default level of fluorescence is DF or NF. I find that most of the earlier low plates are DF, with some glowing a bluish white that comes very close to low fluorescent, but not quite. Within the DF distinction you can find light violet, bluish white, greyish white and ivory colours. The later plates above 10 tend to be either NF or some level of fluorescence that varies from low to hibrite, though it is important to note that hibrite on this issue is much less bright than it is on the later Centennials or issues after that period. Usually the fluorescence is derived from the presence of fluorescent fibres in the paper, as opposed to an overall even ambient level of fluorescence.
Beyond the Plate Blocks
Once you form a complete study of the plate blocks, including checking all the perforations to see what measurements they are between 11.85 and 12.15, it is time to look at collecting other aspects of this issue, which include:
This is just a taste of what you can do with this issue. As you can see, there are limitless possibilities, and nearly all of them are within reach of a collector on a very limited budget.
]]>So, in discussing these issues, I am not going to repeat everything that is already covered in Unitrade. Rather, I want to focus on discussing two aspects of these issues that have not received, what I would consider to be adequate coverage: distinguishing the printings of the low values, and shade variations and fluorescent paper varieties on the medium value fruit tree definitives.
Unitrade makes the assertion at the beginning of both issues that it is not possible to distinguish between the printings of the low value stamps without having imprint copies that show the actual printer name. While I would agree that these are difficult stamps for the novice to sort, I intend to show you that you actually can distinguish between them with reasonable certainty if you know what to look for, and so most of this post will focus on explaining the differences between the printings and showing you how to distinguish them.
Edible Berries Definitives
The edible berries stamps were first issued on August 5, 1992 and were
originally printed by Ashton Potter on Coated Papers Paper (CPP). Thyen, between March/April 1994 and April 1995/May 1997 three additional printings appeared of most values in the series:
I will explain the differences between these four printing groups and then show you examples of each printing for each value and show you how they relate to the descriptions of these differences.
Ashton Potter Printings
The original Ashton Potter printings all exhibit a very fine vertical ribbing on the printed surface of the paper, that can be seen best if the stamp is viewed at an angle to a good, strong light source. With care and patience you will be able to see this even on used stamps. The shades found in the stamps, in terms of certain parts of the designs are helpful also. However what is distinct differs slightly for each value.
The colour of the leaves on the bushes varies for each value, but it is generally not as bright of a green as the APC printings. Generally the colours are very similar for AP and CBN printings. On the 1c,2c, 3c and 5c the green is less yellowish on the AP and CBN printings. However, on the 6c, 10c and 25c this trend is reversed, and the green is slightly brighter and yellower than the other values. The blue of the sky is usually both lighter and brighter for the AP and APC printings, as compared to CBN printings. However, there is very little difference on the 6c value between the blue of the sky on Each printing, I find.
There are three shades of green used on most all stamps of this series: a deep green for the foliage of the bushes, a slightly less deep green used for distant bushes, and then a light yellowish green used for grass. On the Ashton Potter and CBN printings of all stamps except the 10c and 25c, this green is less yellowish. On the 10c and 25c values it is more yellowish than the green on the other printings.
So, by far the vertical ribbing is the first thing to look for in identifying Ashton Potter printings. The shades are not usually necessary, as you can identify them from this ribbing.
CBN Printings on Harrison Paper
The CBN printings on Harrison printing are easy to identify when mint, because the gum has a very distinct appearance. The gum on CPP paper is very slightly bluish in colour, but there is very little sheen, with the surface appearing to have an "eggshell: sheen. The gum does not shrink over time, and so stamps on this paper lie flat when placed on a flat surface. In contrast, the gum of Harrison paper is shiny and has small blemishes in it. It also shrinks over time causing the stamps to curl from the tension in the paper. This is of very little help when the stamps are used. However, here we can make use of paper fluorescence to settle the difference. CPP paper is completely NF under UV light. Harrison is DF under UV, but will still appear brighter than CPP paper will.
The blue colour of the sky is also somewhat of a help here, in distinguishing the printings. The light blue colour is quite dull compared to the other printings. There will be no surface ribbing on these printings.
CBN Printings on Coated Papers Paper
Like the printings on Harrison paper, the CBN printings on CPP paper have a completely smooth printing surface. On both mint and used stamps, the main way to distinguish between the CBN printings and the APC printings is by the colour of the grass, the folliage, the berries and the grass, depending on which value you are dealing with.
On the 1c, both the CBN and AP printings have berries that are more purple violet than bluish violet. The green of the leaves is deep and less bright compared to the APC printings. On the 2c the green of the leaves is slightly duller than that of the AP and APC printings, and the sky colour is a very slightly lighter blue. On the 3c the berries of both CBN printings contain more purple than blue, though the difference is quite subtle. On the 5c the leaves of the rose hip bushes are more yellowish compared to the deep green of AP and the sky is a duller blue as compared to APC. On the 6c the green of the leaves is deeper and less yellowish compared to AP. On the 10c the green of the plant is duller and slightly more yellowish. On the 25c the grass is much more light green than greenish yellow, as the AP printing is, and the leaves are a deeper, less yellowish green.
APC Printings on Coated Papers Paper
The APC printings, like the CBN printings have a completely smooth printing surface. The biggest factor which will prove useful for distinguishing the printings are the shades, as follows:
Lets now take a look at some examples:
Here are the three printings of the 1c. The APC printing is on the right, and if you look at the sky, you can see that the blue is brighter, and the berries are much bluer than on the other two printings. The CBN and AP printings are much more similar, but as I said above, the AP printing will have vertical ribbing on the face, but the leaves of the plant will be a little more yellowish compared to the leaves of the CBN printing.
Here are the 4 printings of the 2 cent, with the two middle stamps being CBN printings and the APC printing on the left. The AP printing is on the right. Again, if you compare the colour of the sky, you will see that the APC printing is a brighter blue. Also, you should be able to see that the leaves are a brighter, deeper green. The grass is also slightly more yellowish. Distinguishing between CBN and AP requires you to look for the ribbing in the paper that will be present on AP, but not CBN.
Here are the four printings of the 3c, with the AP on the left, two CBN's in the middle and the APC on the right. If you compare the AP and APC to two CBN printings, you can see the sky is brighter blue and the berries are a slightly bluer violet. Then, distinguishing between APC and AP is a matter of looking for the ribbing on the AP that will not be present on the APC.
Here are the 4 printings of the 5c, with APC on the left, the two CBN's in the middle, and the AP on the right. Again, the AP and APC are both very similar in shade, with the blue of the sky being brighter on both these printings compared to CBN. The APC also has slightly yellower green on the grass.
Here are the three printings of the 6c, with AP on the left and the two CBN's on the middle and right. The main difference between the AP and CBN printings apart from the ribbing is the colour of the leaves on the plant. The green of the AP printings is slightly more yellowish.
Here are the four printings of the 10c, with AP on the left, the two CBN printings in the middle and the APC on the right. Here, APC has a much deeper and brighter blue for the sky colour. The green of the foliage is brighter and more yellowish green on the AP and APC printings, and then the APC printings will not have any vertical ribbing on the printing surface.
Finally we have three of the four printings of the 25c, with the AP on the left, APC on the right and a lightly used CBN printing in the middle. In contrast to the other values, the very yellow grass occurs on the AP printing, rather than the APC. The green of the leaves is brighter and more yellowish and the paper of course has vertical ribbing. The main difference between CBN and APC is the blue of the sky, which is much brighter on the APC printing.
How to Best Sort the Stamps
The question that arises then, when you have a mass of stamps to sort, is how best to proceed to make the sort as efficient as possible. Here are the stps I recommend:
The Trades Definitives
These definitives are much harder to distinguish as compared to the berries stamps because there are no differences whatsoever in the gum to help you, and the paper in all cases is TRC paper, which is essentially the same as CPP paper. These are more difficult because there are no easily identifiable, separate colours that we can isolate and compare, except possibly the black background. So, with these it is easier to simply show you the printings and explain the differences, rather than describing them and then presenting examples.
So here are the three printings of the 1c bookbinding. AP is on the left and has a jet black background. The February 2001 CBN printing is shown on the right, while the November 2001 CBN printing is shown in the middle. The November 2001 printing is easy to spot because the black is a brownish black, rather than a jet black, and the pages at the top appear coloured. On the AP printing those pages appear greyish and on the earlier CBN printing they appear more white, and the hands appear to have warmer more orangy skin tones.
Here are the three printings of the 2c, with AP on the right, November 2001 CBN in the middle and February 2001 CBN on the right. Again, the black background is more of a brownish black on the November 2001 CBN printing, but I find the easiest thing to look is the colour of the iron at the top. It is blue grey on the AP printing, brownish grey on the November 2001 CBN printing, and violet grey on the February 2001 CBN printing.
Here we have the two printings of the 4c, with AP on the left and October 2005 CBN on the right. Here, the distinction is easy, and again it lies in the tone of black in the background colour, with CBN being a distinct brownish black.
Here are the three printings of the 5c weaving, with AP on the right, November 2001 in the middle, and February 2001 CBN on the right. This is one of the more difficult values because the black does not really show much variation. Here, what you have to focus on is the red of the yarn at the top and the brown background behind the shuttle. On both the AP and November 2001 CBN printings, the brown is fairly deep, but is ever so slightly lighter on the CBN printing. However, the November 2001 CBN printing has a brighter red colour to the yarn than the AP printing does. The February 2001 printing has a much redder brown background behind the shuttle, and should be fairly easy to identify, once you know what to look for.
Here we have again, the three printings of the 10c, with AP on the left, November 2001 CBN in the middle and February 2001 CBN on the right. The black background, as well as the tone of the wood carving at the top are the two colours to focus on here. The November 2001 printing has a distinctly brownish black background. The wood is a warm honey colour on this and the AP printing. In contrast, on the February 2001 printing the wood is a colder, more yellowish colour.
Last, but not least, we have the three printings of the 25c leatherworking, with AP on the left, February 2001 CBN in the middle and November 2001 CBN on the right. Again, the November 2001 CBN printing has a brownish black background, rather than a more jet black background. In truth all three printings on this value have a brown black background, but it is most obvious on the November 2001 printing. To distinguish AP from February 2001 CBN look at the colour of the leather at the top. On the AP printings there is a slightly more orangy tone to the leather as compared to the CBN printing, where it is more yellowish.
The Medium Value Fruit Tree Definitives
These are a lot of fun to collect, as they were printed by three different printers, AP, CBN and APC, and can be found both in sheet form and booklet form, as well as perf. 13.1 and 14.4 x 13.8. In most instances, the booklet and sheet stamps can be found with both perfs on some values. GT-4 tagging is the default on all values except the 88c, where it can be found both GT-4 and GT-3, and the 90c, where all printings are GT-3. Three different basic paper types are found: Harrison, Coated Papers Paper and Peterborough paper.
There were four values issued for each of the main postage rates above first class domestic over the four year period from 1991 to 1995, and the default printer, paper type and perf, differ for each year as follows:
In addition to the Unitrade listings for the above, you will notice, if you compare multiple copies of a listed printing, several variations of shade. Usually these will affect the colour of the skin of the fruit or the colour of the leaves. I have found these differences to be most noticeable on the 49c, 65c, 67c, 69c, 88c and 90c values.
The fluorescence of the Peterborough paper also varies, even though Unitrade does not list any varieties. I have so far found DF, LF and F varieties. I have not yet found MF and HF papers, though I'm fairly confident that MF and HF should exist, as these fluorescence levels are found on other commemorative stamps of the period that are printed on Peterborough paper.
And that should do it for our coverage of these issues.
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The period from 1973 to 1976 was one in which Canada post brought many of the changes that had been initiated in the late 1960's to full fruition. They had been trying to find a more cost effective way to print stamps that would still be able to retain cancels and would still allow for the continued mechanization of the mail handling and sorting process. Their breakthrough came when a private Toronto firm began printing some commemorative issues using 4-colour lithography, in 1970. Their work was of a sufficient standard and was much less expensive than what the Canadian Bank Note Company or British American Bank Note Company were charging for the normal, every day Canadian stamps, that the post office decided to award more and more of the printing contract to them. By 1973, they were printing the majority of Canada's stamps, with BABN only handling a few of the issues that required both engraving and photogravure printing.
The change from Winnipeg tp Ottawa tagging, which had gotten off to a bad start in 1972, with the use of migratory OP-4 taggant was corrected in 1973 to a stable OP-2 formulation, and it was a very effective taggant, still being used to this day. The tagging bar widths started out quite narrow in 1973, but by 1974 had widened out to the usual 4 mm bars that most collectors are familiar with.
This was also the period in which Canada Post solidified its position as a major player in the collectibles business and attempted to brand itself. Prior to this time, the information bulletins lacked a cohesive branding, being more like brochures from a government department. But in 1974, Canada Post adopts, the first, of what would be four different Canada Post Logos. The random appearance of the new issue brochures in 1973, gives way to a standardized, corporate, professional appearance, with a uniform colour scheme, layout and logo. Canada Post would change this colour scheme in 1976, and then again in 1977, as they got comfortable with what would present best to the public. They introduced sealed packs of singles, plate blocks, and first day covers, as well as the annual souvenir collections.
As Canada Post solidified its position as a supplier of philatelic collectibles, many of the businesses that supplied collectors before went out of business. This is really the last period in which there were any significant amount of private cacheted first day covers produced, as most cachet makers had gone out of business by then, as they simply could not compete with Canada Post.
What Are the Points Of Interest?
When I was a child, the Lyman's catalogue listed no varieties of any of these stamps. However, there are many, many variations that can be collected, but many are very subtle, and require careful comparison and skill to identify correctly. This is also the first period in which the study of constant varieties becomes super interesting, and constancy is much more difficult to prove, as both the number of sheets printed, and their arrangement is different for every issue, and is generally not a simple 4 or 6 panes arranged in a square or rectangle. This means that a lot of what were seen as flyspecks are actually much more significant than this.
By far though, the greatest point of interest in this period is the study of paper. The papers used during this period vary in terms of:
While Unitrade gets much of the identification right, their terminology and descriptions are not internally consistent, and this can lead to confusion amongst collectors who are trying to identify their stamps. I also find some of their pricing to be backwards, where a common variety is listed at a premium, and a much scarcer one is listed for a ridiculously low amount relative to how seldom these varieties are encountered.
I will now discuss these aspects in more detail.
Paper Fluorescence
This is really the first period in which all of the stamps produced with very few exceptions are printed on some form of fluorescent paper, as a standard. There are a few stamps on dull, non-fluorescent paper, which are the standard, but these are the exception, rather than the norm. These issues are:
While some of the issues where fluorescent paper was the standard, do exist on dull paper, the issues above are the ones for which dull paper was the default. As you can see, it starts off with very few issues in 1974 and 1975, until by 1976, most of the stamp issues have gone back to being on dull fluorescent paper.
One important point that needs to be made here concerns the identification of dull fluorescent, as it is listed in the Unitrade catalogue. it is not always consistent from issue to issue. Generally speaking, how the paper appears under UV will depend on the printer. Issues printed by BABN, when they are on dull paper, will have a "clean" appearance, with few to no fluorescent fibre inclusions. Even the fluorescent stamps usually will display a uniform bluish white fluorescence of varying brightness levels.
On the other hand, stamps printed by Ashton Potter on Abitibi paper will usually contain some fluorescent flecks in the paper. It is unusual to find a dull paper that is like the BABN paper, containing no fluorescent fibres at all. It does exist, and is usually thinner and translucent as well. However it is not a common paper type. Some of the other papers described as DF or NF are so only on the face, and on the back, they are still LF-fl or DF-fl, so if you are looking for completely dull backs you might miss them. The potentially confusing DF papers listed in Unitrade are:
The 1976 Inland Vessels issue is footnoted to exist on both DF and NF papers. The NF paper on this issue is again, different from the NF paper listed on other issues, in the sense that it is still translucent, but lacks the slight bluish white or greyish white glow under UV that the DF paper has.
At the other extreme is what Unitrade means by HB. They use the term fairly loosely, and on some issues the stamps really do exist on a hibrite paper that is really scarce, while on others there really are no hibrites, but stamps that are really just MF or at most HF. Again, this leads to a great deal of confusion, and only a collector with experience can hope to consistently get the identifications correct. The issues that actually exist on HB paper, and are scarce, are:
The issues that Unitrade lists as being on HB paper, but aren't quite are:
In between the extremes are the coated Abitibi papers that are some variation of LF, MF, HF and HB. They present difficulty, because even the dullest paper, is still much brighter than any of the fluorescent papers from the 1960's. It is almost akin to the difference between say HB paper on the Wilding Issue versus HB paper on the Centennial issue. So, to study the paper properly and avoid clumsy names, we really have to re-set the scale for these issues and recognize that they are brighter at all fluorescence levels than any of the earlier papers.
The paper coating, being a chalk compound, has the effect of dulling the fluorescence and it would appear that at least some of the difference in the brightness of the papers, at least from the front, will be due to differences in the thickness of this coating. Usually, the difference between papers will be most apparent on the back. Most of the issues will be found to exist in LF, MF and HF versions. Careful comparison is still the best way to positively identify these. However there are certain paper fluorescence levels that seem to dominate on each issue, and these are different, as follows:
Paper Thickness
Unitrade does not deal with potential differences in paper thickness. There actually does exist a thinner paper that gives a completely DF reaction when examined under UV light. This paper is translucent as well. It first appears in 1976 with the Olympic Ceremonies issue and is found beyond 1976 on some of the 1977 Christmas stamps.
Tagging Variations
The tagging bars on the 1973 issues started off 3 mm wide and was then widened to 3.75 mm with the Winnipeg Centennial issue, on an experimental basis. Then, eventually by the end of 1974 the standard tagging width is 4 mm.
For the stamps printed on unsurfaced paper, the tagging appears slightly different colours, with some stamps having dark yellow tagging, and others where the tagging compound is such a light colour that the stamps almost appear untagged.
Paper Surfacing
Several of the issues exist with differences in the texturing of the paper coating itself. On some issues this coating has a ribbed appearance, while on others it is smooth. The two issues where this is the case are:
Pricing Anomalies
Unitrade has at least a few instances in the catalogue where the price bears no relation to the scarcity. The issues where I feel this is the case are:
Conclusion
These are my opening observations in studying these issues, and there will undoubtedly be more points to make in the coming weeks and years as more material comes to light. I hope you found them helpful.
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Any collector who buys any significant accumulation of modern material will at some time or another come across these sealed packages of inscription blocks that were produced and sold by Canada Post. The vast majority have been opened over the years, the blocks removed and the packaging thrown away. However, some have survived unopened, and these often turn up in large "postage" accumulations sold at auction. I noticed several years ago that there are no listings in Unitrade for these packs and could not understand why. I also noticed that there were differences in the styles of the cardboard inserts that were used to stiffen the packs and protect the blocks from damage.
So, I decided some years ago that I would study them and pay attention to the differences that I found. Problem was I never had enough of them at any given time to really study them. All that changed last month, when I bought several hundred at auction. I decided that I would study them and document my findings as I prepared them for resale. All I can say is WOW! What a fertile collecting field this is! As you will see in this post, there are a vast number of differences that can be collected in these packs, a number of which are very scarce and seldom encountered. This field is so replete with collectible varieties that it is very hard for me to believe that nobody has properly studied it yet, or if they have, that nothing has been included in Unitrade to capture these differences.
This post will therefore show you some of the varieties that I have found. It is by no means exhaustive though, as I am limited by whatever I have been able to examine, and so I am confident that there are other types that I haven't seen yet. So, without further ado, let's get into it.
When Did These Packs First Appear?
So, the first question that arises is when did these packs appear? The answer is, I don't know exactly. By 1974, packs with the type 1 inserts, which I will show you are found with fair regularity, but the very earliest pack I have found was for the 15c gold and multicoloured for the 1973 issue, relating to the 1976 Montreal Olympics. This pack did not have a printed insert, being just a dark red piece of cardboard. So, it would seem to me that sometime in 1973 would be the answer, though I would love to hear from anyone that has anything earlier.
What Are the Collectible Differences?
The next question that arises is what are the attributes of these packs, and how can they be studied to identify collectible differences?
The following attributes of these packs have all been seen to vary, and thus can form the basis for inclusion in a specialized collection:
Other things that could be exist, but which I have not seen as yet are packs that contain the wrong blocks, or the wrong quantity, or matched sets that contain duplicates of the same positions, thus being errors, on account of their not being matched sets.
Unprinted Inserts
As I mentioned above, the first packs that I have seen and long since sold had plain cardboard inserts. In some cases, these inserts were brownish unfinished cardboard, and in others the cardboard was coloured. I can recall orange yellow and dark burgundy red being two colours that stand out, but my memory is hazy as to whether there were any others. Generally, once the printed inserts start to be used, you generally don't see unprinted inserts, with only a few exceptions, which include some sealed pairs that I bought in a collection that spanned the years from 1988 to 1989.
Basic Insert Designs - Printed Inserts
The basic printed inserts begin to appear in the packs starting in 1974, and over the years they have undergone at least seven major design changes, and several minor ones. This attribute of the packs, more than any other, forms the basis of most of the collectible varieties to be found on these. Where an issue spans the design changes made, they may exist with both and sometimes up to three basic insert types, maybe more, when the minor variations in font are factored in. What are particularly scarce and desirable, and have done very well in our auctions in the past are those packs whose insert design is well beyond the date after they were replaced by a subsequent type, and there is no reason why they should exist. The approximate periods of use are given below each type, but this information is just very roughly approximate, as I need to see many more packs to firm up the date ranges.
Type 1
Type 1 featured a speeding stylized maple leaf design in light blue, deep purple and bright red, with the old partial Canadian flag logo. It was in use from 1974 until it started to be phased out in 1976, in favour of a new design. However, I have found it as late as 1978 on some packs.
I have found three basic types of these packs, as well as packs inscribed for use with field stock, rather than philatelic stock blocks.
Type 1A - 3 colours, maple leaf logo and curved serif on "1" and cents raised.
Type 1A for field stock blocks. I am not sure if the philatelic department regularly sold field stock in packs. I don't think so, based on the low number seen. I think these were a stop-gap measure when they ran out of inscription blocks.
Type 1B - 3 colours, maple leaf logo and straight serif on "1" and cents raised.
Type 1C - similar to type 1B, value expressed with cents symbol that has line passing all the way through AND a decimal point in front of the "6'. This is the only example of this I have encountered.
Type 1A low value pack, with value expressed with a cents symbol, which has a line that passes all the way through and protrudes from both sides, but no decimal point.
Type 2
Type 2 was a short lived design that appears to have been in use for just under a year, having made an appearance in 1976 and being completely gone by the end of 1977. The partial flag logo remains, as do the three colours, though some versions have dark blue replacing the deep purple. However, the speeding maple leaf was dropped, and instead is replaced by coloured horizontal stripes. in light blue and deep purple (or deep blue on some).
For this type, I have found three sub-types that differ in terms of the colour of the widest stripe (dark blue and dark purple) and the thickness of the font.
Type 2A - light blue, red and purple on white.
Type 2A for a pack with under $1 face value, expressed with a cent symbol, rather than a decimal.
Type 2B - light blue, red and dark blue on white with new flag logo.
Type 2C - light blue, red and purple on white with new flag logo, and thicker font, with a type 2B superimposed over the top to show the difference.
Type 3
Type 3 is a much plainer design, in which only one colour is used, being dark purple against a white background, The old Canada post logo is retained, and it is set against a wide dark purple horizontal stripe. This type was in use from late 1977 to late 1979.
I have found no fewer than four sub types of this type, which differ according to whether or not "Canada Post" appears on one or two lines, and the size of the font used for the text.
Type 3A - purple on white, uniform sized text. Canada Post on one line. Larger font.
Type 3A - purple on white, uniform sized text. Canada Post on one line. Smaller font.
Type 3A for a low value pack with the value expressed using a cent sign. I think this was standard for the low value packs, but they may exist expressed with a decimal also.
Type 3B - same as 3A but with Canada Post on 2 lines instead of one. I do not currently have an example to show here.
Type 3C - purple on white, Canada Post on two lines and mixed font, with the $1 being larger than the raised cents. Text font is also thicker.
Type 4
In late 1979 the colour of the inserts was changed from dark purple to light blue, and with a few other minor font changes gives rise to no fewer than seven sub-types. This type was one of the longer lived types, being replaced in 1990. Again, the types differ according to whether Canada Post is on one or two lines, how closely spaced the font is, and the overall font size, as well as the relative sizes of the text font and the numeric font.
Type 4A - light blue on white, uniform sized, smaller font.
Type 4A - light blue on white, uniform sized, larger font, widely spaced. This, by far is the most common variation, during this period, being found on most all issues from 1979 to 1988.
Type 4A - light blue on white, uniform sized, larger font, closely spaced. This type first appears sometime in 1984.
Type 4B uniform font - blue on white, Canada Post on 2 lines with all font the same size in the text.
Type 4B mixed font - blue on white, Canada Post on 2 lines and mixed font with figures of value larger than all the remaining text.
Type 4C - blue on white, Canada Post on two lines, but no "inscription" in the text, and these were inscription blocks.
Type 4C - blue on white, Canada Post on one line, but no "corner" in the text.
Type 5
In late 1988, based on Canada Post new issue brochures that we have examined, Canada Post re-designed their logo to a speeding arrow, and for all philatelic service products, incorporated the title "Philatelic Service". However, this change does not appear to have made its way into the sealed packs until early in 1990. I had thought that Type 6 was the type to replace type 4 until a few years ago, when I discovered this very short lived type on blocks of the 1990 Norman Bethune issue. As far as I know there are no subtypes of this type, and it only appears on a few issues from 1990. There is, what appears to be a dark blue version, used for items directly from the philatelic department, which I have called type 5B.
Type 5A - appeared very briefly in 1990. This is light blue on white.
Type 5B - dark blue on white, address of philatelic department.
Type 6
Type 6 appears in 1990 and was in use until type 7 replaces it sometime in 1998. I have found three sub-types of it, which vary according to font size and also as to whether cents are presented in decimals or with a cent symbol.
Type 6A - new logo and "Philatelic Service" in white on dark blue, denomination in decimals.
Type 6B - blue on white, new logo and "Philatelic Service", in white on dark blue, value expressed with cent symbol rather than as a decimal.
Type 6C - blue on white, new logo and "Philatelic Service", in white on dark blue, philatelic logo text small with very large text font.
Type 7
In 1998 the Philatelic Service title was dropped and the speeding arrow was incorporated into a new Canada Post logo. The colour was initially dark blue on white and this was changed to black on white sometime in early 2000. I have only found two font sizes, though the insert cards themselves are all different sizes, due to the abandonment of a standard size for Canadian commemorative stamp issues during this time.
Type 7A - dark blue on white, no barcode, large font.
Type 7B - dark blue on white, no barcode, smaller font.
Type 7C black on white, larger font, no barcode. I didn't have an example without the affixed barcode label, but it would look like this without a label.
Type 8
In early 2000 the inserts were altered to incorporate a UPC barcode. Initially, before the design could be reprinted with the barcode on the card, some of the packs issued in early 2000 had a barcode label affixed to the old type 7C pack, to effectively make them a type 8. Again, I have found them with two font sizes.
Type 8A - black on white with barcode above emblem, larger font and pack sealed at sides
Type 8B black on white with barcode above emblem, smaller font and pack sealed at top and bottom.
This type was still in use to the last issues I have had packs for, which is 2006. There may or may not have been more design changes since then. I'll have to check at the main post office next time I go in to see what the current packs look like, if they even still sell them.
Differences in the Way Packs are Sealed
The same packs can be found with the seal running along the top and bottom of the pack, and also the sides. In addition, I have come across packs that are double sealed, with an outer seal, and then an inner one that reduces the amount of room in the pack for the blocks to move around. However, these seem to be quite scarce, as the lot of several hundred that I bought included just one pack.
Type 6A sealed at the sides.
Type 6A sealed at top and bottom.
Issues That Come With More Than One Type of Pack
As I stated in the beginning of this post, many packs exist with two or more types of insert, with probable significant differences in scarcity.
Two packs of the 25c beaver definitive from 1988, with type 4B and type 6A packs. The Type 6A pack is the blocks on Coated Papers paper from 1992. The type 4B pack is the original Slater paper printing from October 1988.
3c edible berries definitive with both type 6A and 6B packs. Note how much larger the type 6A is than it needs to be for the size of the blocks.
Types 2A and 3B for the 1976 Handicapped Olympics Issue
Type 4A with large and small font types on two different sized cards for the same stamps - the 15c Christmas issue from 1980.
Type 4B small pack and type 4A larger pack with large font, both produced for the 35c Christmas stamp from 1980.
4c third issue Centennial postage due plate blocks with types 1C and 1A inserts.
Constant Varieties
Occasionally you will encounter packs whose insert cards show minor printing flaws. Often, these will be constant, which you can establish by the fact that the same flaw occurs on more than 1 pack, which indicates that they all came from the same print run. Below is one example:
Type 3A that shows small diagonal mark to right of the logo.
Cutting Guidelines
These insert cards were printed in larger sheets that were then guillotined apart. When this is done correctly, no evidence of the cutting guidelines will remain visible, as the guillotine will pass through them. However, on some insert cards, a cutting guideline can be seen, as with this example here:
32c commemorative issue showing deeper blue vertical cutting guideline inside the light blue stripe.
Improvisations Made by The Philatelic Department
Other times the philatelic department would run out of supplies required to make the packs, whether that be the blocks themselves, the baggies required to seal the packs or the inserts. When these things occurred Canada Post often improvised, making do with what was available. Insert cards were sometimes recycled when the right sized insert was not available. Alternatively some packs can be found sealed in baggies that are way oversize for the size pack they are, which tends to suggest that larger baggies were substituted for the smaller ones that ran out. Finally, when the inscription blocks themselves were not available, field stock blocks were used instead, and a different insert card was included, or if not available, the existing insert cards were physically altered by the Canada Post employee using a felt marker or ballpoint pen.
These, in my opinion are the most desirable packs, because most of them will be very scarce, since relatively few will have been produced, and fewer still will have survived.
The first type of improvisation is where the correct sized insert card was unavailable, and a smaller insert card was placed on top of a correct sized, blank card. The scans below show several examples:
Type 1A pack inserted over a blank insert
A short-lived type 5A insert inserted loose into a larger pack, with a blank insert.
A type 6 insert inserted loose into a pack with a larger blank insert
Another example of an improvisation occurs where the correct sized insert card is available, but some detail is not correct, like the barcode is missing. In this case, a label was affixed to the outside of the pack, like this example:
Black on white type 7 insert with a barcode label affixed over top of the pack to make it a type 8B, though the font on this one is even smaller. Here the label includes the logo.
Type 7C black on white large font, with barcode label affixed to the outside of the pack to turn it into a type 8A.
The scans below show two examples where field stock blocks were substituted for inscription blocks, and the insert cards amended accordingly:
$2 Olympic Stadium stamps from 1976 which were supplied in field stock, rather than inscription blocks and with the insert being hand altered to reflect this, in black felt-tipped pen.
$1 Notre Dame Cathedral stamps from 1976 which were supplied in field stock, rather than inscription blocks and with the insert being hand altered to reflect this, in blue ballpoint pen.
Errors
Several different types of errors are possible with these packs, though the most major one - the inclusion of the wrong blocks has not, as yet surfaced. The ones I have usually seen so far are miscuts involving the insert cart. These can be either horizontal or vertical miscuts. Examples are shown below:
Miscut of type 4A with normal. Note the lack of white border at bottom, and unbalanced look of the one on the left compared to the normal one on the right.
Type 4A with larger font showing vertical miscut at left, causing truncated text. This was the 37c locomotives stamp from 1984.
One interesting error that I have only found one of is one where the correct blocks and inserts are included, but are assembled the wrong way around, so that you cannot tell what is in the pack, without moving the blocks around just enough to get an edge poking out, so that you can see which issue the blocks are from:
2002 Golden Jubilee issue with the insert placed backwards, obscuring the contents of the pack
Unusual Items
In addition to packages of plate blocks, one comes across a few items here and there which are different, but not usually present in any significant quantity. These include sealed packs of singles, pairs, single blocks, full sheets, and semi-annual or quarterly packs. Quarterly packs and semi-annual packs are regularly issued, and until the late 1990's were issued in cellophane packs just like the postage due singles pack below. I don't have an example to show here, which is why I don't include a picture of one, but it is similar enough to the pack for the postage due singles that you can get a good idea of what they look like.
Full sheets were also regularly issued. But the rest of these items were likely made available only to customers who had standing orders with the Philatelic Service in Ottawa, and later in Antigonish, after 1984.
Full sealed sheet of the 1974 postal service issue.
Here is the insert for the sealed sheet, which is a type 1 style.
Type 2 style insert for 1988 mammals plate blocks with Antigonish Philatelic Centre. This is curious as type 2 style had been replaced by type 3 in 1977 and the philatelic centre moved to Antigonish in 1984. So one would expect this to be type 4 style in light blue.
A singles pack in type 2A style with the cents sign.
Type 2 style singles pack for 1988 mammals low values with Antigonish Philatelic Centre info.
Pack of singles for the 1978 postage due issue. This is closest to type 4 in terms of style, as the colour is light blue on white.
Style 3A pack of 10 corner blocks, all one position. I don't know when Canada Post started doing this or why, nor do I know when they stopped producing these packs, though all the ones I have seen are from the period from 1977 to 1978.
Sealed pair of the 1989 Archibald Lampman and Louis Frechette issue with type 2 like style Antigonish Philatelic Bureau Insert. Some other pairs that I found from 1988 had plain cardboard inserts.
Storage and Display
One reason why I think these were ignored by collectors was because until relatively recently there was no way to mount and display them. However, with the widespread variability of Vario stocksheets, that is no longer an issue. Virtually all of these, including the full sheets can be displayed on Vario pages, and this is what I would use if I were collecting these.
Scarcity
It is my belief that many of these are much, much scarcer than people realize. I see very, very few packs from before about 1977 in my travels. Most of the packs were opened and the blocks removed, and of those that have survived, many have been surprisingly mishandled by collectors who should know better, but don't, because they aren't listed and priced in the catalogues. Because of this, most collectors have placed no inherent value on a pristine, unopened pack, even though it is obvious that such a thing should be worth more than the corresponding value of the blocks inside. I just bought a collection last month which was described as being in sealed packs, but was offered in the postage section of the catalogue. Every single pack had either been cut open, or divots had been sliced out of the plastic on each side. I have no idea why. My best guess as to the reason why the collector did this is because the thought the blocks needed to "breathe", which for PVA gum blocks is sheer nonsense. But, it is amazing what even an experienced collector will do to something philatelic when no explicit value is placed on that thing. It really puts into perspective the practices that horrify most of us, that collectors were doing back in the 19th century, like using pins to mount stamps, trimming stamps to fit into album spaces and cutting valuable stamps off cover of cutting octagonal stamps to shape.
Conclusion
I hope this has been an informative post for you and that after reading it you will agree that this is a very promising area to collect. You will see the areas now in which the hunt is on to find packs that will help establish the exact dates that certain types were introduced and discontinued, as well as establishing relative scarcity data for the different types.
If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to check out our current auction closing on January 4, 2023. Here you will find an extensive selection of these packs. You can access the auction listings here.
]]>This set is one of those issues that on its face seems very straightforward, and has been very popular with collectors over the years because of the perforation and paper varieties that exist on the medium values, all of which were identified for collectors in the selvedge. Although this practice, of naming the paper manufacturer in the selvedge of the sheets had begun towards the end of the life of the previous issue, this was really the first issue where this practice was consistently followed for all values in the set, making the basic identification of paper types easy for collectors, or so it seemed.
Beyond this though, there didn't seem to be a whole lot more to the set. However, as I have returned to this issue several times and studied the stamps more carefully each time, I have discovered that there are actually a number of collectible variations of nearly all the stamps in the set, many of which are actually quite obvious if you know what to look for. The key to finding them is to become thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the different papers these stamps are printed on, which will reveal that there are additional hidden variations in several of the papers, and to carefully compare shades and details of the designs. Again, you will see differences that you never noticed before. The postal history of this issue is interesting as well, as several services that were offered such as special lettermail, priority post and the like were discontinued, when Xpresspost was introduced.
As Unitrade notes, this was the first definitive issue to feature first class stamps that did not appear in either booklet or coil form (the 37c Queen Elizabeth II). The sizes of the low value and first class stamps was made slightly larger, starting with the 38c values, than the previous small format stamps. The high value $1-$5 stamps were also the first not to have a white border around the design, but rather to extend across the perforations.
There were other historical firsts as well. The 50c vending machine booklets that contained one first class stamp and make-up low value stamps were discontinued, after the 40c flag stamp, and quick stick self-adhesive stamps were introduced, albeit at a premium over regular stamps. This was also the first issue to have booklet stamps that are perforated all around for every stamp in the pane.
All three printing companies, being Ashton Potter, BABN and CBN were involved in the production of this issue.
So, we'll start with some general observations about various attributes of the stamps and then we'll get into discussing specifics, as they relate to each of the stamps in the series.
Papers - The First and Most Important Characteristic
This was the second issue to be produced, where the name of the paper manufacturer is included right in the selvedge of the sheets. This ease of identification got the attention of collectors, who eagerly collected all the paper types, and then began to study them and note their specific characteristics. The study of the papers has uncovered some real rarities, where small amounts of one type of paper were either accidentally or intentionally used on very small batches of some values. The rarest regularly listed stamp in the series is the 74c wapiti on Rolland, rather than Harrison paper. So, the study of papers on this issue can be quite lucrative indeed.
However, the story does not end there. Despite being identified in the selvedge, pretty well all of these paper types exhibit variations in stiffness, fluorescence, direction of paper weave, the smoothness of the printing surface, presence or absence of ribbing on the surface, and whether or not any mesh is visible in the paper when it is viewed against a good, strong backlight. The differences I have found will be discussed under each paper type below, and I will mention on which stamps I have found them.
This issue utilized papers from no fewer than five manufacturers, more than any other definitive issue, which accounts, in large part for its popularity.
Harrison Paper
Harrison paper is a stout, but not stiff, whitish to off-white paper, that was used to print several of the first class stamps and was the default paper for the 57c killer whale and the second releases of the medium values and the $1 and $2. It has a somewhat matte gum that has a bluish green tinge, and also tends to curl either horizontally or vertically. It's use generally spans the period from 1987 until 1990 on this issue, with most printings after 1990 being on one of the other papers.
Harrison paper generally is DF on the front, though this is often obscured by the GT-4 tagging on many of the stamps. On the back it tends to appear greyish under UV. It also exists DF giving a lighter greyish-white glow, a DF bluish white glow, and occasionally it can be found to give a LF bluish white glow. For many years it was assumed that Harrison paper was always DF. However, Unitrade has begun to give recognition to the LF versions of this paper, listing LF booklet panes of the 37c and 38c parliament, and the $2 McAdam Railway Station. They have not, however, recognized the $1 Runnymede library on the same type of paper, even though it clearly does exist. On the $1 and $2 stamps this is best seen from the back, under UV.
The Harrison paper can be found in at least two different sub types. On one type the paper can be seen to contain clear vertical mesh, when held up to backlight, and on others, no such mesh pattern can be seen. The 37c and 38c Queen Elizabeth II stamps are two such examples of stamps that I have found both with, and without the vertical mesh. On the medium value mammal stamps, the Harrison paper usually has a visible horizontal mesh.
The Harrison paper is also found to exist in different weave patterns, which can be distinguished by the direction in which the paper usually curls, as follows:
Slater Paper
Slater paper is a cream paper that was used for most of the stamps in this series below $1. It is a very distinct paper, having a very shiny cream gum. The paper is soft compared to other papers, and it is thick. As a result the perfs have a somewhat "puffed up" appearance around the perf holes. This is particularly noticeable on blocks.
This paper was used to print all the first printings of the low values, the booklet printings of all the 38c and 39c first class stamps, the sheet stamps of the 38c parliament, the second and third printings of the 44c, 59c and 76c, the 45c, 61c and 78c stamps, the 50c vending machine flag booklets containing the 39c flag and all the quick stick stamps. It is used for a relatively short period of time between 1988 and 1990. By 1991 it is replaced by Peterborough paper.
The slater paper on most all the stamps of this issue is vertically ribbed, or rather, the chalk coating contains very fine vertical striations that can be seen if you tilt inscription blocks or singles in a strong light source. It is much easier to see on blocks though. On some stamps such as the 38c parliament, the ribbing is horizontal. The gum is shiny and thick, having a deep cream colour.
Under magnification, the surface of this paper is not smooth. Rather there is what appears to be a network of shallow indents that follow a crack pattern. Harrison paper has this to a lesser extent also, and this becomes apparent on used stamps. So, it cannot really be reliably used to sort used stamps into Harrison and Slater paper printings. For this, you generally have to look at the thickness and softness of the paper, as well as the appearance of the perforations and paper around these perforations. If the paper seems a little swollen around the perfs, then the stamp is probably on Slater paper.
The fluorescence is generally DF greyish or greyish white on the front, though bluish white can also be found. The fluorescence on the back is generally DF greyish, DF cream, DF greyish white, or DF bluish white, though on some of the first class stamps I have found LF bluish white. I have yet to find a LF variation of this paper, that is LF on the front, though I'm sure that one probably exists somewhere. We all thought that Harrison paper was always DF before the first fluorescent varieties of that paper were discovered.
Generally this paper does not show any mesh when held up to a strong light source, though I have seen printings of the 38c parliament stamp that show clear vertical ribbing when viewed through backlighting. Also, the booklet printings of the medium value mammal stamps seem to show vertical mesh when held up to backlight.
Peterborough Paper
This paper is notable for its hardness and stiff feel. It is whiter than the Harrison and Slater papers as well. The surface coating is smooth, with none of the ribbing found on the Slater papers. The gum is greyish and somewhat matte, having what can best be described as an eggshell sheen. Unitrade states that it is very shiny, but I don't think that is correct. It is not perfectly colourless, having a very, very slight greyish tinge.
This paper replaced Slater paper as the go-to paper of choice in 1990 and was in use from late 1989 until the end of the issue's life. It was used to print the 1989 printing of the 38c parliament sheet stamps, the 39c flag sheet stamps, the 40c Queen Elizabeth II sheet stamps, the 46c, 63c and 80c medium value mammals, the $5 BABN printing and all the coil stamps.
Under magnification the paper surface is perfectly smooth. There is one instance that I know of on the 37c parliament coil, where some examples can be found on a paper that shows horizontal ribbing on the gummed side. In theory the other coil stamps should exist, or could exist with this ribbing as well, though they are nit presently listed in Unitrade. They should be watched for though.
In terms of fluorescence, this paper varies quite widely, though on this issue it is generally DF on the front and back. Occasionally though, it can be found giving a LF bluish white reaction on the back, like what can sometimes be found on the Harrison paper, or a brighter MF reaction on the back.
Rolland Paper
Rolland paper is the whitest of the papers used in this series. It has smooth, white gum, is reasonably stiff and shows no mesh, even when viewed against backlight. It also exhibits the widest range of fluorescence of any of the papers, going from DF all the way to MF on this issue. Rolland paper was only used for a few of the earlier printings made between 1987 and 1988 of the following stamps:
The first two of these are relatively common, being normally issued releases. The last two are scarce to very rare, with only 200-300 known of the 74c wapiti.
Coated Papers Paper
This paper has a similar appearance to Slater paper, in that the surface is not smooth. Unlike Slater paper though, it is almost always NF or dead on the face under UV and DF greyish on the back. The gum generally has a light green tint and an eggshell sheen. The paper is much crisper and stiffer, though not as stiff as the Peterborough paper. Perforations punch cleanly on this paper, so the paper does not appear at all swollen near the perf holes the way that it tends to on the Slater paper.
This was the default paper for the reprints of the low values, made in October 1991, the booklet printing of the 40c Queen Elizabeth II and 80c Peary caribou, the sheet and booklet versions of the 40c flag stamp, the vending machine booklet flag stamps, being the reprints of the 39c booklet and the 40c booklet, and the 1992 reprints made by CBN of all the dollar values.
On the $1, $2 and $5, the paper is thinner than the other denominations, is shiny on the surface and shows very light vertical ribbing on the front.
Booklet Versus Sheet Stamps on the Same Papers
One problem that often arises for collectors on this issue concerns sheet stamps and booklet stamps that were printed on the same paper. Where the stamp has a straight edge, or two straight edges, this is not a problem, as the straight edged stamps must have come from a booklet. But what about stamps with perforations on all sides? Fortunately many can be distinguished by the direction of the paper weave, or the way the stamp curls, for those stamps on Harrison paper.
For the 37c parliament stamps, the sheet stamps are printed on vertical wove paper that curls from side to side, while the booklet stamps is on horizontal wove paper that curls from top to bottom.
The 38c parliament sheet stamps tend to be on paper that is vertical wove, whereas the booklet stamps are horizontal wove. The 40c flag sheet stamps are on horizontal wove paper, while the booklet stamps are on vertical wove paper.
Although they are a different perf, the medium value mammal booklet stamps on Slater paper can be easily distinguished by the fact that the paper of the booklet stamps bends in the horizontal direction, whereas the sheet stamps bend in the vertical direction.
Shade Varieties
There are quite a number of subtle shade variations on the stamps of this set:
These are just the differences that I have noticed in the stamps I examined this time around. I am sure there are probably more to be found on further study.
The scans below show some of these variations:
The 2c porcupine. Here, if you look carefully at the upper background colour you will see that the colour on the upper stamp is slightly paler and less yellowish than on the bottom stamp.
The 39c Queen Elizabeth II. Here you can see clear differences in the skin tones of the portrait.
The 39c flag stamp. Again, here you should be able to see that the blue of the sky is much deeper and more vibrant than the stamp at the top. The top stamp is a booklet stamp on Slater paper, while the bottom stamp is a sheet stamp on Peterborough paper.
Tagging
This is the first definitive issue in which the default tagging is GT-4. It is also the first issue to have a large number of entirely untagged stamps. The 1c-6c low value stamps are untagged, as are the high value stamps, and all the low value booklet stamps. The others are all GT-4.
The tagging itself varies in its appearance from having a semi-gloss sheen on the stamps, to having a very thick and glossy appearance on some of the stamps. This is particularly notable on some printings of the quick stick self adhesive stamps.
One interesting variation that does occur on the tagging concerns the appearance under UV. Most stamps have tagging which appears clear and sharp. However, on some stamps the tagging can be seen to diffuse and spread out, colouring the paper of the selvedge. I refer to this as the "diffuse tagging".
Because the low value stamps are untagged, one variety that can be found, which I find very interesting are ghost tag bars on the back of the low value stamps. These arise from stacking sheets with wet taggant on top of one another before the taggant has fully dried. In the earlier days of GT-2 in the 70's and 80's, ghost bars on the back on top of the gum are quite common. But by 1987 the quality control procedures at the printers were such that they are not found that often at all. So, when they do come up they are interesting. The scan below shows a few examples of ghost tag bars on the back of some of the low value stamps.
The scan below shows the 39c flag stamp with taggant residue on the face in the shape of perforation holes. This was found in a block and every stamp in the block had the residue in the exact same place, in just the clouds.
The stamps that are supposed to be tagged, can also exist untagged. The Adminware tagging database lists these, or at least every reported variety. Here is an example:
This stamp is normally supposed to be tagged on all four sides.
Occasionally examples of some booklets or stamps are found with errant taggant spatter or dots, such as on this booklet pane:
Perforations - The Second Most Important Attribute
The second most important attribute of this series are the differences in perforation. For reasons unknown, many releases of the stamps were issued with different perforations, and these new perforations went completely unannounced. Most all of them can only be found on field stock, which is entirely consistent with the idea that they were not produced intentionally. They are most likely the result of either temporary replacements of the perforating combs, while the ones in normal use were being repaired, or they are the result of the printer purchasing or leasing new perforating machines that had a different gauge from the ones normally in use.
The perforations found on this issue are:
That's quite a variety: 13 different perforations. What isn't clear is why there were so many, and immediately the question gets raised as to whether some stamps could exist in one of the above perforations where such a perforation is not known to exist on that value.
Here, we have some of the scarce perforations on some of the medium values.
Here are the two scarce BABN reprints of the 39c first class definitives with the scarce perf.
Apart from the perforation measurements, there are also misperf varieties and imperforate varieties of stamps that should be perforated. Because the stamps are tagged on all 4 sides, any significant perforation shift will result in a tagging error. Most stamps in the set can likely be found with significant misperfs. Here are two examples:
A pair of the 38c Queen Elizabeth II stamp with the vertical perforations shifted 2.5 mm to the left, producing a G4aL tagging error.
Here is an example of the 38c parliament with the perforations shifted upward 4 mm, resulting in a G4dH tagging error.
The scan below shows some of the many imperforate varieties that can be found on this issue:
Interestingly, all of these varieties come from booklets. The two 39c Queen Elizabeth II varieties come from the same booklet. The 39c flag pair is also from a booklet, on Slater paper. However, Unitrade only lists the imperf pair of this value on Peterborough paper. Most of the stamps of this issue exist imperforate. It is useful to think instead about which stamps DO NOT exist imperforate, or at least are not listed in Unitrade:
Design Differences
If you look closely at the low value stamps and the high values, you can see small differences in the design details. The differences on the high values will be discussed there, but I will discuss some differences that can be found on the low values here.
On the low values, each stamp except the 3c and 25c has a background pattern that exists in addition to the main design. On some stamps this pattern stands out very clearly against the background, while on others, it is either muted or faint. Here are two examples on the 1c flying squirrel and the 2c porcupine:
If you look at these two stamps you will see that the spines or hairs that are in the air surrounding the flying squirrel are much more prominent on the bottom stamp as compared with the top stamp.
Here is a similar example on the 2c porcupine:
If you compare these two stamps you will see that the chevrons in the background of the second stamp are fully visible everywhere on the stamp. On the top stamp they are almost hidden by the dark green of the background. Both of these stamps are Slater paper printings, so the difference is not due to a change from Slater paper to Coated Papers paper.
After looking at these two varieties, I believe that the odourless skunk variety listed on the 10c is one of these types of varieties. In my opinion, the others should be listed also. I have not seen any similar varieties on the medium values, though I suspect they must exist.
Specific Notes About Individual Values
The Low Values
The low values were first issued on Slater paper, and then all but the middle three values being the 3c, 5c and 6c were re-issued on Coated Papers Paper in October 1991. On these reissues, the tagging was completely omitted. The 1c and 10c on Slater paper are known with the scarce perf, 13.1 x 12.7, but this perf. has not been reported on any of the other values, though it seems that they should exist on at least the 2c and the 25c.
I have found, on the 3c stamp a possible constant donut flaw affecting the sky on the 3c muskrat:
There may be other, similar flaws to be found on the other values. Also, I have found the 10c and 25c exist with diffuse tagging that bleeds into the paper, turning the selvedge of the affected stamps greenish.
The First Class Stamps and Booklets
The main point of interest for the first class booklet and sheet stamps are the paper and perforation changes, which I have already discussed in the general notes. There are the differences in shades that I mentioned also, as well as untagged and imperforate varieties.
The 38c parliament exists printed on the gummed side, and is also found with a double impression. The 40c flag and mountains stamp exists double printed also.
There aren't a lot of paper varieties listed on these stamps, but the 39c flag has two good ones, with the first being MF paper and the other being DF paper.
I have found a number of potentially constant donut printing flaws on these stamps:
39c Queen Elizabeth II with a large flaw under the "3" of "39"
38c parliament with a flaw above the N of Canada.
The 39c flag with a large flaw under the A of Canada.
The 38c Queen Elizabeth II with a flaw to the right of the last "A" in "Canada"
There are undoubtedly other flaws to be found. Despite the perception out there that these flaws are common, they are not. These are the first ones I have come across in my stock, and I have done several in-depth sales of this issue in the past few years.
On this issue the booklets produced were according to the number of stamps, rather than trying to set the face value at a fixed amount. The booklets were issued in two sizes: panes of 10 and panes of 25. Nowadays the larger panes are 30 stamps, but back in 1988 the large panes were 25. The only stamps available in the larger booklets were the parliament and flag stamps. The Queen Elizabeth II stamps were only ever issued in panes of 10. Because of the even number of stamps, and the fact that most panes were 3 stamps wide, this would mean that there would be two blank labels in most booklets.
The pictures below show the basic design of the first booklets for this series, containing the 37c parliament stamps:
The booklet of 25 with the two cover designs shown. The pane shown is the Harrison paper pane with a straight edge at the bottom. However, the panes on Rolland paper have a selvedge tab along the bottom.
Here are the panes of 10 that had similar cover designs to those shown above:
Again, you can see the different panes with selvedge at the bottom versus a straight edge. The panes of 1o were only issued on Harrison paper. There are several collectible varieties of these booklets. Unitrade lists all the basic cover types and the two different pane types where they exist, but they never get into listing the fluorescence of the booklet cover, nor the fluorescence of the panes themselves. It would seem that the cover stock exists on Harrison and Rolland stock, as these booklets can be found with covers that range from DF to HF. The Harrison panes are generally all DF, but the Rolland paper panes can be found with DF, LF, and MF backs. The larger booklets of 25 on Rolland paper can also be found with a horizontal tag bar that runs along the top of the tab.
Other things to watch for on these booklets would be typos on the cover or the inside cover text, or printing errors.
In 1988, the booklets were redesigned into folding booklets that sealed mid way up the cover, with the top portion being a tab that would display the number of stamps and the rate when the booklets were hung on a rack in the post office. Initially, the earlier printings of these booklets had the tab uncoated and rough surfaced, while the rest of the cover was glossy on the front, and the back cover was the usual white, chalk coated card stock. Later printings had the entire front cover including the tab printed in glossy stock. The general appearance of these booklets was thus:
As you can see, there were initially two different back cover designs: one for "stamps by mail" in which the owner could cut the tab off, fill it out with the requested number of stamps, provide a credit card number and mail it off to receive stamps in the mail. The other was a "Lunch Savers" design, urging people to pay their bills by mail.
In 1990 the back covers were re-designed to feature the annual souvenir collections. This was the go-to design for a number of years into the early 1990's. As you can see the new flying arrow logo gets incorporated into the booklet covers at this time.
In 1989 the back covers were redesigned for a second time, with the adverts for Priority Post courier replacing the other two designs. These were used until Xpresspost replaced priority courier in 1992. It is with this re-design that the new Canada Post logo gets added to the booklet covers.
Apart from the different cover designs, Unitrade does not list any other varieties of these booklets. However, I have found definite variations in the fluorescence of the booklet covers, and there are definite printing flaws that can be found on the covers themselves, such as this one:
Here you can see a large red blotch in the simulated margins of one of the 38c stamps.
The Medium Value Mammals and Booklets
I've already been over the main paper and perforation differences of the medium value stamps, so I will not repeat them here, except to say that you should always check the perforations carefully on these, as I still expect that the scarce perf. 13.8 x 13.1 must surely exist on at least one other value.
Like the low values, I have found a donut flaw in the sky of the 78c beluga whale, as shown below:
Further study will be required to determine whether or not this variety is constant, and indeed whether or not it exists on other values.
The absolute core of any advanced collection of this issue though has to consist of matched sets of all the corner blocks of these stamps, including all of the scarce perfs. Many of these are only found on field stock, though there are a few that exist with full inscriptions, such as the 59c musk ox on the Slater paper, perf. 14.4 x 13.8, shown below:
The booklets for these stamps follow the same design as the first class stamps, except that the booklets were issued in panes of 5. Because the panes were 2 x 3, a blank label is found in every booklet pane. Also, unlike other booklet panes from other issues, these ones had full selvedge around the sides, so that none of the stamps from these booklets will have a straight edge.
Unitrade doesn't list any varieties in these apart from a few cover changes. However, they can be found with different levels of fluorescence in the cover stocks.
The $1, $2 and $5 High Values
Of all the stamps in this issue, these are the most woefully described in Unitrade. Over the years I have found the descriptions of the reprints so confusing, with the result that I consistently mis-identified stamps trying to slot them into the four of five listings for them in Unitrade. The only one I could ever get right was the $5.
Part of the reason for this, as we shall see is that the August 1992 and July 1992 reprints listed in Unitrade are by no means the first reprints. There are actually several printings of the Harrison paper stamps made between their introduction in 1989 until 1992 that are not listed. Any study of a quantity of used stamps will quickly reveal this to be true.
However, let's start by clarifying the differences between the two CBN reprints of the $1:
The above scan shows the August 1992 reprint on the left and the October 1992 reprint on the right. As you can see the August 1992 printing has a thick rounded green header above the door, just as Unitrade described. The tan bricks on the August 1992 reprint are always solid. The tan bricks on this example of the October 1992 reprint are dotted. The roof of the October 1992 reprint is jet black. Both reprints have dark blue lettering rather than black.
This is where it gets confusing, There is another printing that has a black roof, which has thick header shown on the left, with solid bricks and there is one that has the same characteristics as the one on the right, but with solid, rather than dotted bricks. Unitrade also further muddies the picture by saying that the roof of the August 1992 reprint is brownish. It is not. That colour is more of a grey black on the August 1992 reprint.
At this point, let's consider the BABN printings. They are all easy to identify because the lettering of the inscriptions is black. The roof is almost always brownish grey, though it can also be found in a grey black shade. The tan bricks can be solid or dotted, and the header above the door can be thin or thick, with squared or rounded ends.
Now, let's look at the printings of the $2. In Unitrade, reference is made to the dot pattern and the issue of whether or not it is uniform or random. However, they do not explain anywhere that this means, or what to look for to determine whether or not it is one or the other. I believe, finally after years of looking at this stamp that I have figured out what they mean.
Here is a scan of the July 1992 CBN reprint with what they call the random dot pattern:
If you look closely you will see that while dots are visible, they all merge into one another and they are not equally spaced apart. The dots themselves become solid colour just above the roofline of the building, whereas on the BABN printings you can still make out individual dots at the top of the "Canada" inscription.
Compare this to a scan of a used October 1992 reprint:
Here, you can see all the dots very clearly, and while the spacing between the dots decreases as you move toward the centre of the stamp, it is uniform at all horizontal points along the stamp. Therefore it is a "regular" pattern.
Now, let's look at the second characteristic that Unitrade mentions, being that of the roof spires and green trim:
The BABN printing is on the left and the July 1992 reprint is on the right. The trim on the BABN printings is a very light milky green, and the tips of the spires are very thin, as is the railing between them. The trim and spires on the reprint is a deep bright green. and both the tips of the spires and the railing between them are thicker.
Now, let's look at the October 1992 reprint:
Here we have a green that lies about mid way between the two colours above, but the spires are thin like the BABN printing. The railing between is thicker than the BABN printing, but not as thick as the earlier reprint.
Now, lets consider the $5, which is a relatively easy value to identify correctly:
The original BABN printing is shown on the left, and the CBN reprint is on the right. The main feature is the colour of the columns underneath the dome. On the original BABN printing they are a very pale grey green colour. On the reprint they are an almost olive green. The roof colour of the reprint is black, compared to the grey of the original, and all other accents on the building have been darkened.
I haven't studied enough $5 stamps to determine whether there are other intermediate printings that have characteristics that are different from these two, but so far all the $5 stamps I have handled fall into one of the above two printings.
The plate blocks of the two scarcer reprints are both very rare. The $1 is known with full inscriptions, though the $2 is only known as a field stock block. An example of the rare plate block of the October 1992 reprint of the $1 is shown below:
The Coil Stamps
In keeping with the previous issue that introduced the parliamentary design on the 34c and 36c coil stamps, this issue continued the design on the 37c and 38c values. Starting with the 39c, the design was changed to the new flag design. Like previous issues, these coil stamps were all printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company, using the same method of production that they used in prior issues.
Because the same production methods were used on these issues, the same general types of varieties, that result as a natural consequence of the printing method used should exist on these issues, even though they are not listed in Unitrade. These would include narrow and wide spacing varieties, as well as jumps. Unitrade does list narrow and wide spacing varieties, but only lists the jump strips on a few varieties, even though jump strips should exist for all the listed paper varieties.
All of the paper varieties can be found imperforate, Typically these start out as strips, which are gradually cut into pairs, resulting eventually in a strip that contains a full pair, one partially imperforate stamp and one fully perforated stamp. The scans below show examples of these imperforate varieties:
Quick Stick Stamps and Booklets
The quick stick self adhesive stamps were issued in 1989 and were reissued every year until 1993. These were the first self-adhesive stamps to be issued in Canada. They were initially not that popular, because Canada Post charged more than face value for the booklets.
An example of the 1989 booklet is shown below:
The first and only argument I ever head with a Canada Post employee happened when these stamps came out. I was 18 at the time and at the post office to buy all the new issues at the time (plate blocks, FDC's and the works). The person at the counter made the mistake of telling me that they had these booklets in stock but were not allowed to sell them to me for four more days. I didn't have a car at the time and had spent 2 hours on the bus to get to the post office to buy all these stamps and I really didn't want to have to come back in 4 days. So, I argued them into allowing me to purchase them ahead of the official issue date. Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Oh well, its only been 33 years, so I guess I'm OK.
It would appear that these booklets were printed in sheets of three, which were then guillotined apart. As a result there are generally three different booklets that can be collected for each design that differ according to which side of the cover a certain feature of the booklet is on, and whether or not the tagging fully covers both sides, or whether there is no tagging on the left or right edge. The general types of these booklets are:
The feature on the cover, varies on each of the three booklets as follows:
All of these booklets were printed on a combination of Slater and Fasson papers. The outer cover and backing are Fasson paper, and most are either LF or MF under UV. The stamps are printed on Slater paper, and all three are on paper that shows light horizontal ribbing. The 39c booklet can be found on smooth, non-ribbed paper. The 40c booklet can be found with tagging that has a normal semi-gloss sheen and another version that has a highly glossy tagging.
The scans below show the two back cover designs that are seen on these booklets:
The 1989 version with Priority Courier advertisement.
The 1991 40c booklet cover, with instructions and barcode. The barcode was not initially included on the cover, and so there are some booklets that exist with a label on the back with the barcode. These are quite scarce, and I have not seen, or had the opportunity to handle any as yet.
The 50c Vending Machine Booklets and Stamps
This issue was the last one to include the small format vending machine booklets that were sold for 50c each. They were discontinued at end of this issue because with the postage rates now being 38c-40c, these booklets would only contain one usable stamp, so that pretty well defeated the original purpose of having these, which was to enable consumers to conveniently buy a quantity of usable stamps that could be carried around in a wallet or pocket.
The engraved booklets were produced by BABN containing the 37c and 38c parliament stamps using the same cover designs as were used for the booklets of the previous issue, being different views or architectural features of the parliament buildings. Later, when the 39c stamps were to be issued, it was decided to change the stamp design to the Canadian flag, and the method of production was changed to lithography, and Ashton Potter was chosen for this task.
One potential point of confusion or potential error in Unitrade concerns the covers of the booklets. Unitrade lists Abitibi and Rolland covers. However all the covers have an H on the back for "Harrison". My belief is that the covers are all Harrison covers, just as they are labelled, and that some of them are low fluorescent and some are dull. They can't be Abitibi, because that company went bankrupt in 1983, and while they could be Rolland, it seems more likely that they are what they are labelled as, which is Harrison".
The panes are all printed on coated Harrison paper which varies from a DF greyish colour under UV to a LF bluish white. Unitrade finally decided to recognize the LF paper this year, with the result that the singles and panes are all listed on both papers, though I notice that this has not been carried through to the complete booklets.
The panes themselves contain either light blue, green or deep green markings on the tab, which include a horizontal bar running across the tab. The bar is deep green on the 38c booklets and either deep bright green or light blue on the 37c booklets. The scans below show examples of each:
One difference I have noticed that is very interesting, but entirely unlisted by Unitrade or even the old McCann booklet catalogue, concerns the vertical placement of the bar on the booklet tab. I have found that for tabs of approximately the same width, the placement of the bar varies from 10.5 mm to 14 mm above the perfs of the top row. The scan below shows some of these differences:
In addition to the tab markings being placed at different heights, there are several other constant varieties that can be found either individually, or in combination with other varieties on both the 37c and 38c booklets:
In addition to these varieties, there are also varieties on the stamps themselves that arise from the wear that the engraved plates experienced. Most of these are in the form of small white printing voids, short prints and vertical hairline scratches in the margins. The scans below illustrate examples of some of these:
Vertical scratch in the margin at right.
Damaged background shading at right.
Short print at lower right.
The flag booklets are relatively straightforward, but there are marked differences that exist in the fluorescence of the covers, with DF, LF, MF and HF covers existing, and the slater paper exists in a DF greyish and DF greyish white. The 40c booklet can also be found with a printed rate change notice on a slip of paper glued gently into the booklet cover. The single example of this that I have seen was from 1993, as it contained the new 43c rates.
Adoption of the New Canada Post Logo and Canada Post Products
In late 1988 Canada Post changed its logo from the old framed maple leaf to the speeding arrow, and a new, separate logo was designed for the philatelic service. This meant that the insert cards for the sealed plate block and stamp packs would undergo yet another change in design. The precise timing of this change can be seen in comparing the new issue bulletins for October 1988 and December 1988:
The October bulletin is shown on the left, while the December one is on the right. As you can see, the October bulletin shows the older logo, while the December one shows the lettering of the new logo.
The plate block packs exist in at least three different formats for this issue, with the newer design being found on any issues after December 1988. The scan below shows two of the medium value packs on Slater paper and two backs of two lower value packs:
The two formats for the insert cards are type 6, with the new Philatelic Service logo and the type 4A or 4B with "Canada Post" on either one line of text or two lines of text. The implication of the change to the new logo being made in December 1988 is that the following issues should exist with both types of inserts:
Covers and Postal History
The postal history of this issue is an interesting area due to the fact that the issue was gradually introduced while the previous issue was current and it blends into the next issue. So, mixed frankings are to be found on both sides. There were a number of rate changes during the life of this issue, and other services like Special Lettermail and Priority Courier were abolished during the life of this issue, so covers for these services will be found.
The scan below shows an example of some of the registered covers that can be collected from this issue:
Domestic registered covers showing various mixed frankings from this issue and the following edible berries issue.
Some of the medium values are quite scarce to find as single usages. A good example is the US rate stamps used on domestic overweight covers. You'd think they would be easy, but most collectors weren't saving covers that were this recent, with the result that many are surprisingly scarce. The scan below shows a postcard to Belgium franked with a single 76c grizzly bear:
Conclusion
Despite appearing to be a very simple set, it is my hope that this post has shown you that there is far, far more to this issue than meets the eye, and therefore that there is a real opportunity to build an award winning collection resulting from a detailed study of these stamps. I hope this post has been helpful and has inspired you to delve a little deeper into these issues.
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The skeptic in me just doesn't buy it. To me, there is ALWAYS something interesting that can be made of most stamp issues. You just have to know where to look to find it. And this, is where philatelic maturity comes into play: having the keen eye and the patience to spot differences others miss.
Fortunately this period doesn't disappoint in the end. It's just that it is not paper fluorescence that is the key point of interest for the 1988 to 1990 issues, but rather the texture of the paper coating and the appearance of the tagging that distinguishes the different stamp printings. Well actually, there are some differences in paper fluorescence as well, but they are the subtle difference between DF and NF, and most of the time they are more a difference in the colour of the paper under UV light, i.e. whether the DF appearance is more bluish or greyish, than whether there is any discernable fluorescent reaction. However, these two things: paper and tagging are the key aspects to collecting these issues. The last time paper texture was a significant factor before this was in the early 1970's for the Caricature and Landscape issues, as well as the commemoratives from 1971 to 1974.
A second aspect are the constant plate flaws, of which again, very few are listed. However, I know that many more exist, as Dr. Jim Watt has shown me several tertiary flaws on the 1988 dogs issue that are constant, but just don't appear on every sheet. I will illustrate some of those here.
Paper
The main supplier of paper for the 1985 issues was Harrison, with Rolland being introduced on just one issue: the Parliamentary Conference issue. In 1986 Rolland becomes the dominant supplier of paper, and this continues into 1987. However, at the end of 1987, a new supplier, Slater, makes it's appearance and dominates most of the issues in 1988 and 1989. Then, in 1989, another supplier, Peterborough appears. Most of the issues in the later half of 1989 and nearly all of the issues in 1990 are on this paper. I will discuss the characteristics of each below, and will also describe how the characteristics changed over the paper's period of usage.
Rolland Paper
As I've stated before in other posts Rolland paper, is to my mind the most interesting of the stamp papers. The range of fluorescent reactions, both on the front and the back of the stamps is unmatched by any other paper.
Nearly all the coated papers will mostly appear DF or NF on the front, or occasionally, if the fluorescence on the back is strong enough it will appear LF or even MF. But in all cases the paper on the front will appear duller than on the back.
What makes Rolland paper completely unique is that it is the only type where the front reaction can be much brighter than the back, and in addition, when this is the case, the fluorescence is even and not flecked.
The picture below, showing some of the 1986 locomotive stamps shows this clearly:
As you can see, the middle stamp on the bottom row is quite bright, and in the flesh it actually appears HF. The upper and lower right stamps also give an even fluorescent reaction, though one which is much less bright than the first one. The other stamps all give the typical LF mottled reaction on the front which is typical of stamps on paper that is highly fluorescent on the back.
Now, let's take a look at the fluorescent reactions of this paper as seen from the back:
As you can see, there is quite a range on the back as well, with the bottom centre stamp appearing slightly brighter on the back as compared to the front, and the upper right stamp also appearing brighter on the back. There are also a few stamps that appear quite dull as well.
The early Rolland papers in 1986 and 1987 had quite a few instances where the paper was NF/NF or DF/DF, with no fluorescence at all. Later in 1986 and early 1987 we see the full range of front and back reactions, with the very last issues on this paper going back to being mostly DF.
Rolland paper can appear with no fluorescent fibres, or with fairly dense concentrations of LF, MF and HF fibres in the paper. Usually the concentrations will be low to medium density, as opposed to sparse concentrations that we see frequently on the earlier Abitibi papers.
Here are some more examples of differences in the paper as they appear under UV:
This is the 1987 Explorers issue, and here we see the listed DF and MF papers.
And lastly, some examples from the CBC issue:
Here we see two examples of paper that at first might be mistaken for HB, because of how bright they are, but they are closest to the listed MF paper. There is a true hibrite paper that is brighter than this. Part of the problem with classifying these is that Unitrade does not list all the types that exist, so you wind up trying to match your stamps to their listings, when your stamp might be something entirely different.
Slater Paper
Slater paper at first appears to have no variation at all. It is a creamy paper that is quite pliable. When you examine the printing surface under a loupe, you can see all kinds of little divots in the surface. The gum varies quite considerably in sheen, but on the earlier paper it is thick and creamy with a satin sheen. Later, it becomes thinner and takes on a duller eggshell sheen.
What is interesting though is that the coating on this paper can be found horizontally ribbed, vertically ribbed, or smooth. I do not yet know whether most issues on this paper can be found all three ways or not, but some definitely can.
I first noticed this when examining plate blocks and looking carefully at the selvedge. The ribbing is quite subtle, but clearly visible when you know it is there. It is easiest to see by holding your stamp or block at an angle to a light source and then glancing along the surface. Even without selvedge, you will eventually be able to see the striations in the design, though this takes much more patience to identify. If you examine a ribbed stamp under a loupe you can see the striations are real and not just a figment of your imagination as well. This is one argument in favour of collecting corner blocks or at least singles with selvedge attached, as the selvedge can aid in identifying a variety. Further study will clearly be required to identify which issues exist with which type of ribbing, and which type is scarcer.
In terms of fluorescence, nearly all stamps appear to be on NF/DF or NF/NF paper. The front is generally NF and shows little to no variation. But the backs show very slight variation, being an NF grey and a whiter DF, as shown below:
Harrison paper
Early Harrison paper, from 1984 through 1986 tends to be somewhat creamy in colour and has a greenish tinged gum that is often somewhat matte, having a slightly streaky appearance, or a completely smooth and even one. Stamps on Harrison paper have a tendency to curl very severely due to something in the gum that causes it to contract when the stamps have prolonged exposure to air. However in the later part of this period the gum takes on more of a cream colour and does not cause the stamps to curl the way it did in the earlier years. The gum also becomes a bit shinier, and the paper appears more white. It's use is quite limited after 1988, though it continues to be used for certain stamp issues well into the 1990's. The printing surface of Harrison paper is smooth, without the microscopic divots that Slater paper has.
In terms of fluorescence, most Harrison paper is DF/DF, NF/DF or NF/NF. However, on some issues, like the first 1986 Expo '86 issue there are some that appear distinctly LF/DF. The differences between the LF and DF fronts and the DF and NF backs is shown in the pictures below:
Here, if you compare the white portions of the design for both the single and the block underneath it you can see there is a difference that is quite clear.
That difference is even more pronounced in the first day cover shown above.
In terms of the appearance from the back, most stamps appear DF. However, there are some that appear a bluish white colour, which is almost bright enough to be LF, but not quite. The picture below shows an example:
The stamp on the right is clearly brighter than the one on the left, though it is not as bright as stamps that we would normally classify as LF.
Here is another example of the 1986 Explorers issue, but here we have a deeper NF greyish reaction as well, on the top block:
Peterborough Paper
Peterborough paper is very stiff, and it is this stiffness that makes if very distinct from all the other papers. The gum on this paper is colourless and has what I would describe as a satin sheen - smooth and with a very slight gloss - not matte, but not shiny either.
Like Slater paper, the coating on this paper can be ribbed as well. In most cases it is smooth, but where I have come across it ribbed, it has either been horizontally ribbed or cross ribbed, in which the ribbing runs in both directions. This later type I have only seen on the 1990 Norman Bethune issue, but it may exist on the other issues as well. Again, you can see the ribbing in the stamp designs if you know where to look, but it is much easier to see in the selvage of a plate block or single with selvedge attached.
With respect to fluorescence, the early versions of this paper are not fluorescent at all, glowing either a DF or NF bluish white or greyish colour under UV. The early issues printed on this paper, like the 1989 Regiments issue tend to appear somewhat fluorescent in the centre of the stamps only, due to some kind of reaction between the printing inks and the paper. Later, in the early 1990's Peterborough paper starts to exhibit the same range of fluorescence that we saw with many of the Rolland papers, but during this period there are really only two types: DF and NF. The difference between these two is shown below:
If you look carefully at the left pair you will see that it is brighter and whiter than the pair on the left. The difference is subtle, but distinct if you know what to look for.
Here is a clear example of NF versus DF Peterborough paper on the 1989 World Trade issue.
The block below illustrates what I was talking about where I said that the printing ink of the vignette can react with the paper to make the centre of the stamp appear more fluorescent than it actually is. These are two blocks from the 1989 Regiments issue.
Tagging
The tagging on stamps was changed during this period from GT-2, where the two sides are tagged to GT-4, where the tagging is on all sides of the stamp. However, some stamps, like the 1987 Capex issue below exist with both GT-2 and GT-4 tagging over top of one another. You can only really identify this for sure if you have a stamp with attached selvedge showing the GT-2 bars running all the way up, as in the example below:
Here you can see that the tagging is much brighter when the stamp is double tagged, but this alone is not sufficient to conclude it is double tagged.
One variation that I have noticed, that is not listed anywhere is that on some stamps the tagging is quite yellowish on the face and shiny, having a lacquer like appearance, while on other stamps is is almost invisible in ordinary light. Then, when you switch on the UV lamp you see this:
The block on the left has the tagging that is almost invisible in normal light. As you can see, under UV it is bright and sharp. On the other block it appears weaker, more washed out and diffuse.
On some blocks and souvenir sheets, some taggant spills or errant tagging mist varieties can be found, such as on the block below:
On other blocks you can come across tagging smears like this:
Finally, on some issues there are constant tagging flaws that occur every few sheets. The only one listed right now is on the 1988 Calgary Olympics Alpine Skiing stamp. This flaw is shown below:
This variety, while constant, is tertiary, in that it does not occur on every sheet, as we have seen sheets that do not show the variety.
Based on this observation, it is indeed possible that other such varieties could exist on other issues. Below is one such example:
Unlisted Constant Plate Varieties
The only constant varieties listed that I am aware of are the Blue Icicle on the 1988 Dogs issue, the Cufflink and Feather in Cap varieties on the 1988 Les Forges issue, and the Feather in Hat variety on the Frances Ann Hopkins issue, also from 1988.
However, Jim Watt showed me three other varieties on the 1988 Dogs issue, of which two are shown below:
This is the insect in the grass variety that appears on position 30 of some sheets.
Here is the Flea on Tail Variety that appears on position 3 of some sheets also.
Potentially Constant Varieties
Below are some varieties that I have found, which may or may not be constant. Further study will be required to establish their status:
Worm above mushroom on the 1989 Mushrooms issue.
This is the "bursting shell in sky" on the 1989 Regiments issue.
This is the "dot below A and line in D" on the 39c Christmas stamp from 1989.
Here is a bug or apostrophe flaw between the D and A of Canada on another 39c Christmas stamp. This one may be more of a donut flaw, which tends not to be constant, but you never know, as a few donut like flaws actually are constant.
Here we have the missing shingles on the roof of the 42c 1987 CAPEX issue.
Fluorescent Inks
Some stamps from the 1986 Locomotives issue can be found with the purple portion of the locomotive on the 68c value giving a distinct fluorescent reaction under UV light. This opens up the possibility that similar types of inks may exist on the other issues as well.
First Day Covers
Of course there are the first day covers also that can be collected. Most all of these will be Canada post official covers, but you can also still find a few private cachet covers from this period, though they are not common.
In addition to the different configurations of stamps and blocks that can be collected on the covers, it is possible to find variations in the fluorescence of the envelopes as shown below:
Many might think such a difference should not be collectible, but I say why not? If these are an official Canada Post product, then to my way of thinking, the envelope is but one component of the product in the exact same was as tagging or gum are to an actual stamp.
Conclusion and Final Collecting Advice
So here you have it. You can see that there is much more to these issues than first meets the eye. But the question remains: how can you identify everything that exists and acquire it? My advice is to start seeking out any printings you can find that are on field stock. The reason is that most issues usually have an initial philatelic printing that is distributed to the Philatelic Department in Antigonish, and then all subsequent printings are on field stock, and get sent to post offices without any mention of their existence ever being made. Lessons learned from the past with the 1972-78 Caricatures, in which most all of the better varieties were on field stock, illustrates the importance of beginning here, if you want to identify unlisted paper and tagging varieties.
A second tip is to look very carefully at any full sheet that you come across. Don't assume that there are no varieties, but take the tame to look at every stamp. If you do this diligently I am confident that you will find other constant varieties. Dr. Jim Watt once told me that if you find a variety on philatelic and field stock that this proves it is constant, and that such a variety can exist on a first day cover as well.
]]>The key focal point of this issue, like the previous definitive issues is paper, but there are many more dimensions to it than just the fluorescence. Unitrade only deals with the differences between manufacturers and the fluorescence, but there is also a difference in colour, thickness and texture, which will become important if you want to also study the commemoratives of the period.
What makes the paper so interesting are the circumstances surrounding the differences in suppliers. During all of the 1970's the key supplier of paper to Ashton Potter, who printed most of the stamps was Abitibi-Price. Abitibi went bankrupt in 1983, and with this the printers were forced to obtain stamp paper from different sources. It turned out that the biggest suppliers were companies in England, with Clark being the first to supply paper in 1983 and early 1984. Harrison followed suit in 1984 and then finally Rolland began supplying paper in late 1985.
Philatelists who are keen on the following 1988-1991 Mammals and architecture issue are well aware of the key rarities of that issue, which involve printings on abnormal papers from alternate sources, the 74c Wapiti on Rolland paper being a prime example.
Starting in 1986 the printers added traffic lights and initials in the margins of the sheets to indicate the source of the paper. However, this is only of use if you are looking at imprint singles or blocks. It therefore becomes important to understand the key differences between these paper types, so that you can recognize them on single, non-imprint stamps and used stamps without gum. This is undoubtedly of utmost importance, because as sure as there is the rare Wapiti, there are bound to be other commemoratives and definitives from this period that are printed on "rare" paper, that are just waiting to be found.
So, one of my first ports of call then, in talking about this issue has to be the paper. However, before I get into this, I will take a brief look at the various overall aspects of this issue which provide interest to the specialist, and will evaluate the degree to which Unitrade and Harris cover these in their respective books about the issue. The table below provides my summary of these aspects:
Aspect | Description | Covered in Unitrade? | Covered in Harris? |
Shade Variations | Both the background colours and the inscriptions vary in colour, as well as the degree of contrast between the inscription colour and the background colour on the low values and the medium values | No | No |
Paper Fluorescence | The appearance under UV varies for both the front and back of all stamps. For each level of fluorescence there are also different ways that that fluorescence can manifest. For example LF paper can be pure LF, with no fluorescent fibres, or it can be DF with LF flecks that are present in enough quantity to make the paper appear LF overall. Harrison paper can be found LF and MF on the back in addition to the usual DF and NF. | Yes, but only to a simplified degree. The different concentrations and brightness levels of fluorescent fibres are NOT covered. MF Harrison paper is acknowledged for the 55c kettle, but not any other value. | Same as Unitrade. |
Perforation Differences | The perforations vary for the AP and CBN printings of low values, and between the sheet and booklet printings. There are also misalignments that occur between comb strikes that create interesting varieties, as well as misperfs, etc. | Only the basic differences are covered. | Same as Unitrade. |
Errors | The 20c and 48c exist with background and inscription colours other than those issued. A number of imperforate pairs and partial imperfs exist. The 32c maple leaf exists with background colour missing. | These are all listed, though freaks are not covered. | Some freak errors are listed that are not in Unitrade. |
Private Perfins | Most values can be found with private perfins such as PS, CNR, CN etc. These can be found in any number of different positions. | Not listed. | Some of the more common ones are listed. |
Tagging errors | Most values can be found untagged and with various shifts in both the GT-2 tagging and the GT-4 tagging. In addition ghost tagging can be found on many of the booklet stamps and panes. | Only the untagged errors are listed. | The basic G2a and G4a or c as well as untagged varieties are listed. The Adminware database lists everything that has been reported and verified |
Potential abnormal papers | The possibility exists of some values normally found exclusively on one paper, such as say Harrison, being found on a different type of paper, like Rolland or Clark as well. The other possibility that may exist is some values existing on Slater paper, which is found on many issues from 1988. Slater paper looks very similar to Clark paper. | No examples listed. | No examples listed. |
50c vending machine booklets and other booklets | Most booklets can be found with Harrison, Abitibi and Rolland papers used for the covers and the panes. Different fluorescence levels exist for both panes and covers, and different combinations of covers and panes are possible. | Very limited coverage. Practically no varieties are listed for the vending machine booklets, even though dozens exist. | Coverage is more extensive, but not as comprehensive as the late Bill McCann's booklet catalogue. |
CBN Coil Stamps | The later coils can be found on both Abitibi and Rolland Papers. All exist with the usual varieties inherent to CBN coils: unsevered blocks and pairs, jumps, narrow and wide spacings and so on. | The standard varieties are covered in detail, but the Abitibi/Rolland distinction for the parliament coils is NOT made. | The standard varieties are covered in detail, but the Abitibi/Rolland distinction for the parliament coils is NOT made. |
Constant Varieties | The 1c decoy can be found with two constant varieties, but the booklet stamps can be found with a number of different constant varieties, and the $1.50 Waterton Lakes and $2 Banff can be found with a number of small flyspeck varieties, such that the stamp can be plated. | Only the most prominent 1c and $2 varieties are listed. | As with Unitrade. |
Cream and White Abitibi Papers | The Abitibi paper can be found in both cream and whiter versions. These give similar reactions under UV, though not exactly the same. | Not mentioned. | Not mentioned. |
Fluorescent Inks | Both the 3c and 10c can be found printed in inks that fluoresce or change colour under long wave UV light. Such inks could exist on other values. | Not mentioned. | Not mentioned. |
Double prints and double embossings | The $1 Glacier is known with doubled inscriptions and the $5 Point Pelee is known with doubled embossing. It stands to reason that these errors could exist on the other high values as well. | Only these two varieties are listed. | As with Unitrade. |
Gum variations | The Harrison gum can be found in two slightly different colours, one being more greenish than the other. The sheen also varies with one being more matte than the other, having very distinct matte spots. | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
As you can see, there is still very considerable scope in many aspects of this issue that have not been adequately studied as yet. So, there is a real opportunity for a new collector who has the patience and discipline to study the issue methodically. Bulk lots of this material can still be picked up for under face, though I have noticed that most values over 36c have mostly been used for postage already, and finding full sheets of the medium and high values is nowhere near as easy as it once was. Now that we have looked at the issue overall we can discuss the specifics of Abitibi, Clark, Harrison and Rolland Paper.
The Differences Between the Papers
In studying the different papers there are attributes of each that distinguish them from the other papers. However, it is also important to note that the papers themselves change in appearance over time, and the paper can vary depending on whether or not it was coated or uncoated. Often, the sheet stamps will be on coated paper, whereas an uncoated version was used to print booklet panes and coils.
The attributes to consider are:
The table below summarizes the key differences between the five types of paper used for stamp production in the 1980's: Abitibi, Clark, Harrison, and Rolland and Slater. For the purposes of the table Clark and Slater papers are almost identical in their appearance to one another. The key difference is the gum: Slater paper has a thicker, more creamy gum than Clark paper, which has a slightly whiter gum. The paper stiffness though and surface texture is pretty well the same.
Attribute | Abitibi | Clark/Slater | Harrison | Rolland |
Stiffness | Crisp, but not hard. Lies flat. | Tends to bend horizontally from top to bottom. Mint stamps tend to curl. | Tends to bend horizontally. Mint stamps can curl quite severely if left out. | Stiff and crisp. Lies flat when left out. |
Colour | Cream or white. | Cream. | Cream or white. | Bright white. |
Surface texture | Smooth | Textured | Smooth | Smooth |
Gum colour/sheen | Cream or white with a satin sheen | Cream or white with a semi-gloss sheen | Cream or very pale bluish green with a satin or eggshell sheen. The early gum has an eggshell sheen, but later it is more satin. | Bright white with a semi-gloss sheen. |
Fluorescence | Varies from NF to LF, with most variations being the result of different concentrations of LF and MF fibres in the paper. Most LF reactions are only visible on the back, with the fronts appearing DF or NF. | Usually NF or dead on the front and DF or NF on the back. No fluorescent fibres are present in any version of this paper I have seen. | Generally only NF, DF or sometimes LF. One or two instances of MF have been seen, but this is generally only on the front. The early Harrison papers contained LF fibres, but later versions do not contain any at all. | The full range from dead to HB can be seen on both the front and back, making this the most interesting paper in all of modern Canadian philately. Both pure versions of fluorescence as well as those with fibres can be found. |
The above table prove useful in helping you identify single mint and used stamps, if you consider all the aspects. For example, let's say you have a stamp that is showing fluorescent flecks under UV and it is used. Based on the above table it is most likely to be either Abitibi or Rolland paper, though it could be an early Harrison also. The first step is to look at the stiffness. If it is hard and stiff then it is not likely to be Harrison. That leaves just Abitibi and Rolland. Next look at the colour. If it is cream, then it is definitely Abitibi. If it is bright white then you have to consider the overall fluorescence level. If it is higher than LF, then in all likelihood it is Rolland. If it is either NF or DF with sparse MF or LF fibres that it is most likely Abitibi. If it is DF-fl then it may be either, but if it is very bright white than it is most likely Rolland paper. Otherwise it is most likely to be Abitibi.
Understanding the Paper Fluorescence Designations
In describing paper fluorescence, I use the following abbreviations:
When I describe a stamp my description takes the following form:
Front fluorescence reading/back fluorescence reading
So, for example:
DF/DF-fl, LF, S, MF, VS
Translates to: dull fluorescent on the front, and dull fluorescent flecked on the back, with a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and a very sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres.
Generally a sparse concentration of fluorescent fibres will raise the perceived fluorescence level by one level from the ambient fluorescence. So, for this example, the paper will likely appear as LF-fl overall on the back. If the ambient fluorescence, was instead NF and there was the same concentration of fibres, these would stand out more, but the perceived, overall fluorescence would still be DF. In fact, this is often the case for many of the Abitibi papers described by Unitrade as being DF. Many are actually NF or DF, containing sparse and very sparse concentrations of LF and MF fibres, such that they still appear DF overall.
If, in another example the ambient fluorescence is LF and the sparse fibres are MF, or HF, then the paper may appear as MF overall.
Postal History
This is another interesting aspect to collecting this issue as the values were not all replaced by the next issue at the same time, nor were they all introduced at the same time. Thus, in-period mixed frankings occur for most common postage rates that were in effect. Some services like special delivery were phased out by Canada post toward the end of the life of this issue and still there were annual rate increases for most services offered.
In collecting the covers, I would suggest looking for an example of each major rate, both for the sole issue frankings and floral issue/wildlife issue mixed frankings. So, some rates to collect, for each rate period would be:
In terms of frankings you could split them for each rate period as follows:
Of course there are many ways to approach the collecting of postal history, and this is just one. Another aspect that I haven't considered above are the destinations. For domestic you could decide that you want each province represented, or each major city. Alternatively you could decide that you want from each province, once smaller town and one major city. For international mail you could decide you want each major continent represented, and then for Europe, eastern and western. You could also decide to include oceanic countries as one category. When you parse all that out you can see very quickly that it becomes quite a project.
This concludes my overview of this issue. I hope you found it entertaining and useful.
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Part of the reason for this is that until then most collectors regarded perfins as defective stamps, and so demand for them was quite low. Roy Wrigley in his 1970's book dealing with the official stamps of Canada makes this observation many times. Roy chose to specialize in this field in the 1940's or 1950's, not too long after these stamps were produced, and prior to this he had a long philatelic history, having been born when the Large Queens were still in use. He comments many times throughout his work that the 5-hole stamps are particularly rare, as so few were produced. It was his work on these stamps that did much to fuel collector demand for them.
It seems reasonable to suppose then, that prior to the 1990's there would have been very little incentive for forgers to fake these stamps. There was a very large forgery ring that was busted in Vancouver during the 1950's, that was forging 4-hole OHMS perfins, with mint sheets being perforated. But I do not recall whether this included 5-hole stamps. It seems to me that if demand for them was limited, that there would have been less reason to forge them. But, on the other hand, even with low demand, a fake 5-hole perfin, would, usually be worth much more than a common used stamp. For this reason, I do think that the cheaper regular definitives that catalogue only pennies without the perfin would be the most suspect. But better commemoratives and higher values that have a decent catalogue value without the perfin should, all other things being equal stand a higher chance of being genuine - at least prior to the 1990's, when the catalogues began to list and price them.
For nearly 30 years the listings in Unitrade stood, and many stamps were bought and sold by auction houses and reputable dealers. Several specialists built enviable collections of this material, investing considerable sums of money in the process. And then, in 2021 the bomb was dropped by the catalogue editors: that in the next edition of the catalogue several listings would be deleted. Why? Because the BNAPS study group had recommended that the listings be dropped because their members were not convinced that they could possibly be genuine. Now, I am assuming that these were stamps that they could not dismiss as fake because of hole patterns that did not match certified genuine stamps. After all, one would think that the very first test of authenticity would be overlaying the stamp on a template of a known genuine perfin to see if the holes line up. The reasoning of course is that it would be very difficult for a faker to perforate a stamp and obtain a hole pattern that exactly matches a genuine stamp.
The 4-hole stamps could be easily faked, because the forgers could perforate entire sheets and could manufacture a perforating die to accomplish this. But, because the 5-hole stamps are not generally available mint (there is but one single in the auction this week), such stamps would have to be perforated individually and one stamp is just too small to put into a perforating machine. Thus, it would have to be done by hand, and therefore, it would be very difficult, if not impossible to exactly replicate the hole pattern.
So the stamps that the study group must have examined would have appeared, in all respects genuine to them. But there was something about them that made the members doubt their authenticity. I believe, and this is just a guess, that it may have been that they had never seen the stamp on a proper cover. That may be why they ultimately decided that it could not be genuine. Or, they were looking at official records kept by the Department of Finance where the 5-hole stamps were produced and used.
What makes the 5-hole stamps so different from the 4-hole stamps is the circumstances of their production and use. The 4-hole stamps were sold at post offices and were available to the public. The 5-hole stamps, in contrast, were not. They were produced in the government offices, from a hole punch, on an as needed basis only. Anyone who has ever worked in any kind of office environment knows that official procedures are not always followed. Indeed, there are many stories of instances where a specialist collector obtained their stamps from a relative who worked at the department, and the stamps in question are some of those now declared to have never been produced. So clearly, the findings of the study group cannot be 100% correct, if what the owners of these stamps says is true.
I suspect that it is one of these philatelic mysteries that will never really be conclusively solved, because unless you were there at the Department of Finance between 1923 and 1938, you wouldn't really know for sure what was and what was not punched. Conceivably any current mint stamp bought from the post office could have been so punched. There is really no way of knowing for certain. Yes, official records help, but may not be complete, and while existence of covers does provide evidence of authenticity, the lack of a genuine cover does not prove that a stamp is not authentic. There are plenty of stamps that are practically impossible to find on cover, and the extreme scarcity of these stamps, and the fact that the majority of stamps from this time were cut out from covers means that it is not only possible, but highly probable that many will not exist on cover.
So, my advice to all of you when collecting this area is to study the hole patterns very, very carefully, especially on any badly centered or heavily cancelled stamp, as these are the most likely to be faked, in an attempt to create value out of an essentially worthless stamp. But assuming that a stamp checks out next to a certified copy, then I don't think you should hesitate to add it to your collection as a genuine stamp.
I have produced a short video below which shows the technique that I used to gain some comfort over the authenticity of specific examples by comparing the specific hole pattern with those of another stamp - ideally a certified genuine example.
]]>Once Ashton Potter became the default printer for the lithographed modern stamps of Canada in the early 1970's the supplier of paper was no longer the E.B. Eddy company, but rather, Abitibi-Price. They supplied a white, chalk-surfaced paper that was generally fluorescent, but varied quite greatly in terms of how strong the fluorescent reaction was under UV light on both the front and back of the stamp. This had become the norm throughout the early 70's, but then in about 1976 the paper fluorescence changed and dull and non-fluorescent paper became the norm, with the few fluorescent varieties becoming the premium varieties, once again, as had been the case in the 1960's.
Abitibi-Price went bankrupt in 1983, so the first three years of the 1980's to the end of 1982 are the last years in which all the paper was supplied by this company. During this brief period the paper shows considerable variation from completely dead on the back to what I would call low fluorescent with sparse concentrations of both low and medium fluorescent fibres, making the paper look almost MF. From the front, the chalk coating on the paper tends to block the fluorescence and as a result only those stamps brightest on the back, will appear LF on the front, but most of the time the paper will appear either DF or NF on the front.
Here is a picture to give you some idea of the contrast between the two ends of the spectrum:
The paper on the top pair is the low fluorescent flecked paper, while the paper on the bottom is the dull paper containing only a very few fluorescent flecks.
Fluorescent Flecks Versus Pure Fluorescence
Most of the Abitibi papers contain at least some fluorescent fibres in the paper, that have the effect of making the paper look more fluorescent than it actually is. Quite often the base level of fluorescence is just NF or DF, but because of the number and brightness of the fibres contained within it, it can appear LF or MF. Both the concentration and brightness of the fibres can vary, and so it is often the case that two stamps that appear to have the same overall fluorescence, obtain it through different combinations of ambient fluorescence and fluorescent fibres. There are papers that are pure, in the sense that they contain no visible flecks, with NF, DF and LF, being the most prevalent. Very recently, in the past decade, a small discovery was made of 1980 Christmas stamps on hibrite paper. This is the only such issue we know of so far on this paper, but it could exist on other issues as well.
The picture below shows a typical flecked stamp on the right and a pure NF paper. Note that the flecks are often not obvious, and sometimes you will need a loupe to see them clearly:
Woodpulp Fibres
In addition to fluorescent flecks, Abitibi paper often contains woodpulp flecks, which appear brown under UV light and these have the opposite effect on the appearance of the paper under UV light, in that they make the paper appear less bright than it actually is. In my nomenclature I use the abbreviation "WP" for woodpulp fibres.
Nomenclature For Classifying Paper Types
As you can imagine, it can get quite subjective and confusing to name and describe the papers, once you notice the different levels of brightness of the fluorescent fibres, and the different concentrations of them in the paper. My advice for those of you getting frustrated is: SLOW DOWN. This is a hobby of patience. It is not a race. Trust your eyes. If two papers look different under UV it is because they are. Take your time. Use your loupe and get a good look, and soon you will see what the difference is and how best to describe it.
At this point some may ask, "why?". Well, because there are entire periods where the paper shows no variation at all. So, I tend to be of the opinion that when variations are present, they do have significance, even if we don't quite know what that is when we first become aware of it.
The nomenclature I use takes the following form:
Reading from the front/reading from the back, or as an example
DF/DF-fl, LF, S, MF, VS
This can be interpreted as:
Dull fluorescent on the face. The back is dull fluorescent flecked, with a sparse concentration of LF fibres and a very sparse concentration of MF fibres.
Now, it is these terms "sparse" and "very sparse" that are open to some subjectivity. They refer to the amount of the back covered by the fibres. The scale that I use goes from 1-2 fibres to high density, in which the stamp appears almost solidly fluorescent, with only a few gaps to indicate that there even are any fibres. Between these two extremes, I use the following terms:
I find with this scale the classification becomes more objective and less subjective. Where some judgement remains are those scenarios where you have two different types of fibres, with different concentrations of each. It can take patience and experience to determine the relative concentrations of each, but as you practice it becomes much easier to do.
For this period, the highest concentration is generally low density. I haven't seen anything higher.
Relative Scarcity
The scarcity of the paper varieties varies considerably as one progresses through the decade. Unfortunately, Unitrade does not give an accurate impression of this scarcity, as the catalogue prices are often set at more or less the same level - $2.50 to $5 a stamp, which can give the misleading impression that all one needs to do is buy a large lot and it will be teaming with these varieties. But in some cases, the varieties are exceedingly scarce, with just a few copies in several hundred stamps. What's more, there is no general rule as to which variety is better: most often it is the fluorescent paper, but sometimes the dull paper is better.
Another frustrating aspect to Unitrade is their lack of consistency: on some issues they will list LF paper on one stamp, but not the other values in the set, even though it exists for all of them. Also, I believe that they do, in some cases get the pricing backwards as well, assigning a lower price to the scarcer type. I will say that generally on most issues the flecked papers are collectively the most common and that papers containing no flecks are generally always the scarcest for issues after 1980.
Shades
On some stamps you will notice marked shade differences between printings. The issues where I have noticed considerable differences are:
Constant Varieties
This period has its share of constant varieties, just like any other period. However, most of them are quite hard to find, as they are tertiary flaws only, which means that they do not occur on every pane. The only ones that occur on every pane are the Border Patrol variety on the Arctic Islands issue, and the Pink Brooch on the Feminists issue. This is why most of them catalogue upwards of $5 in Unitrade. These are not pie-in-the-sky prices, as you may have to look through 200-300 stamps to have a chance of finding one example, and even then there is a chance that none of your stamps will have the variety.
A Look at Each Year in Terms of Variation and Scarcity
1980 - In 1980 most of the stamps are on paper that is either DF on the back or NF, with very few having any significant amount of fluorescent flecks. Both the Lake Placcid and Arctic Islands issues are listed on LF paper and priced the same, but I believe this to be a gross error, as in my experience any LF paper in 1980 is very scarce. The Academy of Arts issue exists with several different flecked papers that all read as LF on the back, but the true LF paper that looks almost MF because of the fluorescent flecks is very scarce and should be catalogued at much more than $2 a stamp. The HB papers on the Christmas issue are the scarcest of all, and I have only ever sold a single, solitary stamp on this paper, for more than full Unitrade, if memory serves.
1981 - By 1981 we begin to see more LF-fl papers appearing. Some of these are still not listed, the most notable being on the Look of Music Exhibition, which exists thus, the Feminists issue, and the Botanists issue. The Paintings issue is really the first issue where we begin to see a very wide variety of variations. I have my doubts about the correctness of Unitrade's pricing on this issue, as in my experience the dull papers seem more common to me than the fluorescent ones, but that could just be what I have handled so far. The fluorescent paper of the Niagara-on-the-Lake stamp is really close to MF in appearance and is probably the scarcest of the 1981 issues. The Christmas issues are confusing, as there are several DF flecked papers that look almost LF, and are what I believe Unitrade is listing when they price them at $3. But then, there are also true LF flecked papers that are much scarcer and I have only seen a handful of times.
The 35c stamps of the aircraft issue exist with the same variations as the 17c stamps, even though Unitrade only lists the varieties on the 17c value.
1982 - The Canada 82 and Salvation Army issues are the first ones to appear on paper without a chalk coating. In this year, there is a shift, with some issues being markedly more common on fluorescent paper, and some issues being scarcer on dull paper. The Terry Fox issue, is one such example. Unitrade finally added a listing for the LF paper on Jules Leger, and the Bush Aircraft issue, but they are still missing listings on most of the other issues, including Canada '82, Salvation Army, Canada Day, Regina and Christmas. I would say generally that the DF flecked papers are the most common on most issues, with the true LF flecked papers continuing to be the most scarce.
And there you have it. Hopefully you will be able to gain a new appreciation for the study and collection of these issues, once you see that there can be upwards of 5 collectible varieties of each issue.
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For many years now I have tried co come up with a model to assist in the valuation of covers, and a way to explain to the layperson or non-postal historian how to understand covers and learn how to spot the more desirable ones. I believe I have come up with a good analogy that will allow me to take the elements that give covers their scarcity and value, and explain how they integrate together.
Before I get started, a word about condition is in order. When you are collecting covers you have to bear in mind that covers are exposed to all the elements in the mail system – rain, wind, being thrown together in large bins, going through sorting machines and excessive handling. So, they will not generally exist in the same condition that mint stamps will exist in, or even used stamps that have come off a cover will. So, while extraordinarily good condition is a plus that increases the value of the cover, it is not nearly as critical to the value of a cover, as it would be to the value of a stamp. In fact, in the case of wreck or crash covers, poor condition is expected. Even redirected and dead letter covers are also often in less than stellar condition, due to the excessive handling.
The analogy I have come up with is to think of Texas Hold’em poker – specifically how a hand in that game develops and acquires its value. Forget about the betting and bluffing and focus on the hand and how it develops in the game.
What are the Factors That Determine the Value of a Cover?
Other than condition, the main factors that add to the scarcity of a cover and thus its value are:
Let’s talk a little about these factors and how they influence both scarcity, and ultimately value.
Destination
At different points in time the mail leaving certain countries tends to go predominantly to one or two countries, depending on where most of the social ties of that country are. For example, up until the late 1960’s most immigrants to Canada came from Europe. Also, most all of our trade was conducted with the US. So covers going to the US, UK and most Western European countries will not be particularly special in most cases, as these are where the majority of our foreign mail would be going. However, destinations in South America or Asia at this time would all be very scarce. Of course these patterns can change over time, as the demographics change. So, Canadian covers to South America are still scarce, but covers to Asia, while scarce are less so than they would have been in say, 1958 for example.
Typically we are referring to foreign destinations when we speak of destination, but there could be some scarce destinations within a country, such as a town that no longer exists, or one that has extra historical significance.
Rate
Postage rates today are relatively simple compared to several decades ago, being streamlined in most countries. In Canada, we have three basic first class rates and no second or third class rates anymore. Our first class rates are split into 3 groups: domestic, US and foreign. Then the rates are determined by weight steps. In the past though, the rates were often country specific or region-specific, with preference being given to certain regions over others. Also, there were many more types of services offered other than just first class mail. For example, we used to have second and third class mail, which were less expensive than first class and we used to have a printed matter rate, which was the cheapest rate and required the item being sent to be unsealed. While airmail is standard today for foreign mail, it was not standard until the 1950’s or 1960’s, and in fact it was still possible to send mail by surface up until the late 1980’s in many countries. Finally, there used to be additional enhanced services offered, such as special delivery, acknowledgement of receipt and the like, whereas now those services have been replaced by expresspost and registered mail only.
The rate under which the cover being sent that applied is an important factor in determining value and scarcity because some rates are much less common than others. Some are common, such as registered, but tend not to survive because of the fact that most business correspondence is not kept inside its original envelope, but is instead taken out and filed while the envelope is thrown away. Most registered letters are of a business nature, so registered covers are, on balance, scarcer than regular first class ones. Likewise, first class mail from the turn of the 19th century to the 1990’s is very common, because letter writing was how people stayed in touch. Long distance calling was still very expensive until the 2000’s, so letter writing was more common and people tended to keep the letters they received, along with the envelopes, at least until the 1960’s.
Some rates may be uncommon because they only applied for a very short period of time while others are uncommon because there just was not a lot of demand for the service being offered. An example of the latter would be any surface mail sent after airmail became standard and inexpensive.
Another factor that comes into play is whether or not the rate was correctly paid and if not, was any shortage caught and appropriate postage due assessed? Obviously most of the time the rate will be paid at the exact amount, and so postage due covers will be more desirable.
Franking
The franking refers to what kind of stamps as well as which specific combinations of stamps were used to pay the postage on the cover. All other things being equal, one would expect that the most common franking will be the fewest number of current definitive stamps required to pay the rate. Commemoratives will generally be much less commonly used than definitives. But there are exceptions and what is common can change over time.
To understand this consider how letters are sent today as compared to decades ago. Back in the day, most households had a supply of stamps handy and indeed most people had them in their address books, their purses or on their desks. However, most of the stamps on hand would have been lower value first class stamps, because those are what would have been used to mail most letters. Registered or special delivery items would likely have been taken to the post office as they would be today. So, multiples of lower value stamps used to pay higher rates would have been more common earlier than they would be now. Most people send so few letters now that many don’t have stamps on hand and have to take their letters to the post office. There, which stamps are used will depend on the postal clerk, but it is a fair assumption that generally it will be the fewest number of stamps possible.
So, it will be very unusual to find higher rates paid with combinations of current commemorative stamps, where it is obvious that the cover is not philatelic in nature, i.e. not contrived by a collector, but just happens to have been sent with the stamps affixed.
Route
Today, most airmail routes are standard, so route is less applicable, but back many decades ago there were often several different routes that letters could take to reach their destination. Postal regulations were such that a marking would be placed on covers at each stage in their route, usually in the form of a handstamp applied to the back of the cover, also called a “backstamp”. By reading the series of backstamps and other markings and playing close attention to the dates it becomes possible to trace the route that a cover travelled to reach its destination.
All other things equal a cover that shows clear route information will be more desirable than one that does not.
Addressee
Most of the time the addressee will not be a person of any great significance, but occasionally you will come across covers sent to important historical figures or other famous people. These generally will be more desirable.
Origin
By and large most covers will originate from major cities, but those that come from small towns, especially those that no longer exist will be more desirable.
Historic Events
A cover can be either directly or indirectly associated with some important historic event. An example of direct association would be a cover carried aboard the Titanic (if any exist) or the Hindenburg, or for a more modern example, a cover sent to the World Trade Centre in the week of 9/11, which can be reasonably regarded as likely having been on the premises when the disaster struck. An example of indirect association would be a cover sent to China during the Great Leap Forward or to Budapest Hungary during the 1956 uprising. These associations enhance the desirability of the cover, as most covers have no such associations.
Cancellations and Other Important Markings
Some cancellations, particularly those that were in use during the classic period are highly sought after and collectible in their own right. These can add greatly to the value of a cover that has them. Also, notations and markings that are of an instructional nature that can indicate how the cover was handled may add additional value. Examples are postage due markings, return markings, mail service suspension markings, senate or free markings, "too late" markings and so forth. They are often important indicators of what the correct rate for a cover would be, so they add value directly if they are seldom found on cover and sought after, but also indirectly by acting as supporting evidence of a specific rate.
So, there are the factors. In assessing a cover, you take all of them into account and as you can see, most of the time the stamps on the cover will have little value off cover. This, I believe is one reason why the field, despite growing greatly in popularity, remains outside the scope of most collectors collections.
Back to the Poker Analogy
Now would be a good time to go back to the poker analogy. When you play poker, you are initially dealt 2 cards. The vast majority of the time what you are dealt does not result in a hand that has any value. If you are lucky you receive a pair of aces or kings, called a pocket pair, or you get two high cards of the same suit. These hands have potential, but that potential will not be realized until the dealer turns up additional cards at the flop, the turn and finally the river. Each time cards are turned up there is a chance that the hand will be improved.
You can look at cover collecting this way:
A basic cover that has no scarce stamp on it can be thought of in the same way as a low pair or two totally unsuited cards would be in poker. By itself, it is nothing special. It needs the additional factors to be just right for it to go from being a common, relatively worthless cover, to being a scarce and desirable postal history item. A cover that has stamps on it that are already scarce off cover, and valuable in their own right can be thought of as the proverbial high pocket pair – good in its own right, and has the potential to get much, much better.
The flop’s equivalent in cover collecting would be the destination, the rate and the franking. These three things will, 95% of the time determine the ultimate desirability of the cover, just as most of the time in poker the flop makes or breaks the hand. So, a cover that has no rare stamps off cover, could be going to an exotic and scarce destination, could be paying an unusual rate and could be an unusual combination of current commemorative stamps that have almost no chance of being used in combination with one another. In that case, we could have the cover equivalent of a high straight, flush or full house, if all three factors are adding to the cover simultaneously. If just one factor or two factors come into play then we still have a great cover, but it is more akin to three of a kind, two pair or a low straight.
The turn’s equivalent would be when we consider the route, cancellations and markings. So a cover that is otherwise ordinary could travel by an unusual steamship route for a foreign cover, or could be a railway post office (RPO) cover in the case of a domestic cover. If it is an otherwise common cover, the route could transform it to the equivalent of what three of a kind or a low straight would be in poker.
Finally, the river’s equivalent would be to consider both the addressee and the historical events the cover is associated with. If it is an otherwise common cover, and is associated with a somewhat famous person or event then it might become the equivalent of two pair in poker. If it is associated with a very famous and important person than it might become the equivalent of three of a kind or a low straight. If it was already a low straight cover at the flop then this factor might take it into flush, full house, four of a kind or royal flush territory: it depends on the other factors.
Let’s illustrate this now with some examples of covers now. All of these have been featured in my first themed sale covering the Karsh and Wilding Period of Canada. Each of them is special because of at least one, and in most cases several of the factors discussed. I will show how these factors come together in each cover.
Cover #1 - Local Registered Paid With Unusual Stamps
Here we have a standard registered commercial cover from 1961, rated at 25 cents, which was the standard registration fee of 20 cents and 5 cents domestic first class rate. Normally, this would still be a decent cover - the equivalent of a high pair, because registered envelopes were usually thrown away. But this one is better than usual because the postage, rather than being paid with either a single 25c chemical industry or a 20c paper industry and 5c Wilding, which would be the most common combinations, is paid instead with 7 singles (a strip of 5 plus a pair) of the 3c Wilding and a 4c Wilding. This combination takes it to the equivalent of a good three of a kind hand in poker.
Cover #2 - Local Registered Paid With Unusual Stamps
Here we have another local registered cover sent within Montreal in November 1957. This time it is not clear whether or not it was commercial. It looks like it could be personal in nature. What makes this cover special is the fact that the 25c rate has been paid with 5 different commemorative stamps - ALL of which were current in 1957. Now two of them: the Royal Visit and David Thompson stamps came from another envelope that had not been cancelled and had been cut out and used here. They aren't unfortunately tied by the postmark, but the postmark on them is clearly the same as postmark that does tie the other stamps to the cover. So, they clearly belong on the cover.
What are the chances of 5 different commemmorative stamps being used on a commercial cover? Must be very, very low. So, as far as local covers go, it doesn't get much better than this. The only way this cover could be improved would be a more famous addressee, clearer postmarks or all the stamps being tied. I would consider this the cover equivalent of a flush in poker.
Covers #3 & 4 - Foreign Airmail Cover With Unusual Stamps Paying the Rate
The next two covers are both airmail to France, which at the time was a relatively common destination for airmail - not as common as the UK, but certainly not rare. However, better than domestic usage for sure. Both covers though have the standard 15c airmail rate being paid using unusual combinations of stamps.
Here the postage has been paid with a 7c Canada goose, a 2c Wilding and a 6c Wilding. The 6c Wilding was issued to pay surface mail rates to Europe and is rarely seen on cover, so its usage here to pay the rate makes this a better cover. Probably the equivalent of a low straight in poker.
Here we have the rate being paid with the 7c goose again, but the other 8c is made up from two commemoratives: the 1951 Royal Visit and the 3c Moose from the 1953 Wildlife week issue, and then a 1c Wilding. The cover is from 1955, which makes the commemoratives a bit late, as far as usage goes, but not outrageous and not obviously philatelic. This a nicer combination which elevates the cover to the equivalent of two pair for sure, and possibly three of a kind. It is a nice use of the 1c Wilding as a make-up stamp. If the commemoratives would have been more current this would be solid straight for sure.
Covers #5 and #6 - Better Foreign Airmail Rates Paid With Unusual Frankings
The next two covers are both airmail again, but they are better either because of the destination, or the rate.
This is a 1954 registered cover to France. While airmail to France is not uncommon, registered airmail to France is less common. The rate of 20c registration and 15c postage was paid with a 20c newsprint industry, a 1c Karsh and two 7c CAPEX commemoratives from 1951. Again the usage of the CAPEX stamps is somewhat late, as the 7c Canada Goose stamp was available at this time. A 15c Gannet would be the common stamp to pair with the then current 20c newsprint industry stamp, but the usage here of the other three stamps is slightly better. The condition of the stamps could be better, and this makes the cover slightly less desirable than it otherwise would be. So I would rate this as the cover equivalent of a good solid three of a kind.
Here we have what I believe to be a registered airmail cover to Estonia, which in 1958 was part of Russia. There is no registration marking, but there is a boxed marking in Cyrillic and the postage on the cover is 35c which would correspond to 20c special delivery plus 15c airmail to Europe. It is paid with a 25c Chemical Industry and two Newspaper Industry commemoratives.
The destination is spectacular - very unusual for this period, which is the outset of the Cold War. The 25c stamp is expected for this rate, but the commemoratives are a nice touch rather than a 10c Inuk and Kayak or 2 5c Wildings, which is what we would expect to see here. It could be improved: with clearer markings to indicate the rate, and more commemoratives in place of the 25c, but it is still a very nice cover. I would say this is the equivalent of a straight in poker.
Covers #7, #8 and #9 - Better Rates, Destinations and Frankings - All 3 Factors
The next three covers combine the better elements of all three factors - good rates, with great destinations and nicer than usual combinations of stamps paying them.
Here we have a 1958 airmail cover to Korea. The rate to Korea was 25c rather than 15c. So, it was an unusual destination at the time, and an unusual rate. Then the postage, rather than being paid with common definitives is being paid with four different 1958 commemorative issues. This makes the franking almost as good as the local registered cover I illustrated earlier. It would be better if one of those Elected Assembly stamps were a different 1958 commemorative from the other stamps, like La Verendrye or the BC Centennial. The condition could be a bit nicer, but it is not bad for a cover to Asia. As it is this is the cover equivalent of a full house or four of a kind. It is a very nice cover.
Here we have a 1953 registered airmail cover to Argentina. Again, the destination is unusual, the preferential 10c airmail rate to South America is unusual and the 30c postage has been paid with a combination of definitives and commemoratives. The 3c and 4c King George VI definitives are just about 6 months out of period, as the Karsh issue came out in May and the Peace Issue 8c is a little late, or maybe not at all, given that no 8c was issued in its place. So, it could be improved by having slightly more current stamps, but as it stands it is a solid full house.
Here we have a registered airmail cover to Budapest, Hungary. Again, the destination is unusual for 1955, as Budapest was behind the Iron Curtain, and this was the Cold War. It was sent about a year before the Budapest Uprising, so unfortunately it is too early to be associated with that event. But it is registered, which again is unusual for foreign mail and finally the postage has been paid with 2 current commemoratives, the 5c Wilding, 6c Wilding and 10c Inuk and Kayak - a very nice franking that includes the seldom seen 6c used in period.
Again, it could be improved with more low value definitives, or additional commemoratives, but as it is this a flush for sure.
All these covers are not improved at the turn or the river, since none of them are to famous people or are associated with famous events. Now, let's look at two covers whose desirability improves on the turn.
Covers #10 and #11 - Underpaid Returned Mail and Longer Route Surface Mail
The next two covers show examples of better routes.
Here we have a shortpaid airmail cover to Australia which was shortpaid by 9c, as the rate to Australia was 25c and only 16c was affixed. Although the 4c Wilding is a common stamp it was usually used for local first class letters, so 4 singles used here instead of a 15c Gannet and 1c, or a 10c Inuk & Kayak, a 5c Wilding and a 1c Wilding is unusual. It was addressed to an individual who worked for P&O Cruise lines, and whomever was responbsible for delivering it was unable to find Mr. Jarvis and so it was returned, by boat, travelling from New Zealand to Canada.
So what you have here is an unusual destination, short payment, a slightly better franking and a long route caused by return. The condition is actually better than what we would expect for such a well travelled cover. It is the cover equivalent of a flush, and this last bit of value comes about because it was returned to sender and had to travel by surface when it was originally intended to be airmail.
Here we have a registered SURFACE cover to Switzerland, sent in 1959, when airmail would have been standard. The 26c has been paid by 5 different commemoratives, 4 of which are current and a 1c Wilding - one of the best possible frankings for this rate. It could only be improved if the 1957 Royal Visit stamp were a bit more current.
The backstamps indicate that although the senders lived in Burlington, ON, they sent it from Gordon Bay, which is in Muskoka - cottage country, and they sent it on August 28, at the end of summer. It was mailed at the Gordon Bay post office, travelled to Gravenhurst, where it then travelled by train to Toronto, then from Toronto to Montreal, where it was flown out and then it arrived in Bern, Switzerland on September 14.
So here you have a somewhat common destination, a two pair destination, an usual rate, a really nice franking and then a long route. The condition is fabulous and the postmarks are clear and sharp. In cover terms this is either a full house or 4 of a kind. It is a fantastic cover.
Now we consider the river, in which the last factors that could add value are considered.
Covers #12 and #13 - Famous Recipient and Famous Event
Here we have a reduced airmail cover to none other than Fidel Castro in Cuba. The date appears to be in April 1958, before the Cuban Revolution, but is clearly addressed to him as Prime Minister, which he wasn't until 1959. So, it most likely is April 1959. The preferential airmail rate to Cuba was 10 cents and we can see 3 1c Wildings and a space which most likely contained a 7c Canada Goose, but which is now gone - a significant detraction unfortunately.
Had this cover been sent to anyone else, it would be maybe a 2 pair cover at best, because of the reduction in size and the missing stamp. The franking would have been slightly better if it was complete, but it isn't unfortunately. However, what you have with this cover is a famous recipient and because of the timing you also have association with the Cuban revolution, which was ongoing at this time.
These two facts take what would be a 2 pair cover and transform it to the cover equivalent of a solid straight.
Here, for the final cover is an unaddressed souvenir cover from the 1962 Calgary Stampede. As a postal history item, there is little value because it didn't actually do any postal duty. But the Calgary Stampede is a fairly famous annual Canadian event and the artwork is quite nice. It is machine printed though. If this were hand-painted it would be a $250-500 item, but as it is it is a low two pair cover - probably in the $4-$5 range. If it were just a local cover with the 5c Pauline Johnson stamp, it would be a nothing cover, or at best a low pair cover,. but the artwork and association with the event make it slightly better.
So How Do We Use These Factors to Ascribe Value and Come Up With Prices?
Now that we know how to rank a cover using this poker analogy, we have a basis to determine a valuation model. The starting point is to consider how much a nothing to low pair cover for the period would be worth. This would be a value that essentially covers a dealers time and labour in preparing the cover for resale. As is the case with common stamps, it is not meant to indicate resale value. This may indeed differ, depending on the period we are talking about. So, for instance if we are talking about the Cents issue period of 1859-67 for Canada, the worst cover will still be worth $5-$10, no matter what, whereas a nothing cover from the Elizabethan period will be as low as 50 cents or $1 (I'd argue that these days $1 is as low as you can sell an individual item and not lose money).
Then starting with that baseline you come up with value ranges to represent the successive "improvement" that comes with the different factors. So if we use the Elizabethan period that we have covered here and use a base value of $1 we can come up with the following "poker analogy value scale" as follows:
Nothing to very low pair covers: $1-$2 a cover
Moderate to high pair covers: $2-$5 a cover
Two pair covers: $5-$10 a cover
Three of a kind covers: $10-$20 a cover
Straight covers: $20-$30 a cover
Flush covers: $30-$50 a cover
Full house cover: $50-$75 a cover
Four of a kind covers: $75-$100 a cover
Straight flush covers: $100-$200 a cover
Royal flush cover: $200-$500 a cover
That covers a value range that begins at $1. If your value range starts at say $5, which it might for a late Queen Victoria period cover, then your Royal flush end of that range would be $1,000-$2,500 which is about what the very rare covers of this period tend to sell for.
The reason I like this analogy and resulting model so much is that poker is all about probability and moreover the very low probability of a royal flush. Most seasoned poker players are lucky to see one of these in a lifetime. So, it is with covers. You will see one or two of these factors being superb, but is very, very rare to see them all come together in one cover. Accordingly, the model gives you a way to comprehend those instances in which you will see a cover that you didn't think was that special sell for very very high prices at auction.
]]>The booklets issued can be divided into different periods, which roughly correspond to the different issues they covered, but not perfectly:
It is worth noting that throughout periods 1 through 5, every booklet exists in both English and French versions. The English versions are by far the most common, outnumbering the French booklets by anywhere from 10 to 20 to one. So, even though the catalogue prices are 50%-100% higher for the French versions, this still comes nowhere close to reflecting the true scarcity of the French booklets.
Then, during period 5, French booklets disappear by the end of 1947 and are replaced by the first bilingual booklets in 1947. Thus throughout periods 6 and 7 all booklets are found in English and bilingual versions only. Again, the bilingual booklets are much scarcer than the English ones, but not quite as scarce as the French ones in the earlier periods are. By 1953 all booklets are bilingual only.
The above clears away 2 levels of complexity and brings them into focus: (1) the various rate pages and (2) the languages. Now, I will make a general note, which will overlay on all the above, a third layer of complexity, which collectors can ignore, or decide to incorporate into their collecting, which will add considerable challenge if they choose to include it: each front and back cover can be found in a number of different die types. I'll explain this in more detail as I describe each of the above periods below
The Type I Covers Period - 1935 to 1937
The type I cover first appears on the booklets of the 1935-1937 Dated Die Issue, and has a coat of arms on a dotted background with simply the words "Canada Postage". There is no description of the contents and no other slogans. There are no known die type variations of either this front cover, or the back cover, which looks like this:
This is known as the Type A cover, when it is English or Type B when it is in French. This is important because all of the booklets from the 1937-42 Mufti Issue have this type of back cover, as do all of the War Issue booklets from periods 3, 4 and 5.
So, collecting these booklets is fairly straightforward. You can still find gum variations and shade variations of both the booklet panes themselves and the covers, as well as the occasional plate flaw on the cover, or the odd stapling error, in which the staple is either doubled, or in the wrong place.
The Type III Covers Period - 1937
I don't know this for sure, but my guess would be that the public likely complained about the lack of descriptive text on the covers, saying that it was too difficult to tell the booklets apart. Whatever the reason, a decision was made to add descriptive text to the front covers in the form of the price and the contents.
Initially, the text was 63 mm wide, but as you can see this left the end of the text on the right side unacceptably close to the right edge of the cover and meant that many booklets would have wound up with truncated text when the booklets were guillotined apart.
Thus, they were very short lived, being replaced by a cover that had the text only 57 mm wide.
At this point, I can introduce the first level of complexity in the die types, as this front cover exists in 4 different types, two for English and Two for French. Both are the same, in terms of what the difference is. The thing to look for is the arrangement of the dots inside the loop of the "P" of "Postage or "Postes".
Two types are shown as follows:
This is Harris Type IIa, one dot inside the "P". This is the English version.
This is Harris Type IIb, two dots inside the "P". This is also English.
This is Harris Type IIj - similar to IIb above, except this is French.
This is Harris Type IIk, with 3 dots inside the "P". This is also French.
Each of the booklets, those being the combination booklets, and those containing only 1c, 2c or 3c stamps will have 4 different front covers, with the types being different for each booklet, with some overlap in terms of how many dots correspond to a particular type and how those dots are arranged.
Some of these types are markedly scarcer than others. Due to the very short-lived nature of these covers, these booklets are extremely scarce.
The Type II Covers With No Rate Page - 1937-1938
The first booklets with the 57 mm front cover text, as with all the earlier booklets contained no rate page. These were in use for most of 1937 into 1938. They comprised the bulk of the large first printing and so they are the most common of these booklets, in the case of the Mufti Issue, which is why the catalogue values are the lowest for this type.
All the booklets in this period exist with the four die types for the front covers of the English and French booklets. In addition, the panes can be found printed on both smooth vertical wove paper and horizontally ribbed paper. The gum varies from white to streaky coffee coloured cream as well. The covers can occasionally be found with plate flaws affecting the lettering or the dot pattern and stapling errors can be found as well.
The Type II Covers With 6c Airmail Rate -1938-1942
Starting in 1938, a rate page was included in the booklet. The catalogues generally quote the last line or the last two lines of the rate page.
These booklets can be found with all the variations outlined above for the booklets without a rate page.
The Rate Change Period - 1943
Here is where it gets really interesting. In mid-1943 the postage rate increased from 3c to 4c for domestic mail, and the basic airmail rate went from 6c for the first ounce, to 7c.
Initially, the change in rates was indicated by placing a red or black crayon "X" on the rate page. The size and style varies of course, as they were applied by individual postal clerks to booklets. These are again very short lived and were in use for a brief period until surcharged rate pages could be produced. These had the text overprinted by a single black line and new rates printed at the bottom of the page.
So, for every booklet, in addition to all the varieties, there are two different forms of altered rate page: one with an "X" and a surcharged one.
Now, as if that wasn't enough complexity, I can now introduce the final level of complexity affecting these booklets: the size of the staple. Up to this point all booklets of this design have either 16 mm or 17 mm staples that show no variation in size. During this period we start to see 14 mm and 12 mm staples being used to produce some booklets, but not others. The booklets containing the 1c and 2c stamps only do not show these variations, but all the other booklets can be found thus. Not all staple sizes are known on all booklets - the only ones known with all three sizes are those containing the 3c and 4c stamps only. The combination booklets can be found with 17 mm and 14 mm staples, while the chewing gum booklets are always either 17 mm or 12 mm staples. These differences persist on the booklets in the next period. Of course all these booklets can be found with different gum types and at least 2 types of paper: vertical wove with cream gum and clear vertical mesh, or horizontal ribbed paper with yellowish cream gum.
The Type II Covers With 7c and 6c Airmail Rates - 1943-1947
In this period a new rate page appears, with the airmail rate being quoted as 7c for the first ounce, and 6c for each subsequent ounce. By now the 3c booklets have changed colour from carmine to rose purple. Also, during this period a new type of booklet format is introduced: the "Chewing Gum" booklet. These booklets contained a pane of 3 of each of the 1c, 3c and 4c stamps. The face value only adds up to 24c, so essentially a 1c premium was charged by the post office, as they sold for 25c.
These booklets are the most complex of all, because each of the front and back covers exists with 8 different die types for the English booklets and 15 different types for the French versions. The dot patterns are complicated and I won't get into them here, except to say that of the 64 possible English front-back cover combinations and the 225 possible French combinations, a large number have not, as yet been reported.
It is also during this period that the Type A and Type B back covers were replaced by a new type shown below:
This type of back cover was the last to be used with the single-language booklets. It can be found in 4 die types for each of the French and English languages, and for the English booklets.
The four types are distinguished for the English booklets, by looking at the arrangement of the dots at the top left corner of the text panel, and for the French booklets by looking at the arrangement of the dots at the lower right corner of the text panel. Some types are shown below:
This is Harris type Cai on the English booklets. The inside corner is enclosed by a semicircle of dots.
This is Harris type Caii on the English booklets. Here the midpoint on the corner has two rows of dots "fanning" out from it.
This is Harris Type Caiii. There is a semicircle of 3 dots enclosing the corner.
This is type Caiv. Here the corner is enclosed by a semi-rhombus of 7 dots, with three dots inside.
The French variations, being types Dai through Daiv are similar, but are evaluated from the right side of the text box rather than the left.
So in this period you have paper variations, gum variations, staple variations and the usual,plate flaws and errors involving the covers as well the arrangement of the rate pages inside.
The Type II Covers With the 7c and 5c Airmail Rates - 1947-1952
During this period the rate page changes again showing 7c and 5c rates rather than 7c and 6c rates.
During this period that another new booklet was issued: The $1 gift booklet, which contained the wide panes of the 3c and 4c as well as the 7c Canada Goose from the Peace issue. This booklet was the last booklet to be issued in both English and French.
For the English booklets a few type of back cover is introduced in which "Postmaster" is shown as two distinctly separate words. These are are found with the same 4 die type variations, which Harris calls types Cbi through Cbiv.
Sometime between 1947 and 1949 a new bilingual front and back cover was introduced to replace the French booklets:
Front cover
Back cover
surprisingly, there are die type differences on these covers as well, though not nearly as many as were found on the type II covers. The front covers exist in 4 types, 2 of which are unique to the 3c booklets and two of which are found on the 4c and 5c booklets. The back covers can be found in 2 variations that are distinguished by looking at the arrangement of the dots in the lower left of the text panel.
These differences are shown below:
This is type IIIci on the front cover. Look at the appearance of the top left serif on the "E" of "Carnet". On type it is thick and chunky. On type IIId it is thin, and joins the top serif of the "N".
This is type IIIf or IIIh depending on whether the booklet contains 4c or 5c stamps. The hyphen between "Timbres" and "Poste" has squared ends.
This is type IIIe or IIIg, again depending on whether the booklet contains 4c on 5c stamps. Here the hyphen has a rounded right end.
This is back cover type Gi or Mi, depending again on which denomination of booklet it is. Here you can see the dots are straight parallel lines inside the corner.
This is type Gii or Mii. Here you can see two intersecting semicircles of dots enclosing the top part of the corner.
Other than these variations, the booklets become somewhat simpler again, with fewer paper and gum variations, no more staple size variations (all 17 mm). Because they were introduced in 1947 or 1948 and were replaced in 1949 by the Postes-Postage issue, the bilingual War Issue booklets are much scarcer and more expensive than the English booklets.
The Bilingual Period - 1953-1955
This period covers the first 3 years of Elizabeth's reign and is relatively simple. Two issued are covered: the 1953-54 Karsh Issue and the 1954-62 Wilding Issue. For the Karsh issue 3 basic booklets were issued: a chewing gum booklet, a 3c booklet and a 4c booklet. Rate pages have been done away with at this point, so that simplifies them greatly.
There are the die type differences to collect, of which there are up to 225 possible front and back cover combinations on the chewing gum booklet. There are also some shade varieties to be found on all panes from this issue.
The chewing gum booklets were discontinued at the end of 1953, so that for the Wilding issue we have only the 4c booklets and the 5c booklets. However, staple sizes again vary, with 16 mm, 14 mm and 12 mm staples being found on the 5c booklets. Papers exist in 2 basic types, being smooth and horizontally ribbed. Of course there are also the die type differences to be found on both booklets, which create 4 collectible booklets for each denomination and staple size.
Hopefully this simplifies this complex field at little bit, or at least provides some context into which to understand the variations and how they fit into the whole.
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These booklets came out right around a time when there was a lot of turmoil in the supply chain by which Canada Post obtained its paper, resulting in a lot of different paper suppliers. These booklets were printed using Abitibi, Harrison and Rolland papers. Abitibi-Price went bankrupt in 1985, so only the first printings of the first booklet were printed using this paper. The rest were produced using the other two suppliers. I always get excited when I see issues printed using Rolland paper because there are so many neat varieties of front and back fluorescence with this particular supplier.
The stamps in these booklets are highly attractive designs and they are printed in some very nice colours that are not often seen on the stamps of this period. This makes them a very attractive prospect for specialized collecting. Now, it is true that McCann lists a lot of tagging varieties, which in truth are caused by tagging shifts or inexact cutting of the panes. Some collectors frown upon these types of varieties, but I think they are still highly collectible to someone who wants to tell the full story of the production of these booklets and needs to illustrate what happens when the tagging is not properly aligned with the booklet, or when the guillotine is not perfectly lined up with the cutting guidelines on the pane tabs.
There were 4 booklets involved in this issue of this design and two from this issue with the previous maple leaf design. They cover the four rate increases that occurred for first class mail during these years: 34c, 36c, 37c and 38c. The remaining face value was made up by including various 1c, 2c, 5c and 6c make-up stamps. In Unitrade these booklets are BK88, BK92, BK96 and BK100. BK88 had 6 stamps to a pane, while BK92 and 100 had 5 and BK96 had 4. The idea behind the make-up stamps was to enable a person to be able to mail a first class letter within Canada or to the US if all they had was either the booklet, or a first class stamp from the prior rate period. Thus the 1c and 2c stamps were intended to be used with out-dated stamps, while the 5c and 6c stamps were intended to be used to pay the difference between the domestic and US rate. In practice very few were used this way, with the result that single low value stamps used in period are quite hard to come by.
This is the first and only booklet produced where only 1 stamp was intended to be tagged. The tagging is also on all 4 sides for the first time on a first class rate stamp. However, as we shall see, due to shifts in the application of the taggant, various varieties can be found.
Unitrade presents all four of these booklets in a very simplified fashion, listing but two printings of each one, with the difference lying in the covers. McCann does a better job of identfying at least 2-4 printings of each booklet and manages to identify most, but not all varieties. I have just gone through a lot of approximately 950 booklets and I can say with confidence that while McCann's listings of BK88 and BK92 are fairly complete (70-80%), he has completely overlooked several significant varieties on BK96 and BK100. My goal here then is to shed some light on all these varieties here and outline the collecting possibilities that exist with these.
The varieties of these booklets can be broken down into two broad groups:
The varieties involving the cover, other than the 10 cover designs that these booklets come with, can include the colour of the card stock, which varies from a pure drab, to a more pinkish drab colour; whether or not there is an "H" or "R" on the back of the cover, the size of that letter, and the reaction of the paper stock under UV light. McCann mistakenly refers to the "H" covers as Abitibi covers. This cannot be the case, as Abitibi was out of business by 1987 when these covers first appear. The "H" does in fact stand for "Harrison", which was the supplier of the paper used for the last printings of BK92 and all the printings of BK96 and BK100.
The varieties found on the panes themselves include:
So, when you consider the number of attributes that can vary, and the fact that all variants can exist with one another, you can see very quickly that with 10 different cover designs, the number of collectible varieties can become very extensive, very quickly.
Let's start by taking a look at the actual booklet panes and the different covers.
Pane and Cover Designs for BK88
Here is the pane of the first booklet. As you can see, there are two cutting guides located on the tab, three 2c stamps, a pair of 5c stamps and the 34c stamp. There are no other markings on the tab.
The 10 cover designs are printed in brown against the drab background of the covers and look like this:
The carved head cover
The carved stone ornament cover
The doors to the library cover
The gargoyle cover
The Indian mask cover
The ironwork cover
The Peace Tower cover
The stone carving cover
The war memorial cover
The windows cover
You will see that each cover has a small write up on the back about the particular architectural element featured on the cover. Initially this is all that appears on the back. Later printings of this booklet have an "R" on the back in the lower left corner. The "R" stands for "Rolland" of course. There are three sizes in which the "R" is found:
For some reason McCann properly identifies and lists these differences on the printings of BK92, but not on this booklet, even though all three exist. Here is a comparison scan of the three types:
Type 1 is on the left, type 2 in the centre and type 3 on the right.
Pane and Cover Designs for BK92
Here is the pane for plate 1, which was printed on Rolland paper. Plate 2 was printed using Harrison paper, and looks the same, except for the plate number and an "H" instead of the "R". Here, there are only five stamps and a printed label. The make up stamps consist of a pair of 1c and 6c stamps.
The cover designs are the same, except that they are printed in blackish green on the drab covers as follows:
The carved head "Harrison" cover.
The carved head "Rolland" cover
The carved stone ornament "Harrison" cover
The carved stone ornanment - "Rolland" cover
Library doors "Harrison" cover
Library doors "Rolland" cover
Gargoyle "Harrison" cover
Gargoyle "Rolland" cover
Group of windows "Harrison" cover
Group of windows "Rolland" cover
Indian mask "Harrison" cover
Indian mask "Rolland" cover
Ironwork "Harrison" cover
Ironwork "Rolland" cover
Peace Tower "Harrison" cover
Peace Tower "Rolland" cover
Stone carving "Harrison" cover
Stone carving "Rolland" cover
War memorial "Harrison" cover
War memorial "Rolland" cover
These covers all have an "H" or an "R" on the back in the lower left corner. McCann correctly identifies the difference between types 1, 2 and 3 "R"'s, but does not do so for the "H"'s. It turns out that there are also three types of "H"'s, which are the same heights as the "R"'s.
Pane and Cover Designs for BK96
Here is the pane with the blue tab markings, which was the first printing of this booklet. Here there are two labels, one at the top left and one at the bottom left. This booklets contains a pair of 6c make up stamps and one 1c stamp.
The covers at this point are all Harrison covers, so all have an "H" in the bottom left corner on the back. The H's exist with all three types that are found on the last booklet. These covers are all printed in dark blue on the drab covers.
Carved head cover
Carved stone ornament cover
Library doors cover
Gargoyle cover
Group of windows cover
Indian mask cover
Ironwork cover
Peace Tower cover
Stone carving cover
War memorial cover
Pane and Cover Design for BK100
These covers at first look very similar to BK88, but upon closer examination the ink is a much redder colour, being a brownish red, rather than a deep reddish brown. There is also a golden cast to the drab colour of the cover stock. Like BK96, I believe these are all Harrison covers. McCann and Unitrade both identify a "Rolland" cover with an "H" on the back, but I believe that these are simply fluorescent versions of the Harrison cover, which is normally dull under UV.
Here is the pane on this booklet. A few things stand out immediately compared to the other, earlier panes:
Now, let's take a look at the covers and then I can get into the types of varieties found on the covers and the panes. I'm not going to show all 10 covers this time, because they are all identical to the others except for the ink colour, so I will show one, just to highlight the difference:
The carved head cover, note the much redder colour of the ink.
Varieties of the Covers
In terms of varieties that can be found on the covers, the main ones are:
I have already illustrated the different types of "R's and explained that the H's can be found with similar variations. The gripper marks consist of a column of depressions on the front of the cover, about 4-5 mm in from the right edge. They are caused by grippers in the vending machines that retrieve the booklets for dispensation. They look like this:
The booklet on the left is without any gripper marks while the one on the right bears the distinct markings.
The general appearance of the covers under UV light usually is dull, which simply means that the drab colour appears darker, and in the case of BK100, very dark. However, low, medium and high fluorescent versions can be found as well. Generally the fluorescence appears as an overall violet grey, greyish white or grey green colour, with fluorescent fibres visible in the cover, in varying concentrations. Some examples are shown below:
Both of these covers are the high fluorescent rolland covers, but the one on the left looks dull compared to the one on the right. The booklet on the left is the greyish tone, while the one on the right is the violet grey tone of the later printings.
Here is a scan that shows the stark difference between a dull Abitibi cover on the left and a high fluorescent Rolland cover on the right.
The pre-print crease that I have come across on BK 88 is shown below:
You can tell that is is not a post-printing crease by the fact that the letter "o" and "s" are both defective and contain breaks where the crease is. This will only occur when the crease was in the card stock before the printing took place.
Finally, I have found two examples of booklets where taggant appears on the cover. The first instance appears to be general smearing of taggant on the cover, while the second is an outline of a stamp edge.
Tagging smears on the Peace Tower cover of BK88
Taggant outline on Gargoyle cover of BK92
So what is the significance of these freak varieties? Well, for one thing they show that the booklets were very likely printed and assembled prior to the taggant being applied to the panes, rather than the panes being tagged first and then the booklets being assembled after. This is an important detail to a collector trying to tell the full story of their production.
The counting marks vary in intensity and width, and are generally found near the centre of the booklet spine. An example is shown below:
BK88 with counting mark on the Gargoyle Abitibi cover
As explained above, the card stocks may change colour slightly over time due to the chemicals or acids in the stock. I've seen booklets where the very edges are a different colour from the rest of the cover. But I have also seen examples of the same booklet where the entire cover is a much pinker colour than the usual drab colour, as shown below:
The cover on the left is the usual drab, while the one on the right is a more pinkish drab.
This lot that I have been working on contained quite a few examples of covers with stamp club overprints and handstamps. I show them all below:
Collingwood Coin and Stamp Club overprint on BK88. This one is professional.
Oakpex 87 red handstamp on BK88.
Oakpex 86 black "Colour Specimen" handstamp on BK88.
Collingwood Coin and Stamp Club red overprint on BK88.
Stoney Creek Stamp Club overprint on BK88.
Oakpex blue handstamp on BK96.
I have no idea how many booklets had their covers altered in this fashion, or which covers, but I have to imagine that they are very, very scarce in light of the fact that they would have been limited to the number of expected attendees at the stamp shows for which they were produced, which was very unlikely to be more than a few hundred, as they were mostly small, local shows. The existence of these gives some clue as to how much more promotion the hobby received back then compared to today. When was the last time you saw something like this as a stamp show?
The last item in the covers is the errant black text. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to where it appears, as it is ink transfer from something else BABN was printing. One example is shown below:
That's it for the covers. In terms of the panes I have already outlined what the main types of varieties. What I want to do now is discuss them and show some examples.
Variations in Pane Tagging
The standard tagging on all these booklets is a GT-4 square tag on the first class stamp in the lower right corner. When the tagging has been applied properly the tagging should lie on the margins of the stamp outside the design and should not appear anywhere else on the booklet. However, shifts in the placement of the tagging results in many variations. None of these are listed in Unitrade and most, but not all are listed in McCann. These varieties are:
Let's take a look at some of these now:
Slight downward shift of the tagging into "Canada"
Here is a BK88 with a ghost tag bar on the tab and a left bar on the label. There is also a very slight upward shift in the tagging, causing the very bottom of both 5c stamps to have tagging in the bottom margins.
Here is an example where the right bar is almost missing on the 34c. We call this the "harline bar".
BK88 with a tagging spot on the tower.
BK 88 with a tag spot on the tab and top right 2c.
BK88 with harline tag lines accross the stamps.
BK 92 with both a left bar on the label and a horizontal tag bar on the tab.
BK92 with tag wash accross the top stamps
BK96 - taggant on label
BK100 with tagging blotch on upper left stamp.
The varieties that result from the minor shifts are fairly common. But the other varieties are all fairly scarce, with only the examples I show you here croping up in a large lot of over 950 booklets.
Variations in Fluorescence
The largest variations in paper fluorescence occur on the Rolland papers, which were used for a portion of the printings of BK88 and BK92. On the coated Rolland paper, the fluorescence readings on the front and back are different. The Abitibi papers, which were only used on BK88, show much less variation than the other papers, being either DF-fl or LF-fl. The Rolland papers can be found in all levels of fluorescence, including dead, DF-fl, LF-fl, MF-fl, and HF-fl. The Harrison papers, which at first appear to only be DF, are actually found in dead, DF and LF levels of fluorescence.
Let's take a look at some of these variations:
Here we have two very similar looking panes. The one on the left is LF-fl and the one on the right is DF-fl. Basically the LF pane is more bluish than the one on the right which is more white. Both have a sparse concentration of fluorescent fibres in the paper.
Here we have the DF-fl pane from above on the left, and a dead paper pane on the right. The difference, once you see it is quite unmistakable.
Here we have the LF-fl pane from above, on the right and a MF-fl pane on the left. Again, the MF-fl paper is much brighter than the LF-fl paper.
Finally we have the HF-fl paper on the left and the MF-fl paper on the right, from the above pane. It's hard to believe it is the same same pane, because it looks so much duller here. But it is the same - it just shows how much brighter the HF-fl paper is.
Generally speaking the most common papers for the Rolland papers are LF-fl and MF-fl. The extremes, being HF-fl, DF-fl and dead are much less common. On the coated Harrison papers, the LF is the most common, with DF and dead being much scarcer.
Other Varieties Occuring on the Panes
The other varieties that can be found on the panes are all illustrated below:
Here is a double strike of the perforations at the right of the pane on BK85. These show that the perforating of the panes required more than one strike of the comb perforator, and here the two strikes are close together and not quite aligned.
Here is a BK88 with errant black text on the tab.
Here is BK85 with a short transfer on the LR corner of the 34c.
White crack accross "Canada"
White crack accross the sky of both 5c stamps.
White crack accross sky and white patch on 2c.
White blob on 5c.
Ghost tab bar on back of pane.
Lightning strike on 1c stamp of BK92
Crescent flaw in trees of 36c stamp from BK92
Crescent flaw on 1c of BK92 on coated Harrison paper
BK96 with tab perforation hole
Here we have two types of green tab markings on the BK92's. At first I thought these were simple differences in cutting of the panes. But if you measure the distance between the top perforations and the bottom of the green line, they are different. Type 2 on the left has the bottom of the bar 16.25 mm from the perforations, whereas it is 16.75 mm on type 1, which is shown at right.
There is a third type of tab in which the distance is 15 mm. This is shown by the booklet on the right, which is next to a type 2 tab, on the left.
Here are the same three types of tab on BK96.
This next difference is a little more difficult to see in a scan, but it occurs on BK100, where all of the booklets have a green line on the tab. Most are a dark green that appears mottled, like the line on the left. But there is a small portion of the booklets that have a line printed in a brighter green and where instead of appearing mottled, the screening dots are clearly visible.
Here is a short transfer on one of the 2c stamps from BK100.
Here is a BK100 showing some minor sky flaws on the 2c stamps.
BK100 with a vertical hairline scratch in the margin of the 2c stamp.
So there you have it: a rundown of all the varieties that I found on these booklets as I sorted them. There may be others, but I can confidently say that except for common shifts of tagging, cutting and perforation, the freak varieties are not common at all and very collectible. I'm betting that most of you reading this will be quite surprised at the amount of scope here. Of course, I will have most all of the listed varieties in stock and occasionally will feature the unlisted freak varieties in my weekly auction.
The best way to collect these I find is to use 102 cards and clear plastic 8-pocket baseball card pages, which can fit in a three ring binder. This works best if you want to display the booklets closed. Then you can write the attributes on the back of the 102 card, and transfer them eventually to your write-up pages which go in between these pages. If you want to display the booklets open, you can use clear 4 or 5 pocket Vario pages to display them horizontally or 2 pocket pages to display them vertically. Then your notes can refer to each side of the page, i.e. the facing notes page refers to the covers on the opposing page and the back page of notes refers to the panes on the facing page.
In terms of checklists for what there is to collect, please contact me and request one, specifying how detailed you want to collect and I will make one up for you.
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The first topic that I will address then, is how the period after 1934 can be categorized into distinct sub-periods. Each of these, while offering a lot of scope, in terms of the different physical attributes, will tend to dominate along one or two attributes, as far as where most of the interest to a specialist lies. The sub-periods are as follows:
So, why has modern philately been largely relegated to filling spots in albums then? My theory is that most collectors have failed to recognize that the hobby of modern philately is different from that of classic philately, and therefore they try to compare modern stamps to classic stamps. Invariably most conclude that there is little to interest them, almost no challenges and no scarcity or long-term value to speak of. I would argue that while there are a lot of common stamps in the modern period, the same can be said of the classic period as well, it’s just that demand for the classic stamps has made many, very common stamps worth far more than they otherwise would be. Most modern stamps today, especially on the last 15-20 years are printed in far lower quantities than ever before, and are much scarcer, in absolute terms than many classic stamps that catalogue far more.
How is modern philately different? I would say that the main difference is that classic philately, at a specialized level tends to focus on physical attributes and phenomena that are readily obvious and visible to the naked eye. All the listed shade varieties in the mainstream stamp catalogues for classic material are sufficiently distinct that an experienced person can identify them easily without the use of reference copies. Perforation differences can be seen with a basic perforation gauge that is accurate to only ½ a perf., or ¼ of a perf. Paper differences tend to be limited to obvious differences in thickness, texture, colour or the method of manufacture, in the case of laid paper versus wove paper. Re-entries and plate flaws are all generally visible either to the naked eye, or with a 10x loupe, in normal lighting conditions. Most of the collectible varieties of the classic period arise due to the technical inexactitude inherent in the production process itself. So inexact is the process in general, that if one were to sit down and sort a pile of 1000 3 cent Small Queens, it is very likely that over 100 varieties will be identified, if not more. Of course, most of these are not listed in catalogues, but the sheer breadth of collectible varieties means typically that most collectors will forever be consumed by just the stamps. Only the most advanced collectors of classic material will delve into postal history, positional multiples, proof material or errors as a result.
In contrast, modern stamp production is incredibly precise – to the point that if you would sit and sort a pile of 1000 identical appearing modern stamps, you might not find any varieties at all. Or, you might find that the entire pile can only be split into 3 or 4 varieties. This means necessarily that those variations are highly significant and therefore collectible. However, what constitutes a significant variation in the modern period would probably not even register on the scale during the classic period. That, I believe, is the fundamental difference between the two hobbies. In addition, many of the collectible variations in the modern period require different equipment to detect: a more precise perforation gauge, like an Instanta, for perforations, and an ultra-violet light for ink differences, paper fluorescence differences and tagging differences. Generally speaking, Canadian stamps require a long-wave UV lamp, which is the safer kind, and the one most readily available in lighting stores. Other countries like Great Britain and US require a short-wave lamp as well, to properly study them.
Another major difference in modern philately is the role and significance played by paper fluorescence. Many collectors dismiss fluorescence as being random and insignificant variations in paper manufacture. However, there is evidence from philatelists who have closely studied the tagging trials done in the 1950’s in the UK that experiments were also done with paper fluorescence as well, as a means of aiding the automatic facer cancelling machines in detecting the stamps in the envelopes. Then, of course, there is the issue pf paper recycling, which did not really become a “thing” until the 1960’s and 1970’s. But the introduction of bleaching agents into paper manufacturing created other challenges for the efficacy of tagging compounds in use at the time and required experimentation and tweaking – all of which can be studied in the stamps themselves. Other philatelists speak about the subjectivity of paper fluorescence. While this is indeed true, paper fluorescence is no more subjective than colour. But very few philatelists would suggest ignoring and not studying colour differences solely because of the experience and subjectivity involved. But, the reticence of many collectors to delve into this aspect of modern philately has resulted in many issues and periods that are very interesting receiving little attention from collectors in general.
A third major difference in the modern period is the prominence of postal history and the challenges it poses. There are a lot of covers that have survived from the classic period, but not so for the modern period. When you combine this fact, with nearly annual changes in postage rates over the past several years, and the issuance of souvenir sheets and se-tenant combinations whose face value does not correspond to the prevailing postage rates, it becomes apparent that the postal history is where the majority of the challenge in the modern period lies, and it is not at all cheap to collect – at least not when you get into the scarcer rate covers.
I mentioned at the beginning of this article that each of the ten periods that I identified above had its own dominant area of interest for specialists. I will now briefly discuss what these are for each period identified.
The Dated Die Issue period, from 1935 to 1937
During this period, the most marked differences in the stamps are in the different kinds of gum used on the stamps, some of which are very obvious, as well as differences in the papers. You can find paper that appears to be horizontally ribbed, as well as paper that shows a distinct vertical mesh. Different combinations of paper and gum are possible, such that the same stamp may exist in 9 or 10 different combinations of paper and gum. There are very few plate flaws, errors or perforation differences during this period. However, it is during this period that the modern CBN coils first appear, with all their accompanying spacing, cutting and jump varieties, and the dotted cover dies appear on the booklets, making them an extremely complex field. Finally, it is during this period that 4-hole OHMS perfins appear to begin gradually replacing the 5-hole types that first appeared in 1923. With all possible errors and 8 different orientations that can exist for both perfins, this is one of the more challenging and often overlooked areas in Canadian philately.
The Mufti Issue period, from 1937 to 1942
This period marks the beginning of WW2, so there are some interesting postal history items to be found. All the paper, gum and shade differences found in the previous period continue in this period, as do the variations in the coils and booklets. This is the last period in which both 4-hole and 5-hole OHMS perfins can be found on most all issues. Another aspect of this period that is very attractive are the plate blocks: there are a very large number of plates used on the 1c 2c and 3c values; more in fact than for any other issue up to this point, except for the Admirals. Some are expensive, but all are within realistic reach of most serious collectors.
The War Issue period, from 1942 to 1949
During this period WW2 is in full swing, so the censored covers and special rates make the postal history interesting, as does the introduction of new services, such as airmail-special delivery in 1942. But the most complicated aspect to these issues is, without a doubt, the booklets. Up to 8 different dotted cover dies for both front and back covers, different rate pages, different staple sizes, English versions, French versions and, for the first time, bilingual versions can be found for most all the booklets that were issued. Of course, there are still a lot of paper, shade and gum varieties that can be found on these issues also. The coils show the same types of varieties as always, but there are two different perforations during this period: 8 and 9.5 vertically, with the 9.5 perforation being scarcer. During this period the use of 5-hole OHMS perfins disappears completely, with only the 4-hole perfins available to collect. Plate blocks become a very extensive field, with this issue having more plate blocks than any other up to this point except the Admiral issue. Like the previous period, some of these are expensive, but none are out of reach of the patient and determined collector.
This is, by far my favourite period out of the pre-Elizabethan periods, I think.
The Peace Issue and Postes-Postage period, from 1946-1953
This period is marked by an apparent simplicity, I think due to the plain nature of the stamp designs, that is nonetheless deceptive. Postal rate changes with the abolition of the War Tax and the introduction of new airmail rates and changes in the preferential rates to South America, West Indies, France and Spain, make the postal history quite interesting, not only for the rates, but also the fact that this is the first time since 1932-34 when it is possible to find the higher rates being paid entirely with in-period commemorative issue frankings. There are fewer paper and gum variations than in the previous periods, but there are still at least 2 or 3 different paper types to be found, including the rare thin transparent ribbed paper, found on the 7c and 14c Peace issue. Shades are less abundant for most inks, but I have found some very worthy variations in the rose-violet, carmine, olive-green, turquoise and vermilion inks.
Perforated officials peter out in this period, with only 2 values of the Postes-Postage, the airmail special delivery and the special delivery stamps being so perforated. They are replaced instead now by the OHMS and G overprints, and these display a good range of missing period and narrow spacing varieties, some of which are very rare. There are also several well known forgeries of the overprints, which can form an interesting sideline as well.
Plate blocks and booklets are both less extensive and complex than in the prior period, but both still offer the specialist quite a bit of scope, and some challenge, as some of the plate positions are very scarce and expensive. French only booklets disappear during this period, so that the booklets issued are only either English or bilingual. But the chewing gum booklets still remain, and these can be found in up to 64 different types.
Thus, this period is ideal for a collector who likes simple engraved designs, and wants some complexity, but not too much because they want to be able to focus on postal history as well.
The Pre-Centennial Issue Elizabethan period, from 1953 to 1967
This period is when everything changes philatelically speaking. Booklets become bilingual only, official stamps are discontinued, the cello-paq miniature stamp panes are introduced, the first se-tenant stamps appear in 1957, the postal rates are largely unchanged, with air-mail becoming the standard for most mail. But by far the most dominant aspect to the stamps of this period is the introduction of paper fluorescence in early 1960 or so, and the introduction of Winnipeg tagging in 1962, to facilitate mail sorting. Many issues of this period can thus be found on non-fluorescent and papers containing some fluorescence, mostly in the form of fluorescent fibres of varying brightness levels. Experimentation was done for the tagging also and came in the form of different tag bar configurations on the sheets, different spacings between the tag bars and different intensities of the taggant on the stamps.
However, it may surprise collectors to learn that there were other changes introduced during this period that impact the issues. The Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN) had, up to this period been using line perforating machines that gave a gauge of exactly 12.0. However, at some point early in the 1950’s we begin to see the appearance of 12.15, 11.9 and 11.95 gauges, as well as compounds thereof. This makes the collection of the 7c, 10c, 15c, 20c, 25c and 50c high value stamps particularly interesting because these stamps can be thought of as being part of all three definitive issues that appeared during this period: the Karsh issue, the Wilding Issue and the Cameo issue. Then, around 1961-1962 we see the appearance of the 11.85 gauge and at this point only 11.85, 11.95 and compounds of these are found on all issues to 1972.
The stability in the postal rates makes it possible to collect the postal history for all the issues that came out, due to the large number of commemorative stamps that were issued during this period. Nonetheless there are many items such as the miniature panes that are very difficult to find on cover.
Coils and booklets continue to show the many collectible varieties that they did before, but by now, there are no French booklets, and by 1954, all booklets are bilingual only. There are some shade variations on a few of the blue stamps, and the violet stamps. but not too many other than that.
The plate blocks are a very interesting aspect to this period, despite there being fewer plates for most values. In addition to plate numbers, one can find different configurations of dots in the margin of the blocks, whose exact origin is unknown, but are thought to denote different printings from the same plate. When you combine differences in the spacings of words in the plate inscriptions, with the different dot configurations, with paper varieties, with shades, the 1954-62 Wilding issue becomes every bit as complicated and fun to collect as the Admiral issue, but at a fraction of the cost.
Finally, this period is really the last one in which you find a lot of different cachet makers producing first day covers. Many are relatively common, but some of the hand-painted watercolour cachets are highly sought after and rare.
The Centennial period, from 1967 to 1972
Of all the periods for Elizabeth II, this is probably the most popular with most collectors, because of the Centennial issue, which receives a lot of attention. However, the commemorative issues from the period have not, until very recently, received much attention at all. This is the period during which all varieties to do with paper appear: all different varieties of fluorescence, and chalk coated papers, which appear for the first time.
This is also the period during which many other game-changers occur: coils are now only sold in rolls of 100, which are broken off larger sticks containing 10 rolls. Thus, the possibility of imperforate between varieties on the coil stamps occurs, as do all the usual spacing and jump varieties. The use of photogravure and lithography is expanded during this period after first being introduced in 1964 with the Provincial Emblems issue and 1965 Churchill issue. Se-tenant stamps now become a normal and often used format, with several of the commemorative issues being printed this way. Gum becomes a major issue during this period with the normal dextrin gum giving way to a hybrid of PVA and dextrin gum that we call “spotty white gum”, before becoming PVA gum. There is also an invisible gum, called DAVAC, which first appeared on the Highway Safety issue of 1966, which appears again on the Centennial commemorative stamp and never again, though the postal scrip stamps of this period and Saskatchewan Law stamps printed during this period can be found with this gum. Cello-paq panes and stapled booklets are both discontinued during this period in favour of larger, integral booklets that have the se-tenant booklet pane attached to the booklet cover, by a selvage tab. These were printed by the British American Bank Note Company (BABN), which appears on the Canadian stamp scene for the first time since 1934. Finally, Winnipeg tagging is phased out in favour of Ottawa General tagging, which at first is found to be migratory and unstable (OP-4 compound), but is chemically altered and perfected by the end of 1972 (OP-2 compound).
This period is marked by three separate postal rate increases: an increase in the local domestic rate from 5c to 6c in 1968, followed by increases to 7c in mid 1971 and 8c by the end of 1971. This creates a fairly narrow window between mid-1971 and the end of 1971 for the 7c rate, and so covers from this period are relatively scarcer than from other periods, and there is also a 25c airmail rate to Asia and Africa during this period that is quite a bit scarcer, than the standard 15c rate to Europe. It can be quite a lot of fun to collect the 7c local covers and 25c airmail covers with different frankings used to pay the rates.
Finally, it is during this period that a new printing firm, Ashton Potter, makes its first appearance, introducing multi-colour lithography to the production of stamps and breaking the monopoly that had been held by the CBN and BABN.
The Caricature period, from 1972 to 1978
When I was a boy back in the late 70’s and early 80’s I remember thinking that this period had nothing to offer the specialist, as almost no varieties were listed in any of the catalogues. Most all stamps from this period are tagged as the norm, fluorescent papers are the norm and there were only a few perforation varieties listed on the 10c-$1 definitives of the Caricature issue. However, much research done over the past 40 years reveals that nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, this period boasts a level of complexity that is on a par with the earlier periods.
Where this period really shines is in the paper varieties and constant plate varieties, with postal history coming in a close third, in terms of top areas of interest. This is the first period in which coated papers become the norm for stamp production. They were introduced in the previous period, but it is here that the experimentation with printing inks and tagging occurs that allow the postal administrations to overcome some of the problems caused by having a chalk coating on the paper. The tagging transitions from the unstable OP-4 3 mm tagging, to stable OP-2 3 mm tagging and finally to the 4 mm OP-2 tagging that is used now. The use of the chalk coatings means that paper fluorescence is different on the front and back of stamps, so that a very large number of different paper types emerge. In addition, the chalk-surfaced papers are found with both ribbed and smooth textures between 1972 and 1976.
In addition to the introduction of coated paper, this is also the period in which line perforating is abandoned completely in favour of comb perforating, which is done first using a 12.5 x 12 gauge and then 13.3. Comb perforating had been introduced on the Centennial issue by the British American Bank Note Company (BABN) and perfected by them, but the CBN had a lot of difficulty perfecting this technique on the low value Caricature stamps as can be seen from careful study of full sheets, where one can see unceremonious gaps between successive comb strikes, double strikes and misalignments between strikes, before eventually perfecting the technique.
The constant varieties are perhaps the most misunderstood of all the areas to study during this period, largely because the exact printing layouts of the sheets and panes for many of these issues is not well known, even though the sheet size is known. Thus, there are many varieties that exist, that are thought not to be constant, which actually are constant, but only occur every 4 or 5 sheets in the print run. Thus, many collectors wind up vastly underestimating the true scarcity of a number of these vary significant flaws. One has to remember that a relatively minor looking flaw or variety during this period is actually very significant in most cases, unless it is a random “donut” flaw caused by a dust speck on the plate.
Although all stamps are supposed to be tagged during this period, most all issues exist with the tagging omitted in error. Most are very scarce, being valued at $75-$150 per stamp, so this is a very challenging and expensive aspect to the collection of these issues. Indeed, it could keep even the most diligent and patient collector occupied for years, or even decades.
This is really the last period in which one can find surface mail rates and the third-class mail rate, though both are quite uncommon by now. The se-tenant blocks and pairs, which are now fairly common, do not correspond to the local and foreign basic airmail rates, which are now the same for every country, at 15c per ounce. So, finding covers with proper usages of the high value commemoratives, such as the Olympics stamps, the semi-postals and the se-tenant pairs and blocks, is quite challenging and fun. Most will be found only on foreign and domestic registered covers where they exist at all.
During this period Ashton Potter becomes the main printer of all commemorative Canadian stamps, with the CBN and BABN only printing the definitives and a few commemorative stamps.
The Abitibi-Price period, from 1978 to 1983
This period I have named after the paper company that supplied all the paper to Ashton Potter, the CBN and BABN, until its bankruptcy in 1983-1984. This period is marked by annual postal rate increases after 1982, and an increasing prevalence of se-tenant combinations of stamps that do not correspond to the postage rates, making the collection of any covers other than domestic covers challenging, fun and rewarding. In addition to the rate increases, Canada Post went from Imperial to metric in 1979, which creates a very short period during the 17c period where the rate was for ounces as opposed to grams.
The period is marked by fewer tagging errors and most of the interest outside of postal history comes from the errors, the paper varieties, of which there are still many, most of which remain unlisted in Unitrade to this day, and the constant plate varieties.
The bankruptcy period, from 1983 to 1998
This period is so named because the main paper supplier, Abitibi Price went bankrupt, which forced the sourcing of paper from different suppliers and results in the appearance of 8 different paper manufacturers, which are now largely identified right on the sheet inscriptions. These papers all have individual textures, thicknesses and gums that make them identifiable to experienced collectors. These papers are:
Each issue released during this period was typically found on one type of paper only, though occasionally, an abnormal paper type that was not supposed to be used is found, such as the 74c Wapiti definitive on Rolland paper (normally found only on Harrison paper). Naturally, this creates the possibility that other rarities may emerge also through careful study of the papers. In addition, though most of these papers are non-fluorescent, Rolland and Peterborough papers show a wide range of different fluorescences, and some varieties of Harrison paper are found to be fluorescent as well.
During this period Ashton Potter also went bankrupt and was reorganized into Ashton Potter Canada. This necessitated the involvement of Leigh Mardon, an Australian printing firm, in the production of stamps between 1993 and 1995, while this was taking place.
Perforation differences, many of which were never announced by Canada Post appear on several of the issues during this period, both definitive and commemorative. Many of these are extremely rare, especially in the blank field stock corner blocks. Again, the possibility of further discoveries that have hitherto gone unnoticed all these years remains.
Finally, it is during this period that the booklets move from being a fixed denomination, with the number of stamps and pane layout changing, to a standard pane layout, which results in booklets of different face values. For first class definitives the booklet formats are 10 stamps, 25 stamps and finally 30 stamps, which replaces 25 stamps as the larger size in 1998. For US and International the panes are always 5 stamps plus a label during this period.
The Post 1998 Period
Most all stamps printed since 1998 are printed on non-fluorescent Tullis Russell Coatings (TRC), JAC paper, Fasson paper, or Spicer paper. Consequently, there are very, very few paper fluorescence varieties to be found during this period. All stamps are tagged also with mainly 4-sided General Ottawa tagging, with very few errors being noted. Thus, two of the aspects that provided the most interest to the earlier periods of the reign, provide little to no interest to this period.
Instead, almost all the interest in this period comes from the transition from perforated stamps on water-activated, gummed sheets, to self-adhesive, die-cut stamps. Different die cutting mats were used for many issues, which results in different die cut sizes being collectible. This is the first period in which most stamps are only found either in souvenir sheet, coil or booklet form. Furthermore, distinguishing between coil stamps and booklet stamps often depends on the appearance of the die cuts, since they appear identical in all other respects. Coils become interesting to collect again, with Unitrade listing starter and end strips, as well as gutter coil strips. Many of these are quite hard to find, as they were not stocked by dealers, due in large part to the very high face values now, and resultant cost.
Booklets continue to be issued in fixed pane formats, resulting in differing face values as postage rates increase. Labels are eliminated completely from panes, so that now, the international, oversize and US booklets contain 6 stamps and the domestic booklets contain either 10 or 30 stamps.
Field stock panes have disappeared, so that all panes printed have inscriptions, and sheet sizes are generally much smaller now than 50 or 100 stamps, being as small now sometimes as just 8 stamps, or 16 stamps. Booklets continue to be available in philatelic and field stock formats. From 1998 until 2003, the distinction between the two lies in whether or not the booklet is open or closed and the UPC barcode on the booklet itself. However, after 2003, all booklets are open and the distinction can only be made by carefully examining the barcode, which will be different for philatelic stock and field stock booklets.
This period sees the introduction of “Permanent” non-denominational stamps, for the first time since they were experimented with in 1981. Postage rates increase almost annually, with a dramatic 22c increase from 63c to 85c in late 2014. This, combined with the very large number of souvenir sheets issued, provides a very interesting challenge in collecting the postal history, much of which will not have been saved by anyone, as it is all so recent.
Finally, Lowe Martin replaces Ashton Potter Canada as the primary producer of Canadian postage stamps, most likely because their expertise lies in the production of the die cut self adhesives, which form the bulk of the postage stamp issues now.
So, there you have it: my synopsis of the collecting possibilities that exist for all the stamps issued after 1934. In my opinion, you could just choose to focus on mint singles and I think you would be occupied for a long time. But if you tackle the postal history of the Elizabethan period and just focus on the se-tenants and souvenir sheets, I very highly doubt that even with unlimited resources that you could locate it all. Who said this was just “postage” again?
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At first glance, the gum appears to simply be a uniform PVA gum. While it is true that the gum is indeed PVA, there are some subtle differences in the sheen of the gum found on some stamps that suggests that there were slight differences in chemical composition of the gum used. Furthermore, the gum used by BABN appears to be different from the gum used by CBN on their stamps. I will spend some time discussing these differences, all of which are considered by Unitrade to be too specialized to warrant mention in their catalogue.
The chalk surfacing is an aspect of the paper that Unitrade has begun to pay attention to in recent years. I will discuss and show the differences between the vertical ribbed surfacing, what Unitrade calls the horizontal ribbed surfacing, and the completely smooth surfacing of the later printings.
Gum Used on CBN and Ashton Potter/BABN Printings
The gum found on the CBN printings of the low value prime minister's sketches and the Ashton Potter/BABN printings of the $1 and $2 is very similar. The gum generally is quite thinly applied because the texture of the wire-side of the paper is not at all obscured by the gum. The gum itself is colourless and under magnification, some very minute cracking is visible.
Where the gum does differ between printings is in the sheen. Normally, on most of the earlier CBN printings, the gum has a universal satin sheen in that it reflects a fair amount of light that shines down on it. Later printings can be found with a gum that is more matte, reflecting less light than the normal gum. I call this the eggshell PVA, being that the sheen is more of an eggshell, rather than a satin sheen.
The picture below shows two stamps with the normal satin PVA gum:
So, if you look at the above picture, you can see that the gum does reflect a fair amount of light, and that the texture of the paper is visible through the gum.
The picture below shows an example of the eggshell PVA gum on a stamp that is printed on ribbed effect paper (I will discuss this in my next post):
Here, you can see that this gum is quite matte and does not reflect much light at all. Also, the texture of the paper is readily visible in the gum.
In my examination of thousands of stamps, I have found that the matte PVA gum only seems to be found on later printings of the low values and the coil stamps. Given that the 8c coil does not appear until April 1974, it would appear that this gum is found on printings after March 1974. Most all of the CBN printings of the 7c and 8c values, issued in late 1976 and 1977 are generally all found with the matte gum. The $1 and $2 values are generally only found with the satin PVA gum.
Gum Used on BABN Printings
The gum found on the BABN printings is generally very uniform in appearance and smooth, appearing to be a bit thicker than the gum used on the CBN printings of similar stamps. Like the gum found on CBN printings of the low values, it is generally colourless. However on the mid-values and $1 stamps, it is a very light cream colour. I know this because used examples of these stamps appear much whiter on the back than gummed examples, which suggests that the gum itself is actually a light cream colour. Unlike the CBN gum, the BABN gum is smooth and does not show the texture of the underlying wire side of the paper. It also reflects a satin sheen when viewed at an angle to a light source.
The picture below shows a CBN printing of the 8c Queen Elizabeth II stamp next to a BABN printing:
The BABN printing is shown on the right, while the CBN printing is shown on the left. As you can see, there is no significant difference in the sheen of the gum, except that the CBN printing is a little more matte. What is different is that the BABN printing has a much smoother appearance, while the CBN gum shows the texture of the wire side of the paper that it has been applied to.
In addition to the smooth gum, some of the very last printings of the BABN booklet stamps made in 1977 and 1978 are found with gum that shows distinct vertical ribbing on its surface. I have not seen used examples without gum that show the ribbing in the paper, which leads me to conclude that it is a feature of the gum, rather than the paper. It has listed in Unitrade on some stamps of the 1977-1982 Floral Issue, but it is not listed on this issue. The picture below shows the difference between the smooth an ribbed gums:
The stamp on the left is a booklet single of the 10c Queen with the ribbed gum, and on the right, a sheet stamp of the 10c, with the normal, smooth gum.
This picture shows several printings of the 10c forests stamp, each with the light cream PVA gum. There is one printing of the 10c I have found that has colourless gum, as it appears the normal white paper colour on the back. I have not found this on any of the other values in the set.
Chalk Surfacing on Mid and High Value BABN Printings
The initial printings made of these stamps in 1972 were made using a chalk coating that left a ribbed appearance on the paper the coating was applied to. I know that it was not used after 1972 because it is only found on the 1972 commemoratives printed by BABN and not those issued in 1973. The ribbing can be seen as distinct vertical striations down the stamps, and these are most easily seen then the stamps are held at an angle to a strong light source. The high resolution scan below shows an example of the vertical ribbed coating on the 10c forests:
Here if you look closely, you should be able to see the vertical striations in the paper in the top selvage around the word "British" and at the top of the stamp near the postes/postage inscription.
Later, starting in 1973, this coating was replaced by a smoother coating. Initially this coating shows very, very fine horizontal striations that are much less distinct that run across the surface of the stamp and are barely visible in reflected light. Then in 1974 onward, the coating was made completely smooth and even. The scan below shows an example of the smooth coating on the same basic stamp:
Compare this image to the one above, and you should be able to see that the surfacing on this paper is completely smooth, while the other one is clearly ribbed.
The picture below shows both types in reflected light:
The ribbed coating is shown at the top of the picture, and is very clear, while the smooth paper coating is shown on the stamp underneath it.
This picture shows a stamp with the horizontal ribbed coating on the left, and the even, completely smooth coating on the right. The difference is too subtle to show up clearly in a picture like this, but basically the stamp on the right shows no striations across the design in either direction. In contrast, the stamp on the left shows very, very light horizontal striations across the design.
As you will see as you get into working with the stamps of this issue, the stamps with the vertical ribbed coating tend to be relatively common, at least with the OP-4 tagging or OP-2 3 mm tagging on dull fluorescent paper. However, the printings made on the smooth paper with the light horizontal ribbing are always scarce and worth a premium, as they were only made for a very short time before being replaced by the type 2 printings.
This concludes my examination of these two attributes and next week I will be ready to begin my discussion of the papers used for these stamps. Next week I will be focusing on the physical attributes of paper texture, thickness, and weave direction. Later, I will examine, in detail, the fluorescence levels of the papers. After that I can begin looking at specific values in detail.
]]>This is as far as all the standard catalogues go on this topic, and I might add that this is a much greater level of detail than the used to cover. When I was a young boy, the catalogues only distinguished between Winnipeg and Ottawa tagging and that was it. There were no listings for OP-4 versus OP-2 and no differentiation between 3 mm tagging bars and 4 mm ones.
It may surprise collectors to learn that there are actually two additional dimensions to study when looking at the tagging of this issue, as well as the various errors and shifts that are encountered as well. I will cover these two aspects in detail in the remainder of this post:
As we shall see the low values printed by the CBN show a considerable variation in how the tagging appears under normal light. On some stamps the tagging is so light that the stamps almost appear to be untagged. Most stamps have tagging that is a light yellowish cream - visible, but not dark. Still, there are other printings, usually later ones where the tagging is a very dark yellow. It is not clear whether or not these differences result from the application of different amounts of taggant, or whether they result from chemical variations in the taggant compound itself. However, they are very distinct, and I believe, collectible.
If you study the commemorative stamps of the period and then the stamps of this series you will also notice a difference in the way the tagging appears to have been applied to the stamps that were printed by BABN. For CBN, there is no difference - all the tagging appears smooth and solid - being very likely applied by flexography, which is the modern equivalent of typography. However, the BABN appears to have initially applied the tagging using screened photogravure, as clear screening dots can be seen in the tagging when it is examined under ultraviolet light. This did not appear to be satisfactory as it often resulted in weak and incomplete tagging bars. This can be seen on the 1973 Commonwealth Heads of Government stamps, where narrow appearing, weak and partially incomplete tagging is commonly seen.
It would appear that after re-designing their printing process, the BABN began using rubber cylinders to apply the tagging. I suspect that rubber was used as the tagging appears mottled and solid when viewed under ultraviolet light. This appearance is approximately the same as what we would expect to see if we applied paint to a wall using a rubber roller. This is generally how the BABN printed commemoratives and stamps of this series appear after 1974. Similar differences can be seen in the tagged stamps of other countries during this period. For example many of the stamps of Great Britain issued during this period show similar differences in the appearance of the tagging on stamps. So, to me, this supports the notion that this is a significant and collectible difference, when considering the tagging.
The remainder of this post will look at the basic differences between the tagging used by the CBN and BABN and will incorporate a discussion of these two aspects.
The Tagging Used by the CBN
The CBN used only OP-2 taggant on the low value stamps that it printed. In all cases, the tagging appears completely solid, both under normal light, and under UV light. The tagging was applied in bars that are 4 mm wide, down the vertical perforations on the sheets. The spacing between the bars is 16 mm.
Stamps printed by CBN can be found with either light tagging, moderate tagging and dark tagging. The scan below shows the different appearance of these types under normal light:
The dark tagging is shown on the right had 3c stamp, while the moderate tagging is shown in the middle stamp. The left stamp shows the light tagging. As you can see the differences between these stamps are quite noticable.
Here are the same stamps as seen under UV light:
As you can see, the tagging on all three stamps appears completely solid. However, the colour of the tagging does show a very subtle difference. The tagging of the lightly tagged stamps appears a distinct greenish yellow, whereas the darker tagging appears a pure, deep, bright, yellow that does not have the greenish tinge.
The darker tagging appears to correspond to the latest printings of these stamps, made between 1976 and 1978. I would suspect that the light tagging corresponds to the earlier 1973 and 1974 printings.
The coil stamps exhibit the lightest tagging of all. I have seen the moderate and light tagging, as well as an even lighter tagging that, for all intents and purposes, appears invisible in normal light. The scan below shows all three types:
The "invisible" tagging is shown on the 8c stamp in the centre, while the light tagging is shown on the left stamp, and the moderate tagging is shown on the right stamp. I have found that the tagging on these stamps tends to appear slightly greenish yellow, and have not seen any that are the really deep, bright yellow that the stamps with dark tagging are.
I have not seen any variation in the width of the tagging bars, nor have I seen any variation in the spacing between tagging bars. However, there are several instances on most values in which the tagging bars are shifted, resulting in 1 4 mm bar down the stamp. In some cases the bar appears more or less down the centre, on on other stamps, the bars appear at the extreme right, or left hand side of the stamp:
The stamp on the left shows a centre tag bar, and appears greenish yellow under the UV light, suggesting that it is from one of the earlier printings. The centre stamp shows a right hand band, while the right stamp shows a left hand band. These two examples both show the much brighter yellow that completely lacks any greenish undertone under UV light.
The BABN Tagging Used on The Sheet Stamps and Booklets
On the low value sheet and booklet stamps that the BABN printed, the same tagging configuration of 4 mm wide bands, spaced 16 mm apart was used. Generally, the tagging appeared much lighter than on the CBN stamps, with almost all stamps being of either the "invisible" or light variety. On many printings of the 8c Queen stamps, the blue ink has mixed in with the taggant compound, resulting in tagging that appears very light blue in colour.
The scan below shows three examples of BABN sheet and booklet stamps as seen under normal light:
The stamps at the sides have the "invisible" tagging, while the middle stamp has the light blue tagging described above. Generally this tagging can be seen if the stamps are held at an angle to a strong light source, as a slight sheen running down the stamps.
The picture below shows the appearance of these stamps under UV light:
It is difficult to see in this picture, but if you look at the bottom half of the right tagging bar of the middle stamp and the bottom of the left tagging bar of the right stamp, you can see the mottling of the tagging. The tagging generally appears greenish yellow under UV. The right stamp shows a hairline of tagging down the centre and left of the stamp. These varieties commonly occur on the booklet stamps printed by BABN.
Like the CBN printed stamps, the BABN stamps can be found with similar shifts in the tagging.
Tagging Found on the 10c-50c Values
The initial printings of these stamps had Winnipeg tagging that was applied down the vertical perforations in 8 mm bands that were spaced 15.75 mm apart. These bands appear light cream under normal light and bluish white under UV light. The tagging does exhibit a 1-2 second afterglow when the UV light source is suddenly switched off. The tagging bars themselves always appear dotted, as though applied using photogravure. After this was phased out, the next printings used OP-4 3 mm Ottawa tagging. This tagging appears a very similar colour under UV to the Winnipeg tagging, with some examples appearing more yellowish than bluish. The tagging bars were 3 mm wide, and were spaced 21 mm apart. Unlike the Winnipeg tagging, which appears as slightly darker bands along the sides of the tagged stamps, the OP-4 tagging bars are invisible under normal light.
The picture below shows examples of the Winnipeg tagging and OP-4 Ottawa tagging:
The OP-4 tagging is shown at the left, while the Winnipeg tagging is shown on the right stamp.
The OP-4 taggant was phased out by late 1972 and replaced by the more stable OP-2 taggant. Initially, the tagging was applied in 3 mm wide bands, spaced 21 mm apart, and later the bands were widened to 4 mm bands, spaced 20 mm apart. I have read in one of the philatelic publications a few years ago, I cannot recall where now, that some examples of the 10c have been discovered with 2 mm tagging bars. I have not seen these, so I cannot confirm their existence. The tagging generally appears mottled and applied with rubber cylinders.
The picture below shows both types of OP-2 tagging below:
The 3 mm tagging is shown on the left, while the 4 mm tagging is shown on the right. Generally the visibility in normal light of the 3 mm tagging varies from invisible, to just barely visible, as slightly shiny bands running down the sides of the stamps. The 4 mm tagging on the other hand is usually very clearly visible as glossy bands running down the sides of the tagged stamps.
I have not yet come across any significant tagging shifts on these, although Rose lists several varieties that can be found on all five of the medium values. I have come across an interesting tagging variety on the OP-4 printing of the 15c Mountain sheep, in which a spot of taggant has gotten on the mountain, resembling a "low moon", as shown below:
The Tagging Found on the BABN Printing of the $1 Vancouver
The printings of this stamp from 1973 to 1978 utilize the same tagging as the mid-values, with the only major difference being the spacing between the tagging bars, with those stamps having 3 mm bars being 44 mm apart and those having 4 mm bands being just 43.5 mm apart. This value however shows the full transition in the method of application used for the tagging, from photogravre to rubber cylinders. The first printings show tagging that has a clear "screened" appearance, while later printings show tagging that appears much more solid, only showing slight dotting. The later printings show tagging that has a full mottled appearance. In normal light, the tagging that is not mottled, is not clearly visible on the stamps. In contrast, the mottled tagging can always be seen as shiny narrow bands at the sides of the stamp.
The picture below shows all three of these tagging types:
The initial printing from 1973 is shown by the bottom stamp. Here, you can see that the tagging looks weak and incomplete compared to the other stamps above it. In actual fact, the tagging appears to have been applied by screened photogravure, which did not work well with the chalk coating. A later printing is shown by the top right stamp, which shows tagging that appears much more solid. The top left stamp is one of the later perf. 12.5 x 12 printings on hibrite paper that shows tagging that appears mottled, much like the tagging found on the perf. 13.3 printings.
This concludes my examination of the tagging. This leaves us with just the gum and the paper as the remaining characteristics remaining to study on these stamps. Next week I will look at the gum and the chalk surfacing found on the different printings of the stamps. Then, I will be ready to start discussing the papers used in depth.
]]>What is significant about the perforations of this issue is that rather than being predominantly line perforations, most of them are comb perforations. Indeed, this was the first time that CBN had printed stamps using this new perforating technique, and they experienced some difficulties before they ultimately got it right. Another significant point is that these perforation measurements are all exact. You will not find the kind of consistent variation with these perforations that you could expect to find on the Centennial issue, or the commemorative stamps issued prior to 1972.
Another aspect that is interesting is that there were different configurations of the perforations as they related to the sheets, which you can see if you study the appearance of the selvage on plate blocks and field stock blocks. Previously, most all line perforated stamps had the selvage perforated through on all sides of the sheet, as one would expect, because the perforating was done using a drum that contained the perforating pins, and which rotated up and down the sheet. With comb perforating, the perforating pins are pre-arranged in a comb pattern, which acts like a guillotine, and then the shearing action of this comb perforates the stamps. More than one strike of the comb perforator may be required where the sheets are larger than the comb. Ordinarily if the alignment between strikes is perfect, it is not possible to tell how many strikes were required to perforate the sheets.
However, fortunately, the alignment between strikes was not perfect, and if you know what to look for, you an see how many strikes were required to perforate a sheet. On some stamps, the selvage was perforated through, whereas on other stamps, the selvage was only partially perforated through, having just one perforation hole extending beyond the horizontal or vertical perforations. The remainder of this post will examine each of these perforations and discusses some of the variations that can be found, as well as how many strikes of the comb perforator was used to perforate the sheets, and finally what the arrangement of sheets in the print layout was likely to be.
The 12 x 12.5 Comb Perforation
The above block is a typical plate block of one of the low value stamps printed by the CBN. As you can see the selvage was fully perforated through on both sides. However, this was based on a specific width for the selvage tabs. You can often find blocks in which the selvage is missing 1 or 2 perforation holes to be fully perforated through. If you measure the width of the selvage tabs for these blocks, you will invariably find that they are wider than usual, which is why the selvage is not perforated fully through. The pictures below show examples of blocks in which the top or bottom selvage is not quite perforated through, and others where it is the side selvage that is so affected:
Here you can see that the top selvage is almost perforated through, missing only 2 perforation holes.
Here is an example of the lower left plate 1 block of the 2c Laurier which has left selvage that is perforated through except for the last perforation holes.
If you look carefully at these blocks you will see that the horizontal and vertical perforations are perfectly aligned, so that it appears as though the entire sheet is perforated with one single strike of the comb perforator. It is possible that some printings were perforated in this way, but what is far more likely is that 3 strikes of the perforator were required to perforate each sheet. If you look carefully at some sheets, you will see 2 spots where the vertical perforations do not quite line up: one near the top of the sheet and one near the bottom. This suggests three strikes were required and that the first and third strikes would have partially perforated the sheets above and below a sheet. The existence of side selvage that is not quite perforated all the way through suggests that the printing layout would have consisted of a rectangular or square arrangement of panes. The pictures below show two plate blocks that exhibit misalignment of perforations where one strike of the perforator ends and the other begins:
On this block look at the vertical perforations mid-way up the top stamps. You should be able to see a slight misalignment from where the bottom strike of the comb perforator ends and the top one begins.
Here we can see a block of 4 stamps from a booklet pane. At the very top of the block you can see double punching of perforations, which indicates that there were two strikes of the comb perforator. In all likelihood, the panes were arranged in large sheets, but further study would be necessary to establish the exact layout of the booklet panes.
In addition to the problems that CBN experienced with alignment of the perforations there are also instances in which unusual shaped perforations can be found - most likely the result of double punching of the perforations. The scan below shows an unusual elliptical perforation that I found on the lower rows of a sheet of 1c Macdonald stamps:
Look at how sharp and narrow those perforations become half way down the stamp. The perforations have an elliptical shape, rather than being round.
The BABN printings of the 7c St. Laurent and 8c Queen had the top and bottom selvage of the sheets perforated through, while the side selvage is imperforate, except for one single extension hole, as shown below:
On this block, the alignment of the perforations is such that it appears to have been perforated by a single comb strike. Generally the sheets appear to have been perforated by a single comb strike on these stamps, but the comb only extended slightly into the top or bottom selvage of many blocks, and on many blocks you can see two distinct strikes of the comb perforator, as shown in the scans below:
Here you can see two clear strikes of the comb perforator in the bottom selvage of the above block. This arrangement of perforation tends to suggest that the panes were arranged vertically in the print layout.
The 12.5 x 12 Comb Perforation
This perforation is found on the type 1 and first type 2 printings of the 10c through 50c values, as well as the first printings of the BABN printings of the $1 Vancouver. Generally on the 10c-$1 values, the side selvage is perforated through, while the top and bottom selvage shows only a single extension hole in the top or bottom selvage. This suggests a horizontal arrangement of the panes in the print arrangement.
On some blocks it is possible to see two comb strikes in the side selvage. The scans below show the typical appearance of these blocks:
This block likely comes from the right hand end of the print run, as there are no double strikes of the comb perforator.
If you look carefully at the type 2 pair of the 15c mountain sheep shown above, you can see a slight mis-alignment of the horizontal perforations in the left selvage tab. This suggests that there were two comb strikes and that this comes from one of the middle panes in the print run.
The 13 x 13.3 Comb Perforation
This perforation is only found on two stamps, being the 10c Queen sheet stamps and the 8c Queen sheet stamps from plate 6. In all cases, the selvage is perforated through on all sides. However, double strikes of the perforator can often be seen at the top and bottom of selected blocks. This suggests a vertical arrangement of the panes in the print layout.
Here you can just make out a second comb strike at the very bottom of the block.
Here, you can see a similar double comb strike, this time at the top of the block.
The 10 Line Perforation
This perforation was used only for the coil stamps. These coils were produced in large sheets that were line perforated, rolled up and scored between the rolls. I am positing that this was a line perforation from the fact that the earlier Centennial coils used the same line perforation, and I have never seen any mis-alignment of the vertical perforations in a pair, or large block.
The 11 Line Perforation
Given that this perforation is only found on other stamps printed by Ashton Potter, I am going to go ahead and guess that this is their perforation job, which explains why it is only found on the $1 and $2 values printed by them. You can clearly see in the above scan that it is indeed a line, rather than comb perforation. Also, the top and bottom and side selvage of all blocks is fully perforated through, as one would expect.
The 13.3 Comb Perforation
This perforation is only found on the last printings of the 10c-$1 values. Generally, the selvage of the sheets is fully perforated through, except for some printings of the 50c and all printings of the $1. On these, the side selvage is fully perforated and the upper and lower selvage shows only a single extension hole, suggesting a horizontal arrangement of the panes. On the other values, I have noticed double perforation strikes in the side margins, but never the top or bottom. Similarly, I have come across blocks that are not quite perforated through on the top or bottom, for the same reasons as the low values. Again, this suggests a horizontal arrangement of the panes in the print layout.
So there you have it. A seemingly simple topic which is actually more complicated than first appears. Next week I am going to look at the tagging found on these stamps.
]]>What I will do for the remainder of this post is show you a large number of the shade varieties that can be found on the stamps of this issue. I suspect that what I am going to show you here probably represents 75-80% of what can be found. I would imagine that patient exploration will turn up a few more varieties. In describing the shades, I will make reference to the colour names given in the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Colour Key.
The 1c John A Macdonald Stamp
The basic listed colour of this stamp is orange. However, this is a bit too simplistic, as the above scan shows. The most common colour is shown on the right and is a bright orange. The middle stamp is a noticeably deeper shade of bright orange, while the stamp on the left is a dull shade of orange. The stamps on the left and right come from the booklets that were printed by BABN and are representative of all the shades I have seen on these stamps.
The sheet stamps printed by CBN seem to exhibit two shades. The first is the deep bright orange shown above, and the second is a regular, pure orange shade, that lacks the brightness of the other. Both are shown in the scan below:
The deep bright orange is shown on the left, while the regular orange shade is shown on the right. The difference is subtle, but once you see it, it is quite distinct.
The 2c Wilfred Laurier Stamp
On this value, I have found three shades of green. Two occur only on the sheet stamps, printed by CBN, while the third is only found on the booklet stamps printed by BABN. The common shade, shown on the left stamp is closest to Gibbons' Myrtle green. The shade of the centre stamp is not as dark, and is a very close match to Gibbons' deep green. The booklet stamp on the right is a fairly close match to Gibbons' deep dull green.
The 3c Robert Borden Stamp
This stamp shows a surprising amount of shade variation. I tend to think of the colour as a maroon, that varies in terms of whether the dominant colour in the mix is purple, or whether it is brown, and whether the colour is warm in appearance or cold.
The stamp on the right is a very cold shade of maroon in which the dominant colour is brown. I have only seen this shade on the precancelled stamps, but I suspect it must exist on non-precancelled stamps as well. The most common shade seems to be the one on the second stamp from the left. This is a pure maroon shade in which no particular colour dominates.
The remaining two stamps are noticeably lighter shades, with the second stamp from the right being a warmer shade than the stamp on the left, which is more brownish, being best described as pale dull maroon, while the second stamp from the right is a pure pale maroon.
The 4c Mackenzie King Stamp
This is one of two stamps in the set for which I have not come across any significant shade variations. The colour is a charcoal black.
The 5c Richard Bennett Stamp
On this stamp, which is listed as rose-lilac, I have found two shades, both of which are shown below:
My observations in sorting this stamp lead me to think that both these shades are equally common, and can be found on any printing. The stamp on the left is clearly a deeper shade than the one on the right, and is a very close match to Gibbons' purple shade. The stamp on the right is closest to Gibbons' deep mauve, but is touch lighter.
The 6c Lester Pearson Stamp
On this stamp the shades of the BABN booklet stamps and the CBN sheet stamps are different. The colour is listed in Unitrade as red, but it is really closer to carmine-red or scarlet. The sheet stamps are found in three shades, as shown above. On the left, is the deepest shade, which is a very close match to Gibbons' deep rose red. The other two stamps are a distinctly brighter shade, and are shades of scarlet. The middle stamp is a perfect match to Gibbons's scarlet shade, while the stamp on the right is just a touch darker.
The booklet stamps are very similar in terms of intensity to the scarlet stamp in the centre, but if you compare them, they always contain a bit more carmine and less orange in the mix, and so they are shades of carmine-red. I have found some very slight variations, as shown below:
The right stamp is ever so slightly lighter than the left one. The lettering of Canada looks darker on the right stamp, though this is likely the result of ink contamination from the 8c Queen stamps, which occurred commonly on the booklets of this issue.
The 7c St. Laurent Stamp
I have only come across two shades on this stamp, both of which seem to be associated with either the CBN or BABN printing, but not both. Both shades are shown below:
The stamp on the left is the original BABN printing, and is a blackish brown. The stamp on the right is the later CBN printing and is a noticeably duller shade. It is actually a very close match to Gibbons' sepia.
The 8c Queen Elizabeth II Stamp
This stamp is listed in Unitrade as being either ultramarine or milky blue. Both shades, like the 7c St. Laurent stamp, are confined to specific printings, with the ultramarine typically being associated with the BABN printings, and the other shades being associated with the CBN printings.
The stamp on the left is a typical BABN sheet stamp from plates 1-5. The colour is very uniform on this stamp, and I have yet to see any significant variation. It is a perfect match to Gibbons' deep ultramarine. At first glance, the coil stamp on the right looks similar, but a closer look at the hair reveals that it is duller than the left stamp, and is not a shade of ultramarine. The middle stamp is a typical CBN sheet stamp in the listed "milky blue" shade. However, it is really closest to Gibbons' blue shade on the colour key. The coil stamp on the right is really just a slightly deeper and brighter version of the blue shade that appears on the centre stamp.
The 10c Queen Elizabeth II Stamp
Like the previous 8c stamp, I have found two shades, which are both confined to their respective BABN and CBN printings. The shade is described in Unitrade as carmine, and both shades are shown below:
Both shades are similar, but the shade on the left stamp, which is a coil, printed by CBN is warmer than the shade of the BABN sheet stamp, shown on the right. I have not found any difference between the BABN booklet stamps and the coil stamps. The CBN shade is a shade of carmine-red that contains a slight hint of brown, whereas the BABN shade is a pure carmine-red.
The 10c Forest Stamp
On this stamp, I have found very little variation in the green colour, but quite a bit for the orange. The largest range of shades seems to occur on the type 1 printings, while the type 2's are fairly uniform for both the perf. 12.5 x 12 and perf. 13.3, but are different for both.
The scan below shows three different shades found on the type 1 stamps:
The left stamp and the middle stamp both show the same shade of green, but the orange is very slightly paler on the middle stamp, compared to the left stamp. The right stamp shows a slightly deeper and duller green and the orange is less yellowish than the first two stamps.
Here are some very distinct differences on the type 2's:
All of the type 2 stamps are printed using a green that is noticeably deeper than the ink that was used for the type 1 stamps. The orange ink is also less yellowish on the perf. 12.5 x 12 printings, while at the same time being paler than the orange on the type 1's. The orange on the perf. 13.3 type 2 printings is much deeper and brighter than on any of the previous printings, and it is only found on the perf. 13.3 type 2 stamps. The orange of the middle perf. 12.5 x 12 type 2 stamp shown above is very slightly paler than the type 2 stamp shown at the left.
The 15c Mountain Sheep Stamp
The only real variation I have seen on these stamps has to do with the brown that is on the bodies of the sheep and the grass. The two blue shades used to print the design, being the dull blue that was used for most all of the mountains and the outlines of the sheep, and the bright blue that was used to fill in the spot on the mountain for the type 2's and the bodies of the sheep, does not seem to show much, if any variation at all.
The scan below shows the two different brown shades that I have found on these stamps:
The first shade of brown, found on all the perf 13.3 type 2's ad some of the type 1's is closest to Gibbons' reddish brown, but is slightly paler. This shade is shown on the two outer stamps in the scan above. The second shade is duller and is shown on the middle stamp. This is a very close match to Gibbons' light brown.
The 20c Prairies Stamp
There is a high degree of uniformity regarding the colour on this stamp, with the only difference that I can see occurring with the orange colour. The lilac appears the exact same tone on all the printings I have looked at. The orange however on all the perf. 13.3 stamps that I have looked at is both duller and redder than on the earlier printings. It is more of a salmon colour than the earlier printings, which are more of a bright orange. The perf. 13.3 printing is shown on the left, while an earlier printing is shown on the right.
The 25c Polar Bears Stamp
On this stamp the colour that varies the most noticeably is the light blue, while the perf. 13.3 type 2 stamps are found to also be printed in a slightly duller shade of the dark blue than the type 1 and perf. 12.5 x 12 type 2 stamps.
On the type 1 stamps, I have found two, very distinct shades of the light blue, as shown below:
If you compare these two stamps, you should be able to see that the light blue on the left stamp is both paler and greener in tone than the light blue on the right stamp. It is similar in tone to Gibbons's turquoise blue, but it is much, much paler. The stamp on the right is closest to Gibbons' greenish blue, but is paler.
The type 2 stamps all seem to show light blue shades that are most similar to the greenish blue shown above, but with slight variations in brightness. Below is an example of the type 2 in each of the perforations, 12.5 x 12 and 13.3:
The later perf 13.3 printing is shown on the left, while the perf. 12.5 x 12 printing is shown on the right. If you carefully compare the dark blue ink on both stamps, you can see that while the intensity is approximately the same for both stamps, the ink on the perf. 13.3 stamps is slightly duller. Also the greenish blue ink on the later printings is not quite as vibrant as it is on the earlier printings.
The 50c Seashore Stamp
On this stamp I have found four distinct shade combinations. Two of these occur on the perf. 12.5 x 12 stamps and comprise the type 1 and type 2 printings, while the other two occur on the perf. 13.3 type 2 stamps.
First, here are the the basic type 1 and type 2, that are both perf. 12.5 x 12:
The grey-green engraving shows little to no variation on these stamps, but the blue and tan colour are different on both printings. The type 1 stamps the blue is a violet blue which is heavily printed on the value and inscription, but very lightly printed for the rest of the design. On the type 2 stamps the blue is a deep royal blue and is more evenly printed across the entire design, making it appear much darker than on the type 1. The cliffs on the type 1 stamps are closest to Gibbons' cinnamon shade, while on the type 2 stamps they are closest to Gibbons' buff shade.
On the perf. 13.3 stamps, the grey green appears the same as in the perf. 12.5 x 12 stamps, and the cliffs appear a slightly lighter shade of the buff. The main difference between the shades on these stamps lies in the blue, as shown on the two stamps shown below:
The blue ink of the left stamp is an almost perfect match to Gibbons' deep blue shade, while that of the right stamp is closest to Gibbons' blue shade, but a touch duller.
The $1 Vancouver Stamp
I have not seen any significant variation in the shades found on the lithographed and engraved Ashton Potter/BABN printing of this stamp, nor have I seen much variation on the perf. 12.5 x 12 BABN printings, but I have found a lot of variation on the later perf. 13.3 printings.
On the perf. 12.5 BABN printings, the mountains always contain some of the lilac ink underneath the deep grey blue, so that they appear a dull violet blue. The green of the rocks in the foreground is always brighter than it is on the perf. 13.3 printings, being closest to deep yellow green on the Gibbons colour key. I have found two variations of the stamps from this printing, which differ according to the main colour of the rocks in the foreground. The two shades are shown below:
The stamp on the left has rocks which appear to be a more brownish colour, being closest to deep brown on the Gibbons colour key. The stamp on the right has deeper rocks which are more of a paler agate colour.
Most of the perf. 13.3 printings also contain lilac in the mountain, making them appear dull violet blue. However, there are some printings for which this lilac is very understated, making the mountain appear closer to deep grey-blue. The green of the rocks in the foreground is always duller on these printings, being closest to olive-green on the colour key. The rocks are always quite a lot darker than on the perf. 12.5 x 12 printings, being shades of blackish brown and agate.
The scan below shows four shade varieties on these printings:
The stamp on the left is the dull grey blue mountain, while the others are the dull violet blue mountains.
The $2 Quebec Stamp
This is the second stamp in the set, for which I have not found any significant variations in shade.
This completes my examination of the shade variations that can be found on this issue. Next week I will look at the perforations found on the stamps and some of the issues that occurred.
]]>One observation I can offer right upfront, is that most of the constant varieties are not anywhere near as common as you might think. I have examined several full sheets of the 8c Queen stamp and not found any of these varieties on any of them, which suggests that these varieties are only found on some, but not all of the panes that were printed.
Constant Varieties on the 8c Queen
Unitrade lists four constant varieties on the 8c Queen, All of these consist of dots of ink on, or near the Queen's face:
Unfortunately, even with 15 complete sheets or so of these stamps and thousands of singles, I have never located an example of any of these varieties. So they must be relatively scarce and must occur on only one of the panes in the printing layout. However, they appear pretty much as described, and I will try to add scans to illustrate as they become available.
Varieties on the Booklet Stamps
As McCann says in his booklet catalogue, the booklets of this issue suffered from notoriously poor quality control, which has resulted in numerous major and minor varieties occurring on the stamps contained in these booklets. Unitrade lists the following varieties on the booklet stamps:
I have never seen the "stuttering C" variety, but I assume that it is a "C" of "Canada" that is printed several times. The other varieties are all very self-explanatory.
The pictures below illustrate some of these varieties:
This picture shows one variation of the orange in the Queen's hair that occurred when some of the ink from the 1c Macdonald stamps wound up mixed with the ultramarine ink that was used to print the Queen. For some strange reason, the orange does not usually appear anywhere else on the Queen, except for the hair.
The next picture shows a weak example of the "Repeating 10's" variety:
When I first saw this variety, I did not recognize it because I expected the 10's to be vertical, in line with the normal 10's. In actual fact, with this variety, the 10's appear sideways. In most cases, only the "0"'s are prominent. But on stronger versions of the variety, both the 1's and the 0's are clearly visible.
In addition to the listed varieties, there are several unlisted ones. Most all of these are due to ink migration that occurred during printing, but nonetheless, they still make for some interesting displays. Below are some of the varieties that I have found on the booklets I have handled so far:
This is an example of a typical 25c booklet that shows evidence of ink migration between the different stamps: orange from the 1c to the 8c Queen, and ultramarine from the 8c Queen to the inscriptions of the 1c and 6c stamps. Below is a close-up scan of that migration:
Here, you can see the migration of the ink as lettering that appears almost black, instead of the normal orange or scarlet.
Here is the back of that same booklet pane showing a partial reverse-offset of the inscriptions:
This is a relatively common variety that does occur with some regularity on these booklets. So, it is not rare, but it is interesting nonetheless.
Below is another very striking non-constant variety that occurred on the 50c booklet, the "blob on 10":
This variety has occurred due to over-inking, and is almost certainly not constant, but it is very visually striking.
Unfortunately I do not have a lot of examples of the varieties that I originally found on these booklets, as I sold most of them to customers over the last year or so. However, I can generally describe most of them as follows:
I do have an example of the 2c Laurier booklet stamp showing red ink which has migrated from the 10c stamps:
Here, you can clearly see the red ink on some of Laurier's features, as well as in his hair. These are fairly common, although they do not occur on anywhere near every booklet printing. This is just one example - the red can appear in several different locations, and to differing extents.
Other Varieties
In addition to the constant varieties there are several other varieties that can be found on these stamps. Most consist of vertical hairlines that run through the design in various positions, due to cracking of the plates. I have seen these most commonly on the 2c, 4c, and 6c values, though I am confident that they exist on all values. Other varieties that I have found consist of random smudges of colour that can be found in the background. I cannot remember which values I had seen these on, but I suspect that if you look hard enough you can find examples on all values in the set.
The scan below shows an example of a typical hairline variety found on a 2c Laurier stamp:
Here, you can clearly see a vertical line that runs from the top of the design, to the top of the "2". It is not uncommon to find 2 or three of these fine hairlines on a single stamp.
The 8c Queen was a stamp that seemed to turn up several varieties other than those listed. That will be the subject I discuss next.
8c Queen
Unitrade lists only 1 variety that is not constant, and that is the spur on the "8" variety. I do not have an example to illustrate here, but it appears exactly as its name suggests. Other varieties involve damage to the letters of the inscription and extra dots of colour in various locations of the background. The damaged letters that I usually see are the second "a" of "Canada" and the "d" of "Canada", as well as several letters of the "postes/postage" inscription.
The following scans show some of these varieties:
This scan shows the damaged letters of the "postes/postage" inscription that results from dry inking.
This scan shows one of the many "dot" varieties that can be found on these stamps, which may or may not be constant, depending on what further research reveals. This one shows a dot to the left of the Queen's Tiara at the upper left corner of the design.
This scan shows the short "d" in Canada. Here you can see traces of where the top of the "d" would normally be, but a chunk of the ink has lifted clean off, resulting in a shortened "d".
This scan shows the damaged second "a" in "Canada".
I have found most of the damaged letter varieties on full sheets of stamps, though not on every stamp in the sheet, and not on all sheets. Therefore, I would conclude that these are not likely constant varieties, but occur with some regularity on a small proportion of the stamps. Interestingly, I have not found them on the CBN printings, but so far only on the BABN printings. I cannot remember how many dot varieties I found, but it was somewhere between 5-10 in various locations on the stamps.
This concludes my brief examination of the varieties found on the low value stamps of this series. Next week, I will explore some of the shade variations found on the stamps of this issue.
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Type Differences On The Landscape Designs
Except for the 20c prairies, all of the stamps from the 10c to 50c were printed using 2 plates, while the 10c was printed using 3 plates. In some cases, such as with the 25c, the two plates found are plate 1 and plate 2, with no plate 2 having been used. Usually, in the case of the 10c, 15c and 25c, the change from plate 1 to plate 2 brought with it, small, but distinct differences in the inking of the designs which have come to be known as the "types". In the case of the 50c, the two known type differences are both found on plate 1, which might explain why Gibbons does not recognize it as a legitimate type difference in the way that they do with other values.
The 10c Forests Stamp
On the 10c forests design, there are actually three layers of colour:
On type 1, the green background behind and around the word Canada is clearly cross-hatched. On type 2, this same shading appears much darker, and appears to be solidly inked, though it actually is not - it is still cross hatched, but spaced so close together as to appear solid.
In addition to the type differences that are listed in Unitrade, there is also evidence that different photogravure screens were used to print the stamps. This can be seen most clearly, by looking at the lettering and the numerals, and the two trees at centre left. On some stamps, the lettering and trees appear almost solidly inked. On others you can see evidence of the printing being made up of tiny dots, but the dots merge and form almost a solid mass of colour. Still, on other stamps from some of the scarcer printings I might add, you can see very clear screening dots that are distinct and separate from one another. Generally speaking the solid inking only appears on type 2 stamps, while the semi-solid inking appears only on type 1 stamps, and the dotted inking can be found on both types.
Below I show you two close up-scans of these differences, first on the stamps of type 1 and then on the stamps of type 2:
If you look at the stamp on the left you can see that all the photogravure portions of the green ink appear as clear dots. On the right you can tell that the printing is made up from fine dots, but at the same time it also has a somewhat solid appearance. These stamps are both type 1.
On the left you can see that the green printing is comprised of dots and the letters in "postes/postage" appear incomplete and broken. However, the orange appears much more solid. On the right, the inking all appears solid, with the letters "postes/postage" appearing complete and unbroken.
These differences are not listed in Unitrade, nor are they specifically mentioned in the handbooks that I have seen that deal with this issue. However, I think you would agree that they are at least as significant as the type differences, and should be studied.
The 15c Mountain Sheep Stamp
On this stamp, there are three layers of colour:
On Type 1, the shading in the mountain, off to the horizon looks more or less even. On Type 2, there is a solid patch of colour in the centre of the mountain. Below is a close up to show the difference clearly:
On the left is type 2 and on the right, type 1. Most all of the type 1 stamps I have seen that come from plate 1 show semi-solid inking on the brown photogravure portion of the design. All of the type 2 stamps I have looked at show solid inking on the brown portions of the design.
The 20c Prairies Stamp
As stated in the beginning of this post, this stamp was only printed from plates 1 and 3, and there are no known type differences. There are just two layers of colour:
The orange colour always appears as a semi-solid inking, with screening dots being visible on all the printings that I examined, including those from plate 3.
The 25c Polar Bears Stamp
Unlike the 10c and 15c, where the lettering and engraving was printed by photogravure, the lettering on the 25c is engraved. The design consists of two layers of colour on the type 1 stamps and 3 layers on the type 2's:
On the type 1 stamps, the shading both inside the bodies of the bears and in the shadows of the bears is more or less even in the middle, and a little darker around the edges. On the type 2 stamps, there is a heavy solid area inside each shadow and inside each body of each bear. A close up scan of these differences is shown below:
Type 1 is shown on the right, while type 2 is shown on the left.
All of the stamps that I looked at, whether or not they came from plate 1 or plate 3 (there was no plate 2 for this value) show azure that is almost solidly inked, with just a few screening dots visible at the edges.
The 50c Seashore Stamp
On this stamp there are three layers of colour:
On the type 1 stamps the blue is printed using very coarse screens, so that it appears light, and with screening dots that can clearly be seen under magnification. The lettering on type 1 stamps usually appears almost solid, but on the edges you can tell that they are printed from many, many dots placed close together. On type 2 stamps, most of the blue, especially the denser part of the water and the shading on the cliffs appears nearly solidly inked, and the lettering appears solidly inked. On the type 1 stamps, the beige colour appears almost solidly inked, whereas on the type 2 stamps it definitely appears solidly inked on all the stamps I examined.
The $1 Vancouver Stamp Printed by Photogravure and Engraving
This later printing of the $1, first issued in the fall of 1973, consists of four layers of colour:
There are no type differences per-se, on this stamp, except that I have noticed instances in which the agate colour appears solidly inked, which it does on most stamps, others where the screening dots are clearly visible and still others from the later perf. 13.3 printing where the rocks appear out of focus and blurry.
These differences are shown in the close-up scans below:
This picture shows the agate shading that appears more or less solid on the rocks. This is how most of the perf. 12.5 x 12 stamps appear and how some of the first perf. 13.3 stamps appear.
At first this picture looks similar to above, but if you look closely, you can see the individual brown dots that comprise the shading. This is only found on the perf. 12.5 x 12 printings.
These are the blurry rocks that only appear on the last printings perforated 13.3.
Varieties
A few constant varieties are listed in Unitrade, some of which are due to plate flaws, and others which are due to colour shifts.
The Scratch In The Mountain on the 15c Mountain Sheep
This variety occurs on position 10 of plate 1 only. Unfortunately, I have not come across an example I can scan, but it consists of a horizontal scratch through the top of the mountain at the upper right of the design.
The Brown Soil in "Canada" on the 15c Mountain Sheep
This occurs on position 94 of all sheets and is very similar to the vegetation invasion variety discussed below. A small smudge of brown appears inside the last "a" of "Canada". Again, I do not have an example I can illustrate at the moment.
The Blue Tail and Raised Rump Varieties on the 15c Mountain Sheep
This variety occurs due to a colour shift, and it involves the back of the sheep closest to the right side of the design. Normally the rump of the sheep is a smooth curve and the brown ink does not encroach on the blue ink and vice versa. A normal sheep looks like this:
Note how smooth the curve on the back end of the sheep appears.
Here is the blue tail variety:
This variety is caused by a rightward shift of the blue, causing the tail to detach from the rest of the rump and become visible.
Here is the raised rump variety:
Here, the rump appears disjointed. This is caused by a downward shift of the blue. Some might say that the brown is shifted up, but this isn't quite correct because the brown is clearly printed first, before the blue.
The Double Headed Sheep on the 15c Mountain Sheep
This variety is only listed by Unitrade as occurring on Type 2 and involves the first sheep from the left having what appears to be a double head. Unfortunately, the type 2 perf. 12.5 x 12 stamps are quite scarce, and I don't actually have any in my stock. So I am unable to show an example of it here, but it looks more or less like you would expect. According to Unitrade it results from a colour shift, but it is hard to see how this could be, given that the sheep is printed from a single colour.
The Siamese Bears on the 25c Polar Bears Stamp
Unitrade states that this variety is due to a colour shift. I had thought that this could not be the case, because the variety involves the joining of the bears that were both printed by engraving at the same time. A close up scan shows the variety below:
As the scan shows clearly, the variety is due to a different shade of blue ink. However, Robin Harris, the editor of Unitrade pointed out that a third cylinder of blue ink was printed over top of the bears, and that it is this colour that has shifted, resulting in the variety.
The 50c Seashore Stamp
According to Unitrade, there are six minor constant plate varieties that occur on these stamps, four of which occur on type 1 stamps and two of which occur on type 2. Having never seen these varieties I had to do some research to find out what three of them are. But I was unable to find information on the other three. I would be very appreciative if any of my readers can shed some light onto what the missing varieties are and if they can provide examples:
These varieties occur on positions 9 and 10 of the affected sheets. They are very light and difficult to see, which is why they aren't listed in Unitrade, I think. The scans below show examples of all three varieties, with varieties 2 and 3 occurring on the same stamp:
This scan shows the dot beneath the "t" of "Postes". The horizontal scratch is there too, but it is very light and you can only just make it out near the bottom, of the "5".
Here you can just see the small dot inside the "5" near the top of the inside curve.
The Type 2 perf. 12.5x 12 stamp also exists with what Unitrade calls the "Broken C". This variety involves a upward shift of the grey green into the blue water, causing the truncation of the "C" of "Canada" at the top. The scan below shows an example of this variety:
It is not a great image unfortunately, but it is the only one I could find.
The Short $1 Flaw and Dot After Postes on the $1 Vancouver
These varieties occur on positions 21, 22, 23 and 24 of all sheets of the lithographed printing of the $1. The Dot after Postes occurs on position 22, always in combination with the short $1 flaw. Basically with the normal stamp, the vertical line through the dollar sign extends all the way through on both sides. On the variety, the line does not extend beyond the top of the dollar sign. The high resolution scans below show the normal dollar sign and both varieties:
The normal dollar sign is shown on the left, while the short dollar sign is shown on the right.
This picture shows the dot after the "S" of "Postes" and the short dollar flaw.
The most popular way to collect these varieties is as a se-tenant strip of 5, which has four stamps with the varieties and the last stamp normal.
The Airplane in the Sky on the $2 Quebec
This variety, which occurs on plate 2 printings only, can be very easily missed if you are not looking for it, or do not not know what to look for. It is one of those varieties that looks clearer from afar than it does under magnification. It occurs on position 2 only, so it is always found in upper left plate blocks. Unitrade's illustration shows it as a black dash in the sky, but when you view it up close under magnification, it just looks like a light black smudge. The correct place to look for it is just above, and to the right of the third chimney from the left.
Other Varieties
I have come across some varieties which are not listed in Unitrade, but which occur with enough regularity that I feel that they deserve some mention here. They may or may not be constant, or at least semi-constant.
The "Vegetation Invasion" on the 10c
This variety I have only come across on the type 2 stamps. It consists of seepage of green ink into the white of the letters of "Canada" that make the letters appear as though vegetation is gradually encroaching it. Normally, the lettering for "Canada" is very sharp and clean, but on this variety it appears less sharp, as in the pictures below:
Here is the normal, clean lettering found on the type 2 stamps.
Here is the variety. Note how the blobs of green make it appear as though the letters are being overgrown by vegetation. I do not believe it to be a truly constant variety, as I have noted that it occurs in varying degrees of severity, with the above being one of the stronger examples. The scan shows two less severe examples, one from plate 2, and the other from plate 3, which is very minor indeed.
Here is the slightly less severe example of the variety that shows the ink being mainly confined to the "c", the "n" and the "d".
This is a very weak version of the variety, that just shows a small nick inside the lower half of the "C" of "Canada".
The "Bare Patch" on the 10c
I do not know if this is constant or not, but I have one example of type 1, in which there is a clear white patch in the green cross-hatched foliage where there would normally be solid colour. I believe that this may be due to a slight downward shift of the engraved colour. A close up scan showing the variety is shown below:
The Doubled Dollar Sign on the $1 Vancouver
I bought, quite some time ago, a pair of the $1 Vancouver, from the perf. 13.3 printing, in which one stamp shows distinct and partial doubling of the dollar sign on the left side. A close up scan is shown below:
I have no idea whether or not this is constant, as it is the first, and only example I have seen. I would greatly appreciate any input that readers can offer about it.
This concludes my examination of the type differences on the mid-values of the series and the constant and non-constant varieties on the mid-values and high values. Next week I will look at the low values and some of the varieties that can be found on those stamps.
]]>Today's post will serve as an overview of the issue and will outline what there is to collect and what attributes can form the basis for specialization. Then, like I did with the prior Centennial issue, my first series of posts will discuss, in detail, the various physical attributes of the stamps, as they pertain to the issue as a whole. Then, finally, I will write a post or two for each value of the series, depending on the level of complexity associated with it.
This is the first Canadian definitive set to be printed by three different printing firms: British American Bank Note Company (BABN), the Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN) and Ashton Potter. Unlike the previous Centennial Issue, which was printed by engraving only, this issue combines three different printing processes: engraving, photogravure and engraving and lithography. It was also issued in stages between 1972 and 1973, with subsequent printings of various values being issued until well into 1977. The low value sketches of the prime ministers and the Queen were issued On October 17, 1973, with the 7c value being issued on April 8, 1974, and the 10c value being issued on September 1, 1976. The mid-range values from the 10c to 50c were first issued on September 8, 1972. The first printings of the $1 and $2 were issued on March 17, 1972, so they were the first stamps to be issued. Finally, the later printings of the $1 were issued starting October 24, 1973.
David Annesley a sketch artist, designed the low value stamps, with the lettering designed by Ken Rodmell. The high values from the 10c to the $2 were designed by Reinhard Derreth after photographs by John De Visser (10c), Harry Rowed (15c), Chris Lund (20c), Ted Grant (25c) and Fred Ruggles (50c).
It is hands down, my favourite definitive issue, and the one that got me started on stamps, as I described in my background page. Without further ado, I give you the designs.
The Basic Stamp Designs
1c Orange - Sir John A. Macdonald
2c Green - Sir Wilfred Laurier
3c Purple brown - Robert Borden
4c Blue-black - William Lyon MacKenzie King
5c Rose-lilac - Richard Bedford Bennett
6c Scarlet - Lester Pearson
7c Sepia - Louis St. Laurent
8c Ultramarine - Queen Elizabeth II
10c Carmine - Queen Elizabeth II
10c Orange and green - forest scene
15c Brown and blue - mountain sheep
20c Deep lilac and orange - aerial view of prairies
25c Azure and dark blue - polar bears
50c Grey-green, beige and blue - seashore scene
$1 Vancouver, as seen from Kittsilano - lithographed printing
$1 Vancouver - BABN printing
$2 Quebec City
So there you have it: very different styles of design, which may not appeal to some collectors, but I quite like them, especially the sketches of the prime ministers. Now, I will provide an overview discussion of all the ways in which a collector can specialize in this issue and drill deeper beneath the surface of the basic stamps.
Stamps That Were Printed by More Than One Printer
Other than the $1 Vancouver, a number of the low value stamps of this issue were printed by more than 1 printer. All of the low values were printed by the CBN. But the 1c, 2c, 6c, 8c and 10c were all printed by the BABN also in booklet form, while the sheet stamps of the 7c, 8c were printed by both BABN and CBN, while the 10c Queen sheet stamps were only printed by BABN.
The coil stamps, mid-values and high values, with the exception of the $1 were only printed by one printer: CBN for the coil stamps, BABN for the other values to the 50c and Ashton Potter for the $2.
For the low values the main differences between the BABN and CBN printings lie in the paper, the appearance of the tagging and the colour. An example of the difference between the BABN and CBN printings of the 8c Queen is shown above. Typically, the paper of the CBN printings has a slightly rougher texture, the colours appear lighter and the tagging bars are usually much more visible, although the intensity of the colour does vary, with the example shown above being one with very dark tagging. In contrast, the paper of the BABN printings appears smooth, the colours are deeper and the tagging bars are usually almost invisible. On some printings of the 8c, the ink has mixed with the taggant compound, resulting in light blue tagging bars.
Type Differences on The Mid-Range Values
All of the mid-range values except the 20c are found to exist with two, slightly different versions of the design, that differ in small details. Typically these differences are attributable to a particular plate. The picture above shows two examples of the 10c forest stamp, with the right stamp being type 1 and the left stamp being type 2. The differences between the designs lie in the appearance of the shading around the word "Canada". On type 1 stamps, the background shading around the word Canada is clearly cross-hatched. On type 2, the shading appears solidly linked. For this stamp type 1 appears on all plate 1 printings, while type 2 appears on plates 2 and 3.
The close-up scan below shows the differences between the type 1 and type 2 designs more clearly:
I will illustrate the other type differences on the 15c, 25c and 50c in a subsequent post.
Shade Differences on The Stamps
Although Unitrade does not list any of them, most stamps of this issue can be found with shade differences that range from prominent to subtle. As I mentioned in the discussion of the different printings of the low values, there are clear shade differences on stamps printed by the different firms. However, even within the printings made by a particular firm, there can be some marked shade differences. For example the booklet stamps of the 2c Laurier can be found in a bright and dull green shade. Many of the CBN printings of the 1c, 3c, 5c and 6c can be found with subtle, but discernible differences in shade. The two examples of the 50c above show a prominent difference in the shade of blue on the cliffs. I will cover the major and subtle shade differences I have found in a separate post.
Differences in Paper Colour and Texture
Like the previous Centennial issue there are some subtle variations in the paper colour and texture. Most all of these were unlisted by Unitrade until the past 20 or so years when many began to be listed. Still, there are variations that remain unlisted, such as the one shown below:
The scan shows two examples of the Mackenzie King stamp, with the normal printing shown on the right. Usually the normal paper appears dead white. However, I have found some versions printed on a paper with a light brownish rose tint, such as the example shown on the left. Also, the initial printings of the mid-values are printed on a very light cream paper, while the later printings are on a dead what paper. You can see this difference if you scroll back and look at the scan showing the two types of the 10c forest stamp again.
One difference that is listed by Unitrade now is the ribbed papers. These are listed as occurring on some printings of the 1c, 2c, 4c, 6c and 8c. For some reason no examples of the 3c and 5c are known thus, though they may exist. The ribbed paper shows distinct horizontal ribbing on the surface. An example of the 6c Pearson on ribbed paper is shown below:
Another difference that is now listed in Unitrade concerns the different textures of the chalk surfacing that is found on the 10c-50c values. The early printings were produced with a distinct vertical ribbed effect on the surfacing, and some small portion of the printings were printed with surfacing that is smooth, except for some very light horizontal striations. Finally, the very last printings of these stamps, made after 1974 had completely smooth chalk surfacing.
Differences in Paper Fluorescence Levels
Paper fluorescence is one area in which this issue really shines in my opinion. Fluorescent papers are the norm here, as compared to the previous issue where dull paper was the norm. However, the fluorescence levels found cover the full spectrum, from non-fluorescent to hibrite. In addition, these fluorescence levels are different on both the front and the back of most stamps. While this might be expected on the mid-values and high values, where the paper is chalk-surfaced, it may surprise collectors to realize that they can be found on the low values as well, which were generally printed on uncoated paper.
Differences in Tagging
This is the first definitive issue in which all of the stamps, except the Ashton Potter printings of the $1 and $2 are tagged. Untagged examples of the values below $1 are errors and are highly sought after and scarce. Like the previous issue, the stamps can be found with a variety of different tagging formats:
In addition to the different formats of tagging, differences can be found in the intensity of the colour under UV and in normal light, as well as the positioning of the tagging on the stamp. Two examples of 1-bar tagging errors that result from shifting of the tagging bars, relative to the sheet are shown on the 2c Laurier below:
The picture above shows an example of a 1-bar right tagging error on the left, and a centre 1-bar tagging error on the right.
Perforation Differences and Anomalies
Like the previous issue, the stamps of this issue were printed using different perforations, and was the last issue to feature line perforated stamps, on the Ashton Potter printings of the $1 and $2. These are perforated 11. This was CBN's first time adopting comb perforating as well, since all the stamps they printed up to this point were line perforated 12 x 12.5, which was an entirely new gauge that they had not used before. They struggled with the process, as can be seen from the 2c pair below:
This pair shows a slight discontinuity in the vertical perforations which results from two strikes of the comb perforator not quite being properly aligned. Other examples of stamps and multiples can be found that show double punched perforations, extra large perforation holes, elliptical perforation holes and perforations that do not fully punch through the paper. These are only found on the CBN printings of the low values.
The BABN used a comb gauge of 12 x 12.5 on the booklets and 12.5 x 12 on the values from 10c-$1 that it printed from 1972 to 1976-77, when the gauge was 13.3. This later perforation is found on all sheet stamps of the 10c Queen and the last, plate 6 printing of the 8c Queen stamps.
Precancels
The low values of this issue printed by the CBN, except for the 4c and 7c exist precancelled with two pairs of horizontal black lines, as shown above. This is similar to the precancels found on the previous Centennial issue, except that here there are only 2 pairs of lines instead of the three pairs that are found on the Centennial Issue. Like the Centennial issue, the side margins of the precancelled sheets contain a warning telling people that these stamps are only to be used with the proper authorization.
Coil Stamps
The CBN printed coil stamps for both the 8c and 10c values, and an example of the 8c stamp is shown above. The 8c coils were issued on April 10, 1974, while the 10c coils were issued on September 1, 1976, at the same time as the sheet stamps. As with all CBN coil stamps, these also exist with the usual range of wide and narrow spacing varieties, as well as jump strips. The jump strips are much more tricky to identify on these, because there is no border on the stamp design, which would make the jumps more visible.
Plate and Corner Blocks
This is probably the most challenging aspect to forming a specialized collection of this issue. Most all stamps were issued with plate inscriptions like the block shown on the left, and most are found with 2-3 plate numbers, although the 8c is found with 6. However, it is now been determined that most of the scarce printings of the stamps of this issue were produced on field stock only. Thus many of the printings can only be found with blank corner blocks like the one shown on the right. Consequently, many are very scarce because until this fact came to light it was common practice for dealers to eschew field stock blocks, since they did not have inscriptions. Many were either broken up for singles, or otherwise used for postage, before anyone realized what they were.
Another interesting aspect to collecting the plate and corner blocks concerns the appearance of the selvage. On some stamps, the selvage is perforated through, while on other stamps it is either imperforate, or contains a single extension hole. Still, on others, remnants of holes can be found at the top or bottom of the upper and lower selvage tabs, which can serve as evidence that the panes were printed in a larger press sheet layout that was guillotined apart.
Booklets
On this issue there were three basic booklets issued: a 25c booklet, a 50c booklet and a $1 booklet. These followed the most popular booklets issued during the Centennial era. Only the $1.50 booklets were discontinued. All of the booklets were integral booklets printed by BABN. On both the 50c and 25c booklets the cover designs featured aircraft, and like the very last booklets issued for the Centennial series, 10 different designs were used for each booklet. The $1 booklet featured a stylized purple and red maple leaf design on the cover.
An example of a 50c booklet is shown below:
Here is the what the inside pane of the booklet looks like:
The number of basic booklet formats is much less complicated than the previous issue due largely to the fact that the method of production was not changed mid-issue and there were no postal rate increases until the end of 1976. However, which this issue lacks in basic differences, it more than makes up for in varieties. The quality control on these booklets was very, very poor, resulting in a lot of minor plate, inking and tagging varieties, as well as numerous variations in the fluorescence level and texture of both the stamp paper and cover stock.
Plate Flaws
This issue is found with a number of constant and non-constant plate flaws and varieties. Many of these are listed in Unitrade for the mid-values and the $1 Ashton Potter printing. The most famous of these is the "short dollar" flaw, which occurs on the Ashton Potter printings of the $1. This is shown below:
The left image shows the normal $ sign on the stamp. On this, the line clearly extends through both the top and bottom of the "S". On the short $ flaw, the line does not extend above the "S". A second version also shows a clear dot after the word "Postes".
The 15c, and 25c values exist with varieties that are the result of colour shifts, that are listed in Unitrade, while similar shifts on the 10c, 20c and 50c are not listed. The 50c is noted to exist with six minor constant varieties, though none of these are formally listed or illistrated in Unitrade.
The low values can also be found with a lot of minor flaws and hairline varieties that may or may not be constant. The 6c Pearson booklet stamp exists with a major re-entry, in which the word "Postage" is clearly doubled.
Sealed Post Office Packs
This is the first issue in which you can find sealed packs issued by Canada Post. These packs contained either:
The packs consist of a card insert bearing the Canada Post Emblem, which changed 3 times during the life of this issue, and the stamps or blocks. Not surprisingly, it is possible to find more than one type of pack for several of the stamps in the series. In addition the fluorescence of the insert cards can vary widely. This is an aspect of the philately of this issue which has not been completely explored. It is getting more and more challenging though, because many of these packs have been opened to get the blocks or single stamps. Consequently they are becoming scarcer and scarcer, with the passage of time.
First Day Covers
Most of the first day covers found on this issue are of the official Canada Post design shown above. Occasionally, you can find private cachets, though by now they are reasonably scarce. Canada Post used the same cachet for the original printings of the low and mid-values, and then a new cachet design when the 7c Saint Laurent and 10c Queen stamps were issued.
There are several ways that these can be collected. Firstly, they can be found franked with singles, pairs, blocks of 4 and plate blocks. Secondly, the fluorescence of the envelop stock can be found with several variations.
Postal History
Some very nice covers can be collected for this issue, despite the fact that the rates were much simpler by the time this issue was released. However, there are still rates like third-class mail and many different special delivery rates that make the collection of these covers interesting. In addition, there are lots of commemoratives, approximately 100 or so that can be found used in combination with the stamps of this issue, like the registered airmail cover to Vilnius, USSR shown above. Finally, because this set replaced the Centennial issue gradually, you can find many covers in which the franking consists of stamps of this issue as well as the Centennial issue. Many of these covers are not nearly as common as you might expect, and so they can represent quite a rewarding challenge for the patient philatelist.
This concludes my overview of this issue. Next week I will discuss the type differences on the 15c, 25c and 50c, as well as the constant varieties that can be found on the stamps.
]]>Ashton Potter printed all but one of these issues, with the Krieghoff issue being printed by an affiliate of the BABN, called Saults & Potter Ltd, a firm located in Winnipeg. This issue was the last commemorative issue to be printed both with and without tagging: all commemorative issues after this were regularly issued with tagging only. These issues were also the first group to be comb perforated only. However, as noted further in this post, four gauges are noted, although they do not appear to exhibit any real variation, so that the complication that existed in the prior period of the 1960's to early 1972 has now officially come to an end. This group also introduces a new issuing format: the mini-pane of 16 stamps. The Earth Sciences issue was printed in sheets of 128 stamps that were arranged in small sheets of 16 stamps, which were guillotined apart. This was also the first group of commemoratives to be produced entirely by lithography.
As always, this post will introduce the basic designs, give information about issue quantities and designers, before launching into a detailed discussion of all the physical aspects to the stamps.
The Stamp Designs, Issue Dates, Quantities, Designers and Printers
15c multicoloured - Earth Science Issue
From upper left clockwise: Geology, Geography, Photogrammetry and Cartography
Issued: August 2, 1972
Issue Quantity: 4,400,000 of each, including tagged and untagged.
Designed by: Fritz Gottschalk
Printed by Ashton Potter using Lithography
6c red and multicoloured - Christmas issue, depicting candles
Issued: November 1, 1972
Issue Quantity: 127,839,000 including untagged, Winnipeg tagged and Ottawa tagged
Designed by: Ray Webber
Printed by Ashton Potter using 4 colour lithography.
8c blue and multicoloured - Christmas issue, depicting candles
Issued: November 1, 1972
Issue Quantity: 80,025,000 including untagged, Winnipeg tagged and Ottawa tagged
Designed by: Ray Webber
Printed by Ashton Potter using 4 colour lithography.
10c green and multicoloured - Christmas issue, depicting candles and fruit
Issued: November 1, 1972
Issue Quantity: 11,400,000 including untagged, Winnipeg tagged and Ottawa tagged
Designed by: Ray Webber
Printed by Ashton Potter using 4 colour lithography.
15c yellow bistre and multicoloured - Christmas issue, depicting candles and fruit
Issued: November 1, 1972
Issue Quantity: 16,688,000 including untagged, Winnipeg tagged and Ottawa tagged
Designed by: Ray Webber
Printed by Ashton Potter using 4 colour lithography.
8c multicoloured - The Blacksmith's Shop, by Cornelius Krieghoff
Issued: November 29, 1972
Issue Quantity: 29,600,000 including tagged and untagged
Designed by: William Rueter
Printed by: Saults & Pollard Ltd. using 4 colour lithography
Paper Characteristics Other Than Fluorescence
As has been the case with the issues of 1968-1972, the stamps of the last few months of 1972 exhibit some significant variations in the attribute of the paper, other than fluorescence:
The scan below shows the difference between the white paper and the cream paper on two blocks of the 6c Christmas stamp, as seen from the back:
The normal white paper is shown on the left, while the cream paper is shown on the right. As you can see, the difference is quite striking. The paper appears different under UV light also, as we shall see in the next section.
The difference between the two papers used for the Kreighoff stamp is shown below:
The deep cream paper is shown in the block on the left, while the white paper is on the right.
Paper Fluorescence
Generally speaking, these issues are all thought of by philatelists as being printed on highbrite paper. However, all of them do exhibit variations, on both the front and back that range from true hibrite to dull fluorescent. Also, many of the papers contain concentrations of brownish woodpulp fibres, that have the effect of toning down the perceived fluorescence from where it would otherwise be.
The Earth Sciences Issue
This issue is found with three levels of fluorescence on the front of the stamps: high, medium and low fluorescence. On the back, the fluorescence varies from medium to low fluorescence, with the paper containing a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres. The main differences in the appearance of the papers on this issue is shown in the pictures below:
Here, the high fluorescent paper is shown in the middle, the low fluorescent paper is on the right, and the medium fluorescent paper is shown on the left.
This picture shows the medium and low fluorescent papers on the back of the stamps. The low fluorescent paper is shown in the block at left, while the medium fluorescent paper is shown on the right. The low fluorescent paper is actually dull fluorescent, and contain a medium density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, very sparse concentrations of high fluorescent and hibrite fibres, and a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres. The medium fluorescent paper is actually low fluorescent, with a medium density concentration of medium fluorescent fibres, a very sparse concentration of hibrite fibres and a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres.
The Christmas Issue
I have found four distinct varieties of fluorescence on the front of these stamps as well as the back. On the front, the stamps can appear to have:
The pictures below show these differences on the front of the 6c value of this set:
The above two blocks show the second and fourth types, discussed above. The high fluorescent paper is on the left, while the low fluorescent paper is on the right. Note that the fluorescence appears even over the whole block.
Here we have the mottled fluorescence. The high fluorescent paper is shown on the left, while the low fluorescent paper is on the right.
On the back, we also have four varieties. Two of these are high fluorescent and very close to one another:
The picture below shows these differences as seen from the back of four blocks:
The top two blocks are the high fluorescent paper, while the bottom left block is the medium fluorescent paper and the bottom right block is the low fluorescent paper.
The question then arises as to which combinations of front and back fluorescence exist? The following are the combinations that I found on the 6c, which is the most widely printed of the four values:
I would expect that these combinations and possibly more should exist for all four values in the set.
The Cornelius Krieghoff Stamp
This stamp exists with all five major levels of fluorescence on the front: hibrite, high fluorescent, medium fluorescent, low fluorescent and dull. On the back, I have found three levels of fluorescence: dull flecked, medium fluorescent and high fluorescent. Without a doubt, the majority of stamps are hibrite on the front and high fluorescent on the back. The scarcest stamps are those with high fluorescent front and dull fluorescent flecked back, and the low fluorescent and dull fluorescent front stamps.
The following pictures show the differences on the front and back of various blocks of this stamp:
Here we have the true hibrite paper on the left, and the high fluorescent paper in the right.
The block on the left is the medium fluorescent paper, while the middle block os low fluorescent and the right block is dull fluorescent. The medium fluorescent paper looks brighter here than the two blocks in the last picture, but only because it has been placed next to the low and dull fluorescent blocks.
Here are the high and low fluorescent papers, as seen on two blocks taken from the back. The difference here looks only slight, but it is quite pronounced. The high fluorescent paper contains a low density concentration of high fluorescent fibres and a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres. The medium fluorescent paper is similar, except that the fluorescence level of the paper and fibres is medium fluorescent, rather than high fluorescent.
In this picture we see the dull fluorescent flecked paper contrasted to the medium fluorescent paper that was shown above. The dull fluorescent paper is deep grey, with a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres.
In terms of combinations of front and back fluorescence, I have seen five varietes as follows:
I would expect that all of these varieties could, and should exist with Ottawa tagging, as well as being untagged.
Shade Variations
Although there are not many shade variations on these stamps, there are a few to be found on the Christmas issues and the Krieghoff issue. Most of these have to do with the amount of fine black that is mixed in to the background colour to form the shadows. The picture below shows these differences on the 6c Christmas stamp:
This picture shows a lower left field stock block, with the left pair of another block placed over the top. If you compare the right and left vertical pairs you can see that the right one is noticeably darker than the one of the left. If you look under magnification, you can see that this is because there are many more fine dots of black colour in the background of the right pair than there are on the left block.
Here we have three shades of the 8c. The normal darker blue with a hint of violet is seen in the centre vertical pair. If you compare this to the two pairs on either side, you can see that the other two pairs are printed in a blue that is somewhat greenish by comparison. Finally, if you compare the left and right vertical pairs carefully, you can see that the left pair is printed in a slightly brighter blue than the block on the right.
Here are two distinct shades of the 10c. The block on the left is printed in a deep yellow green, while the block on the right is a more bronze green shade.
Finally, we have two shades of the 15c, yellow bistre, showing the normal dark shade on the right, and a much lighter shade on the left.
On the Krieghoff stamp the difference in shade is harder to describe. The difference lies mainly in the appearance of the sky, which appears to contain more yellow and less greyish blue.
Gum Varieties
The gum used on these issues is remarkably uniform. It is a very light cream coloured, and smooth PVA gum that has a satin sheen. I have not found any significant variations in the gum on these three issues.
Perforations
All of the stamps from these issues are comb perforated and they are found with found with four different guages:
I have not found any variation in the measurements of these gauges. However, there are differences in the configuration of the perforations on the sheets, as well as differences in the size of the perforation holes.
Configuration of the Perforations
The sheets of the Earth Sciences and Krieghoff issues had selvage that was perforated through on both sides. However, the Christmas issue is found with the left selvage imperforate on philatelic stock and with perforated left selvage on field stock. In all cases, the right selvage, bottom selvage and top selvage is imperforate. The picture below shows these differences on two blocks of the 6c Christmas stamp:
Note how the horizontal perforations on the left block do not extend into the left selvage, whereas they do on the right block.
The Size of the Holes
I have noticed that on the 6c and 8c Christmas stamps and the Krieghoff stamps, there are differences in the size of the perforation holes. Normally the holes are as wide as the perforation tips that separate them, so that the perforation tips are not sharp. However, some examples show holes that are very clearly wider than the perforation tips, which causes the perforation tips themselves to appear quite sharp. These differences are shown on the two 6c Christmas stamp blocks below:
If you look closely at these two inscription blocks and compare the perforations, you can see that the holes on the right block are very slightly larger than the left block, and that consequently the perforation tips are sharper.
Winnipeg Tagging
The Christmas issue is the very last issue to exist with Winnipeg tagging. Only the Winnipeg tagging found on these stamps is quite unlike any of the examples that preceded it. For starters it is almost completely colourless, does not glow under UV and can only really be seen by tilting the stamp to a light source and seeing a band that appears duller than the rest of the stamp as shown below:
In this picture, which is somewhat out of focus you can see a dull 4 mm wide band running down the centre of the stamp. This is the Winnipeg centre bar.
The 6c was tagged with 4 mm bands that ran down the centre of stamps and were spaced 20 mm apart in the horizontal direction. On the 6c, the bands appear to not extend past the printed design and into the margins. However, if you hold a corner block up at an angle to the light, you can see that the bands do extend slightly into the top and bottom selvage.
The 8c, 10c and 15c values were tagged with 8 mm bands that were applied down the vertical perforations. The bands applied at the sides of the sheets were only 6 mm wide, rather than 8 mm everywhere else on the sheets. On the 8c value, they are spaced 16 mm apart in the horizontal direction.
Ottawa Tagging
All three of these issues exist with 3 mm OP-2 Ottawa tagging. The tagging is just visible in normal light, as thin bands at the sides of the stamps, along the perforations that stop just beyond the margins of the stamps, protruding just slightly into the selvage. Under UV, the colour varies from a deeper greenish yellow, to a slightly lighter, brighter greenish yellow, as shown in the picture below:
The block on the left has the slightly deeper coloured bands than the one on the right. The difference is difficult to see in the picture, but can be seen if you closely compare the two bands at the extreme left of each block.
The spacing between the tagging bars on the Earth Sciences stamps is 27 mm in the horizontal direction. On the 6c and 8c Christmas stamps it is 20.5 mm. The spacing on the 10c and 15c Christmas stamps is 32 mm. Finally, the spacing on the Krieghoff stamp is 37 mm.
Rose lists both the 6c and 8c values as existing with a single wide tagging bar at the left of the stamps, while the Krieghoff issue is known with a single tagging bar down the centre.
Constant Varieties
The only stamp in this group to exhibit any constant varieties is the Krieghoff stamp, and it is a real happy hunting ground for varieties. According to Unitrade there are at least 24 constant varieties on this stamp, but Unitrade only lists five of these. It would be easy to look at the Unitrade listings and think that these varieties must be common. However, this is not the case at all, except for the "broken door frame" variety, which occurs on every stamp from column 4 of every sheet. or 20% of all the stamps printed.
Many of the listed flaws and all 19 of the unlisted ones occur on only 1 position of one pane. Given that the press sheet layout was 200 stamps, divided into 4 panes of 50, this means that many of these varieties will only be found once on every 200 stamps, which is reasonably scarce. When you combine this with the inherent scarcity of the tagged stamps, getting examples of all 24 varieties can be quite challenging indeed.
Let's start with the five that are listed in Unitrade:
The first of these is the broken door frame, shown above, which appears as a dash in the middle of the right beam of the door frame. It is, as I said above, the most common of the varieties found on this stamp.
The next variety is the "extra log in snow". It is the large black dash that is just below and forward of the two smaller logs that are in front of the sleigh. This comes from position 39 only of the second pane.
The third listed variety is the "extended 1". If you look at the "1" of "1872" you can see that the upper serif is much longer than the "1"'s on "1815". This occurs only on position 14 of the second pane as well.
The fourth listed variety is known as the "Icicle on Roof", and is shown above, as the blue lines below the left gable on the roof. This is also a variety from pane 2, and only occurs on position 45.
The last of the listed varieties is called the "branch below sleigh" and is the large diagonal slash that can be seen right below the middle of the sleigh. This comes only from position 50 of pane 1.
Now, I will illustrate some of the other 19 constant varieties that occur on each of the four panes. I don't have examples of all of them, and I do not know what some of them are. However, as I become aware of additional varieties and have examples to illustrate, I will add them by way of an update to this post.
This is the "rock below sleigh". This comes from position 28 of pane 1.
This next variety is called the "hole in the roof", and is the black dot that appears between the two gables. This comes from position 2 of pane 1.
This variety is called the "extra footprint and blue ice under sleigh". There is a small blue dot just to the lower right of the sleigh and a black dot in the snow near the man. According to the article I was researching this is supposed to come from position 14 of pane 1. However, the example here comes from an upper right field stock block, so position 5. It may be a variant of the position 14 variety.
This variety is the "dot below r of painter". This example is position 2 on an upper left field stock block. This is not listed in the article I was reading as constant, but I have found it on more than 1 upper left block. This comes from pane 1.
This "red dot above the trees" variety occurs on one of the right hand stamps in a pane. From the article I was researching it is most likely position 15 of pane 4.
This "blue dot above the trees" comes from position 35 of pane 3.
This one is the "bird between trees" variety. It occurs on position 48 of pane 1.
This variety is called the "rock in snow", and is the black dot at the base of the design in the centre of the gap between the fences. The article I have been reading says that it is from position 1 of upper right corner blocks, of pane 3. However, all three examples that I have are all position 1 of upper left corner blocks, so position 1 of pane 3.
This is the last variety that I have to illustrate at this time. This is the "blue ice on roof" and occurs at position 45 of pane 4.
So, in addition to the five listed varieties, I have illustrated 9 of the remaining 19 varieties. I will add the other 10 as I learn where they are and how to identify them.
Corner Blocks
The corner blocks for these stamps are rather straightforward as there were no plate numbers. However, as stated before, both philatelic and field stock blocks can be collected, and because the panes were made by guillotining larger sheets, up to 12 different positions of these can be found for each issue, except for the Earth Sciences Issue. In addition, you can collect all the paper, perforation and fluorescence varieties, so that a complete collection of blocks will be quite a bit larger than would first appear to be the case.
Errors
There are three major errors that Unitrade either lists or mentions from these issues. The first of these are the interpanneau gutter pairs of the Earth Sciences Issue. These are horizontal pairs of two different stamps that are separated by a stamp sized blank gutter in the middle. These result from the failure of the guillotine that would normally separate the miniature sheets of 16, from separating two adjacent sheets. According to Unitrade only 8 pairs are known, 5 of which are defective.
The second and third errors are both colour omitted errors that occur on the Christmas issue, due to replellex errors. One is the missing red on the 8c, in which the flames are missing the red colour, and the background appears light blue, instead of the usual violet blue. The third error is the missing yellow on the 10c, which is known to exist in a vertical strip of 4.
First Day Covers
By the end of 1972 the Official Canada Post first day covers, such as the one shown above for the 6c Christmas issue are the norm, and are what one usually finds in collections containing first day covers. The covers are usually found with singles, pairs, blocks, inscription blocks and entire sets. On all the issues, all the mentioned configurations are found tagged and untagged also.
However, there are still a few private Cachet covers that can be found also, such as the Rose Craft cover of the 1972 Earth Sciences Issue, shown below:
Postal History and Cancellations
This group of issues contains a good number of higher value stamps that are difficult to find on cover, and thus provides some challenge to the postal historian. Only two of the stamps, being the 8c Christmas and the Krieghoff stamp correspond to the standard, common, first class rate. All the others are either the 6c denomination, which was for third class mail only, the 10c, which was the rate the the U.S, and the 15c, which was the international rate for the first ounce.
Despite the fact that these rates are quite routine, it is difficult to find usages of the 10c and 15c Christmas and the Earth Sciences Issue on cover. The above cover is a nice example of a double weight airmail cover to Denmark. The 30c rate has been paid with two stamps from the series. A real challenge is also to look for the tagged stamps commercially used on cover, especially mixed frankings of the Winnipeg and Ottawa tagged stamps.
All of these stamps are also larger than the small size definitives, and consequently they tend to show cancellations quite well. So, some challenging fun can be had trying to see how many different CDS cancellations you can find on these stamps, especially the 10c and 15c stamps, as well as the tagged examples.
This concludes my exploration of these three issues. Next week, I will begin my long series of posts about the 1972-1978 Caricature and Landscape Definitive Issue.
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1972 is also significant in several other respects:
As usual, this post will examine in detail, all the physical attributes of the stamps, after I introduce the basic designs, and give some information about the issue dates, quantities, and designers.
The Designs, Issue Quantities, Designers and Printers
8c deep red lilac - figure skaters
Issued: March 1, 1972
Issue quantity: 25,300,000
Designed by: Design Workshop
Printed by CBN using lithography
8c deep carmine-red - World Health Day
Issued: April 7, 1972
Issue quantity: 23,400,000 untagged and 5,200,000 tagged
Designed by: Joyce Wieland
Printed by the BABN by engraving
8c orange brown, beige, red-brown and dark blue - Frontenac
Issued: May 17, 1972
Issue quantity: 22,700,000 untagged and 5,400,000 tagged
Designed by: Laurent Marquart
Printed by BABN using photogravure and lithography
8c multicoloured - artifacts and Buffalo Chase
Issued: July 6, 1972
Issue quantity: 15,000,000 of each, including tagged and untagged
Designed by: Georges Beaupre
Printed by Ashton Potter using lithography
8c multicoloured - Assiniboine Thunderbird and Sun Dance
Issued: October 4, 2018
Issue quantity: 14,175,000 of each, including tagged and untagged
Designed by: Georges Beaupre
Engraved by: George Arthur Gundersen
Printed by the BABN using photogravure and engraving
Paper Characteristics Other Than Fluorescence
As was the case in prior years the stamps continue to show considerable variation in the types of paper that was used by CBN, BABN and Ashton Potter to print them. Specifically, the following types of paper are found on the stamps:
The scan below show examples of the bluish tinted paper on the Frontenac issue next to the non-tinted, cream paper:
The bluish tinted paper is on the left, while the cream paper is on the right.
Paper Fluorescence
Like most of the stamps issued between 1968 and 1971, these stamps exist in a variety of different grades of fluorescence ranging from dull fluorescent to hibrite. What is normal for an issue varies of course: dull is normal for the BABN Plains Indians issue and the Frontenac Issue, while fluorescent or high fluorescent is normal for the other issues, with dull fluorescent being the scarcer type, on the World Health Day Issue.
The Figure Skating Stamp
This stamp is generally known by collectors to be printed on hibrite paper, but it is actually usually found on high fluorescent paper, through the front can be found in hibrite, medium and low fluorescent grades as well. The back of stamps is always high fluorescent with a very sparse concentration of hibrite fibres. The pictures below show these variations clearly:
The hibrite paper appears on the left, then the high fluorescent, medium fluorescent and low fluorescent paper. For the blocks, you can see the differences most clearly in the selvage.
This picture shows the back of the above blocks. As you can see, the colour appears uniform across all the blocks.
The World Health Day Stamp
This stamp is listed as being either on fluorescent paper, or dull (plain) paper in Unitrade. As one might expect, there are variations within each of these two basic classifications. The dull paper is found in ivory grey, grey and greyish white variations, that contain no fluorescent fibres whatsoever. The fluorescent paper is found in subtle variations, and a true medium fluorescent paper, that is scarcer than the dull paper.
The scan below shows the three main variations of the dull paper:
The ivory grey paper is shown on the left block, the grey is on the right block, and the stamp on top of the right block is the greyish white.
The fluorescent paper is found in two, very close varieties that differ only very slightly. The most common variety is a dull fluorescent paper that contains a medium density concentration of dull fluorescent fibres and a low density concentration of medium fluorescent fibres. The second variety appears slightly greyer, and on close examination is seen to contain sparse concentrations of slow and medium fluorescent fibres, that together make a low density concentration. A third variety is medium fluorescent bluish white, and contains a medium density concentration of low fluorescent fibres and a low density concentration of medium fluorescent fibres. The picture below shows these three types:
The medium fluorescent paper is shown in the single stamp at the bottom, while the common fluorescent paper is shown in the block. The stamp on top of the block is the second variety of fluorescent paper, but the difference is too subtle to be visible in this picture.
The Frontenac Stamp
Unitrade lists this stamp as existing on fluorescent paper and dull paper. The dull paper is listed as the basic stamp, while the fluorescent paper is listed as the variety. The catalogue values are the same for both, suggesting that they are equally common. In actual fact, the dull paper is much scarcer than the fluorescent paper. The fluorescent paper also comes in several different types, which appear similar on the face, but differ primarily in how they appear on the back of the stamps. The dull paper appears dull bluish grey on the front of the stamps and grey on the back. There are no obvious fluorescent fibres at first, but if you look closely with a loupe, you can see a very sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and a few brownish woodpulp fibres in the paper.
The pictures below show the difference in appearance between the dull paper, and the brightest fluorescent paper on which this stamp comes, as seen from both the front and back:
The dull paper is on the left, while the medium fluorescent paper is on the right. The medium fluorescent paper looks low fluorescent from the front, due to the deadening effect of the chalky coating. If you look closely, you can see a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres poking through the chalk surfacing.
Here are the same blocks from the back. The medium fluorescent paper appears bluish white under UV and has a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres and a very sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres.
In addition to the above, there are several variations of the fluorescent paper. The first of these is another medium fluorescent paper which is the same as the above, except that instead of bluish white, it appears more of an off-white under UV. The appearance on the front of the stamp is the same. The picture below shows a single on this paper, placed on top of the above block:
The next variant is a low fluorescent paper that appears dull fluorescent blue grey on the front, with a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres. On the back it appears dull fluorescent greyish, with a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, and a few high fluorescent fibres, and brownish woodpulp fibres. Together, these fibres make the paper appear low fluorescent overall. The pictures below show this paper next to the medium fluorescent paper on both the front and the back:
The low fluorescent paper is on the left, while the medium fluorescent paper is on the right.
Here are the papers as seen from the back. The low fluorescent paper is on the right, while the medium fluorescent paper is on the left.
There is a second variety of low fluorescent paper that looks very similar to the above, except that it appears more off-white in colour under UV. Upon close examination, it is seen to be dull fluorescent ivory and contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres, and a very sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres. I have not included a picture here because the difference appears too subtle to show up in a picture of this quality.
The last variety of paper is between the medium and the low fluorescent paper in terms of brightness. On the face of the stamps, it appears more or less the same as the first medium fluorescent paper shown above. On the back, it appears very similar, but it looks slightly duller. Upon close examination it is a dull fluorescent grey paper that contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres, and very few brownish woodpulp fibres and high fluorescent fibres. The picture below shows the difference between the appearance of this paper and the first variety of medium fluorescent paper:
This variety of paper, which I will call fluorescent, is shown on the bottom, while the medium fluorescent paper is at the top.
The Buffalo Chase and Artifacts Stamps
These stamps are generally regarded as being printed on hibrite paper. In reality though, they exhibit a variety of fluorescence levels on both the front and back of the stamps. On the front, they are found with high fluorescent, medium fluorescent, low fluorescent and dull fluorescent reactions. The high fluorescent paper is by far the most common, and the dull fluorescent the least common. On the back, the paper is generally high fluorescent, with brownish woodpulp fibres, and medium fluorescent, with the high fluorescent being the more common type, and generally associated with all the front varieties of fluorescence, except for the dull fluorescent. Thus, the paper varieties that I have found are:
The pictures below show the differences between these types of papers:
The high fluorescent paper is shown on the left, while the medium fluorescent paper is shown on the right.
Here is the back of the above blocks, showing the high fluorescent paper. The paper contains a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres, some of which are readily visible, but most of which require a loupe to see clearly.
The low fluorescent paper is shown on the left, while the dull fluorescent paper is shown on the right.
The high fluorescent paper is shown at the top, while the medium fluorescent paper is shown at the bottom. Like the high fluorescent paper, the medium fluorescent paper contains a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres as well.
The Assiniboine Thunderbird and Sun Dance Stamps
These stamps had no listed paper varieties at all until just a few years ago. Now, Unitrade lists no fewer than four variations of paper, with two being ribbed and two being being of the smooth variety. For the ribbed papers, Unitrade lists non-fluorescent and low fluorescent, while on the smooth papers Unitrade lists DF/LF and MF. These descriptions are a little confusing because all of the paper varieties give different fluorescent reactions on the front and back, and most all contain at least a few fluorescent fibres, with some also containing brownish woodpulp fibres.
The ribbed paper stamps appear generally dull fluorescent to almost non-fluorescent on the front, of all stamps, with the colour generally varying slightly from grey, to bluish grey to greyish white. On the back, the ribbed paper stamps either appear dull fluorescent, varying in colour from grey, to yellowish grey, to greyish white, or they appear low fluorescent flecked, in many different colours. However, I have not come across any stamps that can be classified as completely non-fluorescent.
The pictures below show six varieties of low fluorescent paper and three varieties of dull fluorescent paper that I have come across in my study of these stamps:
This first picture shows the appearance, from the front, of the first three varieties of the low fluorescent paper. The paper on the left is greyish under UV, the block on the right is more bluish grey, while the pair in the middle is greyish white. The grey and blue grey are how most of the stamps on ribbed paper appear under UV light.
Here are the back of these stamps. As you can see the fluorescent fibres are quite visible on all of them. The block on the left appears greyish, the block on the right appears blue grey, and the pair in the middle appears greyish white. The greyish block contains sparse concentrations of low and medium fluorescent fibres, which make it appear LF overall. The bluish grey block contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres and a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres. This is the most common of the LF papers. The greyish white paper also contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, and a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres.
The above picture shows three more varieties of the low fluorescent paper. They appear almost identical in the picture, because they all appear greyish under UV. They differ in terms of the amount, and brightness of the fluorescent fibres contained in the paper. The block contains a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and a very sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres. The single at the top right contains a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and very few medium fluorescent fibres. The single at the bottom right contains sparse concentrations of low fluorescent fibres and medium fluorescent fibres, as well as very few high fluorescent ones.
Here we have three very similar varieties of the dull fluorescent paper. What is striking about them is that they appear, at first to have no fluorescent fibres at all. The block on the left appears greyish and on close examination is seen to contain a sparse concentration of dull fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres and very few low and medium fluorescent fibres. The block in the centre is yellowish grey, and contains no fluorescent fibres at all. The pair appears a slightly bluer grey, but also does not contain any fluorescent fibres.
In the case of the smooth papers, Unitrade lists MF or DF/MF. In practice, the MF paper only appears so on the back. On the front, it is more of a DF with LF fibres poking through the chalky coating. The pictures below show these two varieties of paper as seen from both the front and the back:
The so called medium fluorescent paper is the block on the left, while the DF/LF pairs are on the right. As you can see, the medium fluorescent paper appears just slightly brighter on the front than the dull fluorescent paper.
Here are the backs. As you can see the medium fluorescent paper appears a brighter bluish white compared to the pairs, which appear greyish and greyish white. The medium fluorescent paper actually contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres, and a very sparse concentration of high fluorescent fibres, and brownish woodpulp fibres. The pair at the top contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres and a very sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres. Finally, the pair at the bottom right contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, and sparse concentrations of medium fluorescent fibres and brownish woodpulp fibres.
Shade Varieties
I have not come across any significant shade varieties on any of these stamps. I have noticed a very minor variation on the carmine red colour found on the World Health Day issue, in which the stamps on the ribbed, dull fluorescent paper are printed in a slightly deeper shade of carmine-red than the stamps on the fluorescent paper. I don't illustrate it here because the difference is so subtle, that it will never show up clearly, even in a high resolution scan. Other than this, I have not seen any other variations in shade. This is the first period in modern Canadian philately where the stamps exhibit almost no variation in colour.
Gum Varieties
All of the stamps in this post were printed with PVA gum. The gum generally shows very little variation at first glance. However, upon close examination, there are some subtle differences:
Perforations
As mentioned in the introduction, all of the stamps except for the Figure Skating stamp are comb perforated. The Figure Skating stamp appears to be perforated exactly 12.0, in addition to the earlier gauges of 11.85 and 11.95 that are found on most all of the CBN stamps that were printed during the 1960's. So far, I have found stamps perforated 11.95 x 12, 11.95, 11.85 x 12, 11.85 x 11.95 and 12. That is 5 perforations. I would suspect that 11.95 x 11.85, 12 x 11.95, 12 x 11.85, and 11.85 probably exist also, which would bring the total number of perforations to 9. The perforations on this stamp extend right through the selvage on both sides of all the sheets and blocks that I examined.
All of the BABN stamps are comb perforated 12.0 x 12.5, or 12.5 x 12 for the vertical format Plains Indians stamps. I have not seen any variation at all, in terms of the measurement, on any of these stamps. The Plains Indians stamps printed by Ashton Potter are perf. 12.2 x 12.6, and again, I have not seen any variation in the measurement of the perforation, though I have seen differences in the size of the perforation holes, with some examples exhibiting holes that are almost twice the diameter of the normal holes.
One aspect of the perforations that received little, if any mention in Unitrade is the configuration of the comb perforations, in terms of whether or not the perforations extend all the way through the sheet margins, and whether or not the sheets are perforated with a single strike of the perforating comb or with multiple strikes. Examining the selvage of the sheets gives us some clues as to how the perforating was done. For example, the World Health Day issue has perforations that extend all the way through the top and bottom selvage of the sheets, but have side margins that only contain a single extension hole in each row of horizontal perforations on each side. In addition, some blocks show clear evidence that more than one pane was printed at a time, and that more than one strike of the perforator was required to fully perforate all sheets in the print layout.
Consider the following three scans showing the arrangement of perforations on three different blocks of this issue:
Here we have a lower right field stock block that shows perfect alignment of the vertical perforations that run through the bottom selvage, and which shows even spacing of the perforation holes.
Here we have a similar block, except that there is a wide gap between the first and second vertical perforations in the selvage. This suggests either an irregular spacing of the perforating pins, which is unlikely, or two separate strikes of the perforator. This would mean that this block comes from one of the upper panes in the print layout of either 4 panes of 50, or 6 panes of 50. Because all of the side margins exist with only one extension hole, it is most likely that the print layout consisted of 4 panes of 50, since if there were 6 panes, two would have to be perforated all the way through on both sides.
Here we have a lower left block that shows a clear misalignment of the vertical perforations in the selvage, and is the strongest there is that two strikes of the comb perforator was required to perforate all panes in the print layout.
Thus, it seems that the BABN stamps were printed in 4 panes of 50, and that two strikes of the comb perforator were required to perforate all sheets. The above configuration of perforation holes appears consistent on the World Health Day, Frontenac and Plains Indians stamps. Generally the World Health Day and Frontenac issues had the single extension holes in the side margins of the sheets, whereas on the Plains Indians stamps, these extension holes were in the top and bottom margins. The stamps printed by Ashton Potter had the selvage perforated all the way through, and it appears that they were perforated in a single strike. It also appears that they were printed pane by pane.
Se-Tenant Combinations
The Plains Indians Stamps were the fourth issue of Canadian stamps to be issued se-tenant, and the first, since 1970. Unlike the earlier se-tenant stamps where, it was possible to get different combinations of stamps, like identical pairs, identical strips and centre blocks, these stamps were printed checkerwise in the panes. The result is that the only combinations possible are pairs that can be horizontal or vertical. Of course the order of the stamps can vary, but there are no identical pairs or centre blocks possible. This is the format in which most all se-tenant stamps issued ever since are printed.
Plate Flaws and Other Varieties
There is only one listed constant variety on these four issues, and it occurs on the Plains Indians stamps, printed by Ashton Potter. It is called the "short N in Plains" variety. It is exactly what it suggests: the "n" in "Plains" is slightly shorter than the other letters. This variety occurs on all stamps in the top row of the sheets. This variety is illustrated in the comparative large pictures below:
The normal "n" in "Plains". Note how the N is the same length as the other letters.
Here is the short "N". You can see it if you compare the length of the legs of the "N" to the other letters in "Plains".
I haven't really come across any other plate flaws on these issues, but I have come across some colour shifts that result in some noticeable varieties. One such variety occurs on the Sun Dance stamp, in which the orange colour that is supposed to colour the feathers has been shifted, forming what appear to be little orange flags, like shown in the scans below:
Here are the normal feathers. Notice how the orange colour has been printed on top of the black engraving to produce the feathers.
Here is the colour shift. All of the orange colour has been shifted slightly downward, and to the right, resulting in the orange being separate from the feathers, which now appear mostly black.
Unitrade does not list any of these varieties because their general policy is not to list any varieties that result from colour shifts, though they have broken this rule on a few occasions to list commonly known varieties, such as the "raised rump" variety on the 15c mountain sheep stamp from the 1972-1978 Caricature issue. However, they keep threatening to remove those listings from future editions of the catalogue. Why they have this policy remains a bit of a mystery to me, because the incidence and number of colour shifts on these issues is not very large in relation to the quantity issued. Sure, most issues printed using two different printing processes will exhibit shifts on some stamps. But it will not be the majority of stamps in the printing run. So, I personally do not see why these would be any less collectible than a shade, paper or perforation variety.
Ottawa Tagging
The World Health Day, Frontenac and Plains Indians stamps all exist with Ottawa Tagging. The tagging was applied down the vertical perforations in the sheets in bars that are 3 mm or 4 mm wide. So, most stamps have two side tagging bars that are approximately 1.5 mm or 2 mm wide, when there has been no significant perforation or tagging shifts. According to Unitrade, the World Health Day and Frontenac issues are tagged with the unstable OP-4 compound, which migrates through the stamps over time. The Plains Indians stamps are tagged with the more stable OP-2 compound. The OP-4 tagging bars were 4 mm wide, while the OP-2 tagging bars are 3 mm wide.
Under UV, the OP-4 tagging can appear either green or very light orange, depending on the printing. I find that the stamps on the duller paper tend to have green tagging, while those on fluorescent paper appear to have light orange tagging. Also, the tagging bars can fade to the point where they are almost invisible, while others can appear quite a strong colour, even after all these years. The pictures below show the two basic types of OP-4 tagging, as well as an example which has faded quite significantly:
Here we have the green tagging on an upper left corner block of the World Health Day stamp on the dull paper, as well as a single stamp above. As you can see, the tagging on the single has faded almost completely, except for just under half of the right tagging bar.
Here is an example of the light orange tagging on the same issue. I have found that generally those stamps printed on fluorescent paper appear to have light orange tagging, while those on plain paper have the greenish tagging. I have found examples on this paper where the tagging has faded completely, and can only be seen in normal light as light bands of varnish on the stamp surface.
In normal light, the tagging can be seen on many stamps as a light coating of what appears to be varnish, running down the stamp surface. On the World Health Day stamp, these bands take on a pinkish tint from the printing ink, while on the Frontenac stamp, they take on a bluish tint. However, on the Plains Indians stamps, they are generally not visible at all in normal light.
The picture below shows the migration of the tagging in both a block and a single of the World Health Day Issue:
As you can see, the intensity of the migration varies from mild to heavy. It does not seem to occur with equal severity on all stamps. For example, the stamps on fluorescent paper of this issue do not generally show the above effect, but rather just have tagging bars that fade.
The spacing between the tagging bars on both the World Health Day and Frontenac issues is between 35.5 and 36 mm in the horizontal direction.
The Plains Indians stamps were tagged using the stable OP-2 tagging compound, in bars that were 3 mm wide. The colour of the bands under UV varies from pale to deep greenish yellow, as shown in the picture below:
The difference in colour isn't very noticeable in the picture, but it is quite obvious in reality. The spacing between tag bars on these stamps is 32.75 mm in the horizontal direction. The spacing between the bands on the vertical format BABN plains Indians stamps is 20.75 mm horizontally.
Rose does list wide centre band and side band tagging as occurring on the BABN Plains Indians stamps, but not any of the other issues. The picture below shows an example of a shift that almost qualifies as a wide left band, but not quite, as there is just the smallest hint of tagging on the right perforations in the pair:
This results from the tagging bars being shifted about 1.5 mm to the right of where they should be. It is still quite a striking variety. Again, Unitrade does not list these, because they result from shifts.
Plate Blocks
All of the stamps issued here were printed in sheets of 50 that contained an inscription block in each corner of the sheet. All of these blocks, except for the one shown above, were inscription blocks that bore no plate number. The BABN Plains Indians issue was the only one where the blocks show plate number 1. However, there is no plate #2, so for all issues, there is only 1 set of blocks possible, and of course, one can collect the field stock blocks as well, in which all the inscriptions were trimmed off, prior to distribution to the post offices. The Ottawa tagged printings do not exist in inscription blocks, but just the field stock blocks.
First Day Covers
This is the second full year that Canada Post has been issuing official first day covers. So we begin to see the number of private cachet makers decrease, as they found it very difficult to compete with Canada Post. Many of the earlier cachet makers are gone by 1972, but the larger ones, such as Cole, Rose Craft, Art Craft are still producing covers. The official Canada Post covers were produced for a number of different stamp configurations including singles, pairs, blocks, and inscription blocks. I have generally found little variation in the fluorescence of the envelope stock used for these covers, though in many later issues, I have found significant variations. So, I believe it is worth checking these with your UV lamp, just as you would for any stamp.
The scan below shows the Rose Craft version of this First Day Cover:
There is a small area of discolouration on the cover where the address would normally be. This is from a peel and stick label that has since fallen off.
Postal History and Cancellations
Postal history and cancellations is a nice sideline direction in which to take these stamps. By now the postal rates have become greatly simplified, as on July 1, 1971 an "all-up" international rate of 15c per ounce was introduced. This represented a rate decrease, as previously the foreign rates were quoted in half ounces. However, there were still people who remained unaware of the new rate, such as the sender of this cover above. He has marked it "sea mail" in the bottom corner as he only has 16c postage on the letter. He was intending it to be the 1 oz surface rate to Sweden, although he is actually 3c short of what that rate would have been just prior to July 1, 1971. When this cover was sent there was no distinction between "sea-mail" and airmail. So, this makes the cover more interesting than a standard 15c cover would be.
Because the rate to foreign countries at this time is 15c and all the stamps shown here are 8c, the only to find covers with the proper rate is to have a cover which is franked with one 8c stamp and 7c additional postage, which would generally be made up from lower value stamps from the Centennial Issue, i.e, a 7c, a 6c plus 1c, a 5c plus 2c, or a 4c and 3c. So there are lots of different frankings that can be collected for this basic rate.
Single usages for domestic covers can also be collected for a series of towns or provinces also, to add a bit of spice to a collection, without breaking your collecting budget.
Then, of course are all the different cancellations you can collect. The most desirable of these are of course the CDS town cancellations. These are all larger format stamps, so they tend to show the CDS cancellations very well. By now there are thousands of different CDS cancellations in use for each of the provinces. So, there is almost no limit to the number of cancellations you can collect on these. In addition to CDS cancellations, you can also collect MOON and POCON cancellations, as well as roller cancels. These aren't as popular as CDS cancellations, but they are part of the postal history of the issues, and I believe they are just as collectible, if you collect them for what they are.
One very challenging and rewarding pursuit is to look for used se-tenant pairs that are cancelled in period, or properly used on cover. As I said, because a pair is 16c and the all-up foreign letter rate is only 15c at this time, the only way you will see properly used se-tenant pairs and blocks will be to pay registration and special delivery fees, and even then in larger blocks.
This concludes my exploration of the first commemorative stamps of 1972. I will be off for Christmas next week, so there will be no post next week. But, I will be back in the New Year, with a post to cover the last Commemorative Issues of 1972. Then, I will be starting my series of posts for the 1972-1978 Caricature Issue.
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In terms of printers, Ashton Potter was not involved with any these issues. Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN) printed all but two of them, with these two being the Paul Kane stamp and the Pierre Laporte stamp, that were printed by the British American Bank Note Company (BABN).
These are some of the last issues to use the line perforation of 11.85 or 11.95 that the CBN had used throughtout the 1960's. The very last stamp to use this perforation is the first stamp of 1972, the figure skating stamp. The BABN introduced a new perforation, in addition to the comb 12.5 x 12 perforation, with comb 12.5, which is found on the Paul Kane issue.
In terms of papers, the use of chalk-surfaced paper is now the norm, with only four of the 8 stamps being issued on ordinary paper. BABN introduces a new kind of ribbed chalk-surfaced paper, which it utilizes on a number of subsequent issues. This paper shows very distinct vertical ribbing on the chalky coating at the front of the stamp.
A spectacular foldover error, which I discovered in a collection, when I worked for Eastern Auctions, in 2003, occurs on the 6c Christmas stamp. I will describe this in full detail soon. However, I will start with a description of the basic stamps, as well as the other attributes of these stamps that are of interest.
The Stamp Designs, Issue Dates, Issue Quantities, Designers and Printers
15c black, red orange and yellow
Radio Canada International
Issued: June 1, 1971
Issue quantity: 9,825,000 (tagged and untagged)
Printed by CBN using lithography
Designed by: Burton Kramer
6c black, ultramarine and red
Centenary of the Canadian Census
Issued: June 1, 1971
Issue quantity: 25,200,000
Printed by CBN using lithography
Designed by: Hans Kleefield
7c multicoloured
Centennial of British Columbia's entry into Confederation
Issued: July 20, 1971
Issue quantity: 30,000,000
Printed by CBN using lithography
Designed by: Edward R.C. Bethune
7c multicoloured
Centenary of the death of Paul Kane, painter
Issued: August 11, 1971
Issue quantity: 25,200,000
Printed by BABN using lithography
Designed by: William Rueter
6c dark blue, snowflake
Issued: October 6, 1971
Issue quantity - untagged: 168,800,000, tagged: 7,000,000
Printed by CBN using engraving
Designed by: Lisl Levinsohn
10c dark red and silver, snowflake
10c grey blue, deep crimson and silver, snowflake
7c black, Pierre Laporte
Issued: October 20, 1971
Issue quantity: 22,790,000
Printed by BABN using engraving
Designed and engraved by: George Arthur Gundersen
Attributes of the Paper Other Than Fluorescence
As was the case in previous periods, the paper used to print the stamps shows a wide degree of variation, in terms of all attributes, including fluorescence. Unitrade has just begun listing horizontal ribbed and smooth papers on the 10c and 15c Christmas stamps. However, it ignores the fact that those same differences can be found on the 6c and 7c stamps as well.
The different papers found on these papers can best be described as follows:
The scan below shows the difference between the cream paper and the white paper on the Paul Kane stamp:
The block to the left is the white paper, while the one to the right is printed on the cream paper. The difference is readily apparent when you compare the two selvage tabs.
Paper Fluorescence
This is the first time in the history of Canadian stamps that the standard paper used for all five issues is at least fluorescent to hibrite. The 6c Christmas is known on dull fluorescent paper, but this is quite a bit scarcer than the hibrite paper. However, there are some variations on most all of the stamps issued, which will be described and illustrated below:
The Radio Canada International Stamp
On this stamp the paper fluorescence varies only slightly, from high fluorescent, to true hibrite. The two levels of fluorescence are shown in the picture below, though the difference does not show up anywhere near as clearly as I would like:
The block is printed on the true hibrite paper, whereas the single stamp on top of it is on the high fluorescent paper.
The Census Centenary Stamp
This stamp is also found on both high fluorescent and true hibrite papers, as shown in the following picture:
The block on the left, and in the foreground are printed on the high fluorescent paper, while the one on the right at the back is on the true hibrite paper.
The BC Centennial Stamp
This stamp gives different fluorescence readings on the front and back of the stamp, but most collectors would probably think of it as being printed on hibrite paper. In actual fact, the front of the stamp ranges in brightness from true hibrite, to medium fluorescent, while the back is usually a low fluorescent paper with different concentrations of fluorescent fibres, or dull fluorescent, with a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres.
The picture below illustrates the different fluorescence levels on the front of the stamp:
The true hibrite paper is shown by the largest block, while the upper right plate block is on the high fluorescent paper, and the upper right field stock single is on the medium fluorescent paper.
The next picture shows two varieties of paper as seen from the back:
These are both low fluorescent with fluorescent fibres. The paper of the larger block is a light blue colour under UV, while the single is a light ivory. On the block, the paper actually contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a very sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres and a very few high fluorescent ones. The basic fluorescence level of the paper without these is dull fluorescent greyish white. On the single stamp, the paper contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, but nothing brighter.
The next two pictures both show the third and fourth varieties of paper that I found, as seen from the back, but in reverse of one another:
The single stamp shown here is very similar in overall brightness level to the block that was shown in the previous picture, i.e a low fluorescent light blue. However, the concentration of fluorescent fibres is much lower. This paper has only a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and very few medium fluorescent ones. The paper of the block is a brighter bluish white, being almost medium fluorescent. The paper contains a low density concentration of both low and medium fluorescent fibres, as well as 1-2 high fluorescent fibres, and very few brownish woodpulp fibres.
The next picture shows the same papers, but this time the block is on low fluorescent flecked paper, while the single is on the medium fluorescent paper:
Hopefully, the addition of both pictures should help to make the differences between these paper types clearer.
The question that arises now, is: which combinations of front fluorescence and back fluorescence are there? If all possible combinations exist, then there are 3 x 4 = 12 different varieties of fluorescence. I checked through the stamps in my stock, and it would appear that all 12 varieties of paper exist, though some are clearly scarcer than the others. In general, I would note that I had many fewer of the medium fluorescent fronts, compared to the high fluorescent and hibrite papers. With regard to the back varieties, the most common seems to be the medium fluorescent paper with the low density concentrations of low and medium fluorescent fibres.
The Paul Kane Stamp
This is another stamp that shows a fair degree of variation for both the front of the stamp and the back, though most collectors would probably think of it as being on hibrite paper.
On the front of the stamp I have found the full range of variation from hibrite to dull, though I have seen many examples of blocks in which the brightness level varies within the same block. It is difficult to tell if this has been caused by exposure, or if it is the result of an uneven chemical composition of the chalk coating on the surface. However, the pictures below show the different fluorescence levels, as well as a block that shows variation within the same block:
This shows the medium fluorescent paper on the left, and the hibrite paper on the right. Generally, the medium and lower fluorescence levels correspond to the cream paper, while the high fluorescent and hibrite levels tend to be associated with the white papers.
Here, the hibrite paper is shown on the left, and the high fluorescent paper on the right.
The block on the left is the high fluorescent paper, while the one on the right is the medium fluorescent paper.
The medium fluorescent paper is shown on the right, while the low fluorescent paper is shown on the left.
The block on the left is the low fluorescent paper, while the one on the right is dull fluorescent.
Finally, the picture below shows a block that exhibits hibrite, high and medium levels of fluorescence:
The stamps at the top of this block appear medium fluorescent under UV, and this gradually becomes brighter toward the bottom of the block until they are hibrite at the bottom.
On the back, the paper shows an equal amount of variation, though the highest level of fluorescence that I have seen is medium, and the lowest is dull fluorescent. Again, the papers generally all contain varying concentrations of fluorescent fibres. The different varieties that I have found in my examination of the stamps are shown below:
The block on the left is the medium fluorescent paper. This paper contains a low density concentration of both medium fluorescent fibres and brownish woodpulp fibres, as well as very few high fluorescent and hibrite fibres. The block on the right is on dull fluorescent greyish white paper containing a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, and sparse concentrations of both medium fluorescent fibres and brownish woodpulp fibres. Together, these give the overall appearance of low fluorescent paper.
The block on the left is the same low fluorescent paper shown on in the previous picture, while the block on the right is on dull fluorescent paper, containing a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and brownish woodpulp fibres.
Here, on the left is the medium fluorescent paper that was illustrated in the first picture. On the right is a low fluorescent paper, which contains a low density concentration of both low fluorescent fibres and brownish woodpulp fibres, as well as very few high fluorescent and hibrite fibres.
Both of these blocks are on dull fluorescent paper. The block on the top contains a low density concentration of dull fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres and a very sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres. The block on the bottom is similar, but the concentration of low fluorescent fibres is sparse, rather than very sparse.
On the left is another type of low fluorescent paper, This one is low fluorescent bluish grey and contains a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a few medium fluorescent and a few high fluorescent fibres. The block on the right is a medium fluorescent paper that contains low density concentrations of both low and medium fluorescent fibres.
The next variety of paper I have seen is another dull fluorescent paper, shown below:
This paper appears yellowish ivory under the UV lamp. On close examination, it is seen to contain a sparse concentration of dull fluorescent fibres and a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres.
The last two varieties of paper are also dull fluorescent:
These two varieties of paper are similar to types 5 and 6, except that they are a yellowish grey colour under the UV light instead of the usual bluish grey or greyish white. The block has a low density concentration of dull fluorescent fibres, a very sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres and a sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres. The pair is the same in terms of the fibre content, but it appears more deeply yellowish under UV than the block.
In terms of combinations of front and back fluorescence:
Clearly, this is a very complicated stamp, when both the front and back fluorescence are considered. It must be mentioned that this is the first lithographed BABN stamp to be printed on the new chalk-surfaced paper, so it is reasonable to expect that some experimentation in papers and the coatings used would have been undertaken.
The 6c Dark Blue Christmas Stamp
This stamp is listed by Unitrade as existing on either dull fluorescent paper, or hibrite paper, with hibrite being the common type. In actual fact, it can also be found on high fluorescent paper, and most likely medium fluorescent as well. Although, I have found medium fluorescent paper on the 7c emerald, which I illustrate below, I have not yet found a similar variety on the 6c. The picture below shows the three types of paper that I have found so far:
The hibrite paper is shown on the rear left block of 6, while the right rear block is the high fluorescent paper. The centre block in the foreground is the dull fluorescent greyish paper.
The 7c Emerald Christmas Stamp
Curiously, this stamp is not yet known to exist on the dull paper, which the 6c is found on. This is very surprising, given that the 6c and 7c were printed in very similar quantities. However, my guess is that the dull paper was an experimental paper that was introduced to try to make the tagging more visible on the Winnipeg tagged stamps, given that the brightness of the paper had a tendency to obscure and overshadow the tagging. I have found this stamp to exist on hibrite, high fluorescent and medium fluorescent paper, as shown below:
The hibrite paper is shown on the left rear block, while the high fluorescent paper is shown on the right rear block. The centre block at the front is the medium fluorescent paper.
The 10c and 15c Christmas Stamps
These stamps are also found with slightly different fluorescence levels on the front and back of the stamps, due to the chalk coating on the front. Again, most collectors would probably think of these as being on hibrite paper. The fluorescence levels found on the front of the stamps ranges from true hibrite, to high fluorescent, which is most common, down to medium fluorescent. On the back, we find two levels of fluorescence:
The high fluorescent back is normally found on the paper which is hibrite on the front, while the high fluorescent and medium fluorescent papers usually have a medium fluorescent back.
The pictures below show these different types of paper:
The block at the right is the true hibrite paper, while the block at the left is the high fluorescent paper. The single that lies on top of the block is printed on the medium fluorescent paper.
The medium fluorescent paper is shown on the block at the left, while the block at the right is on the high fluorescent paper.
The Pierre Laporte Stamp
This last stamp of 1971 is listed by Unitrade as being either on fluorescent paper, or dull paper. In practice, the paper is generally always at least low fluorescent, but the chalk coating on the front of the stamp has a deadening effect on the fluorescence, as seen from the front. On the stamps which had low fluorescence to begin with, the front will generally appear dull, but on stamps that have a high fluorescence with fluorescent fibres, the paper will appear low fluorescent flecked. However, there are several different colours of the paper as seen from both the front and the back. I will illustrate and describe each of the paper types that I have found, first by illustrating the front, and then the back.
All three of the above stamps are variations of the so-called fluorescent paper. They all show a low density concentration of what appear to be low fluorescent fibres poking through the surface of the chalky coating. The real difference is that the left stamp looks bluish white, the middle stamp appears greyish white and the stamp at the right appears greyish blue.
The above picture shows the back of the above three stamps. Generally, the overall appearance of the stamps on the back is medium fluorescent. The left stamp is bluish white and contains a medium density concentration of both low and medium fluorescent fibres, as well as a few high fluorescent fibres. The two other stamps are a lighter white, and contain a medium density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, and a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres,
Here are three more variations of the so-called fluorescent paper. These appear much duller than the first three from the front. Although all of them show fluorescent fibres from the front, they are not nearly as bright on the second two stamps, and in fact are barely noticeable. The first stamp appears bluish grey, the second stamp appears greyish white and the third stamp appears grey.
Here are the back of the above stamps, but in the reverse order. The right stamp, which is the first one in the preceding picture is medium fluorescent bluish, with a high density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres, and a very sparse concentration of high fluorescent fibres. The middle stamp is low fluorescent greyish white and contains a medium density concentration of low fluorescent fibres. Finally, the left stamp is dull fluorescent grey with a low density concentration of low and medium fluorescent fibres, which make the paper appear low fluorescent.
These two stamps are both variations of the so-called dull paper. The stamp on the left still shows some fluorescent fibres through the chalk coating, but the overall appearance is dull enough that it can be considered a variant of dull paper. The stamp on the right appears a dull fluorescent yellowish grey and shows no fluorescent fibres on the surface.
The above picture shows the back of these stamps, and as you can see, they are still fluorescent. The left stamp is a low fluorescent greyish white, with a medium density concentration of low fluorescent fibres. The stamp on the right is dull fluorescent bluish grey, with a low density concentration of low and medium fluorescent fibres, which reads as low fluorescent overall.
Shade Varieties
These issues show very little variation in colour. In fact, the only issue on which I have found any real variation, is the Paul Kane issue, where the clouds do show some noticeable variations as shown in the picture below:
If you compare these two stamps, the overall colouring of the stamp on the right is greenish, compared to the one on the left, which appears redder.
Gum Varieties
On these issues, I have found four basic types of gum, one of which is dextrine, and the other three of which are PVA:
Perforations
The Radio Canada International, Census Centenary, BC Centennial and Christmas stamps are all listed by Unitrade as perf 12. But based on my study of all CBN printed stamps of this period, I would have expected to find the four line perforations normally found on these stamps, being: 11.85, 11.95, 11.85 x 11.95 and 11.95 x 11.85. However, on the Radio Canada International stamps that I examined, a new gauge was found: 12.0. I have not seen this gauge since the very early 1950's. It appears as though the CBN reverted to new perforating wheels which were calibrated to exactly 12.0, rather than the other four measurements.
However, my concerns were soon laid to rest when I examined the BC Centennial stamps, where I found both perf 11.85 and 11.95. So, it would appear that the four measurements normally found on the CBN stamps of this period can still be found on all these issues as well. As is usually the case with the CBN printed stamps, the sheets are perforated completely through the selvage on all sides of the sheets.
The Paul Kane stamp, which was printed by BABN exhibits a new comb perforation, which had not appeared on any issues before: comb 12.5. Unitrade quotes the measurement as 12.5 and I have verified it with my Instanta gauge. This perforation extends through the selvage of the stamps on all sides of the sheets as well. One interesting variation that does appear on these comb perforated stamps that is not mentioned in Unitrade, is a distinct difference in the width of the perforating holes, resulting from the use of different perforating pins. Generally, I have found that on many Canadian issues from this point forward, exist with regular sized perforation holes as well as large holes. The large holes are easy to recognize, due to the closer spacing of the holes and the resulting narrower perforation tips. The scans below show both types, as seen on the Paul Kane stamps:
This is a lower right corner block showing the normal sized perforation holes. If you look carefully at the block you will see that the holes are uniform, of even size and the amount of space between the holes is almost the same as the diameter of the holes themselves.
This block shows the larger perforation holes. Note how the space between the holes is much smaller than the diameter of the holes, maybe as little as half this diameter. The perforation tips on the outside of the block appear sharper as a result.
The Pierre Laporte stamp, which was printed by BABN, is comb perforated 12.5 x 12. These measurements are exact, and I have not seen any variations. The selvage of the sheets is fully perforated through at the sides. However, the top and bottom selvage is imperforate, except for a single extension hole, from the top and bottom horizontal row of perforations.
Winnipeg Tagging
In addition to the Christmas stamps, the Radio Canada International Issue was issued with Winnipeg Tagging. On the Radio Canada stamp, as well as the 7c, 10c and 15c Christmas stamps, 2-bar tagging was used. The width of the bands on these stamps was 8.5 mm. On the Radio Canada International stamp, the spacing between the bars in the horizontal direction was 30.75 mm in the outer columns of the sheet, and 31.25 mm on the other columns. On the 7c Christmas stamp, the spacing between tag bars was 15 mm. Finally on the 10c and 15c Christmas stamps the spacing of the tag bars was 21 mm.
The 6c Christmas stamp was issued with 4 mm wide centre band tagging. The spacing between tagging bars in the horizontal direction was 20 mm.
According to Rose, the 7c Christmas stamp is known to exist with 8.5 mm centre band tagging, in error, while the Radio Canada stamp is known tagged with either one wide centre band, or one wide side band.
In normal lighting conditions the tagging is normally a pale yellowish cream, and is visible to the naked eye, but is not especially dark. Under UV light, the tagging is clearly visible and glows a clear yellowish colour, with a very brief afterglow when the light is switched off.
The pictures below show the appearance of the tagging in normal light, and under UV light, on the Radio Canada International issue:
As you can see the tagging bars are clearly visible at the sides, though they are not particularly dark in colour.
Notice how much darker the tagging appears under UV light.
Constant Plate Varieties and Non-Constant Varieties
Only two issues from this period have been found with constant varieties that are listed in Unitrade: the BC Centennial Issue and the Paul Kane issue. The Radio Canada International Issue is found with the "Bug on the Leaf" variety, which is a donut flaw, and is found on the tip of the lower left leaf. Unitrade points out the fact that it is not a truly constant variety.
Unitrade lists three constant varieties on each of the BC Centennial Issue and the Paul Kane Issues, as follows:
These varieties are illustrated in the following scans:
The extra accent variety on the BC Centennial stamp. This is actually a large dot that is almost attached to the second "E" of "Confederation.
The dot under the "B" of "Britannique". As you can see, the dot is quite small, and is attached to the B. Consequently it is very easy to overlook.
The dot under "BR" of "British". Note that this is more visible than the dot under "B" of "Britannique".
Here is a typical example of the "stroke on Teepee" variety.
Unfortunately, and quite surprisingly, I do not have an example of the "sun behind the clouds variety". Given the number of stamps that I have, I expected that I would have at least one. However, I will be sure to include a scan when one becomes available.
The "burr over shoulder: is shown below:
This is quite a small variety - a true flyspeck, and is very easy to miss if you don't know what to look for. As you can see, it is a very small green dot on the shoulder of the reclining Indian.
In addition to the listed varieties, I have found quite a few additional unlisted ones. I would have to complete a comprehensive study to establish whether or not these are constant, or non-constant in nature. However, I would suspect that many are probably non-constant, to semi-constant, in that they may occur on several, but not all sheets. These are illustrated and described under each of the following pictures:
On the BC Centennial stamp, I have found an example that shows a clear grave accent over the "A" of "Confederation.
On the Census Centennial stamp, I have found several instances of donut flaws, scratches and smudges on the red tape reel. Three of these are illustrated below:
On this example, there is a clear donut flaw, just to the left of the lower man on the reel.
On this example there is a horizontal scratch to the left of the lower man on the reel.
On this final example, there is a small curved scratch near the outer edge of the red reel and a smudge to its right. Also, a small scratch is visible on the blue reel. This is the only example I have seen that shows a clear scratch on the blue reel, but I would imagine that several other varieties of this type likely exist as well.
An interesting variety that results from a colour shift and occurs on the 10c Christmas stamp, and very likely on the 15c as well, involves a shift of the silver in the leftward direction, so that it protrudes about 0.5 mm beyond the red of the centre. Unitrade does not list it of course, because it results from a colour shift. Nevertheless, I believe it is worth showing here because these colour shifts are not as common as one might think, and it is quite a striking variety:
On the left is a normal 10c stamp, where the silver is contained within the red. On the right is an example of the shift, which is quite noticeable.
Errors
Until recently there were no known errors for these issues listed in any catalogue. However, in the past 12-13 years, at least three major errors have emerged, all of which involve the Christmas issue. The first two of these occur on the same multiple, which as far as I know is unique, and which I discovered in a old-time collection back in 2003, when I worked at Eastern Auctions. I am unable to procure an illustration of it, so I have to be content with describing it.
The multiple is a left sheet margin block of 8 stamps. The gummed side of two full stamps and two half stamps has become folded over onto the bottom 4 stamps. This foldover is irregularly shaped and cuts off at an angle. This foldover occurred prior to printing, so that when it was unfolded, the bottom half of stamps 5 and 6 on the block are missing the lower half of the design, and the design is entirely missing on the stamps 7 and 8. At the same time, the foldover piece contains two full stamps that are printed on the gummed side, and two partial stamps.
So, the full multiple contains:
Unitrade does list these two errors separately, so that would suggest that the multiple has since been broken up, though Unitrade does not confirm this.
The third error surfaced about 4-5 years ago and is the 10c value, which is missing all of the silver colour. A picture of this is shown below:
As you can see, this stamp is identical, in all respects, to the issued stamp, except that the silver is missing. The perforation, paper and gum are all identical. This suggests to me that it is a true error. I have seen notes on some other websites that have identified this as a proof. While I acknowledge that this is possible - it could be a trial colour of the background, it seems unlikely to me, because of the fact that the perforation and gum are the same as the issued stamps.
Size Differences
There is an interesting size difference to be found on the Radio Canada International stamp. This is the only stamp of the 8 to be printed without an outer frameline. The standard size for most stamps in the sheet is 40 mm wide. However, as noted by Unitrade, on some sheets there was a shift of the perforating wheel between the 4th and 5th columns of some sheets, resulting in some stamps that are only 38 mm wide, and others that are 42 mm wide.
Plate Blocks
The engraved Christmas stamps are the only issues for which the blocks bear plate numbers. Both the 6c and 7c exist with plate 1 and plate 2 inscriptions. The other, lithographed and engraved stamps do not bear plate numbers, but only inscriptions, as shown on the 7c BC Centennial stamp, as shown below:
In addition, all of the issues can be collected as field stock blocks as well. So, at a minimum, each stamp variety can be collected in at least 8 blocks, and 12 for the 6c and 7c Christmas stamps.
First Day Covers
The majority of first day covers one encounters for these issues are the official Canada Post covers like the one shown above. As was the case with the earlier issues of 1971, these covers can usually be found franked with:
Each official cover has only one cachet.
In addition to the official Canada Post covers, one can still find and collect covers produced by the private cachet makers. There continue to be many fewer of these by the end of 1971, but the larger companies like Rose Craft, Art Craft, Cole and Fleetwood are quite prevalent and all have different cachets. The picture below shows an unaddressed Rose Craft first day cover of the 1971 Census Centenary Issue:
If you look carefully at the scan above, you can see a small area of discolouration where the address would normally be. This is caused by the residue from an address label, which has since fallen off.
Proof Material
The BNA Proofs website lists only two proof items from this period, which it notes are unique and which it values at between $600-$700. One item is a trial colour proof of the Pierre Laporte stamp, which looks almost like a reverse sketch of the stamp on tissue paper. The second item is a progressive proof of the Pierre Laporte stamp, with a bright blue background, as shown above.
Postal History and Cancellations
The stamps from these issues include two 15c values and one 10c value. The 15c value now represents the "all-up" foreign letter rate for the first ounce, while the 10c represents the airmail rate to the USA. So, an interesting challenge is to try and find single and double weight foreign commercial covers where the postage is paid with a single 15c stamp. These are much less common than you might think.
However, what is more challenging is to find higher value frankings that are made up from a combination of two or more lower value commemorative stamps. The more desirable covers will have the postage paid with more than one commemorative issue, rather than pairs or blocks of the same stamp, while the very best covers will have the postage paid by stamps from all different issues, such as the cover below:
This cover, that was sent to East Germany on November 9, 1971 is franked with 26c in postage, from 4 different commemorative issues, all of which were released in 1971. The cover has been sent in an airmail envelope, but the rate is incorrect - The airmail rate at this point was 15c per full ounce. So, it would appear that this is likely an overweight cover, however, as I do not have information as to what the postage for the second weight step is, I cannot confirm for certain. However, from the cancellations and they way they are applied, I believe it is safe to conclude that this is not a philatelic cover. So, I do think that it is a commercial cover that bears a fantastic franking.
This concludes my very detailed exploration of these last issues of 1971, which have turned out to be far more complicated than they first appear. This is actually an indication of what you can expect to see throughout much of the 1970's, as the post office conducted a lot of experimentation with stamp papers and tagging. Next week I will cover the first commemorative issues of 1972.
]]>This week, I will examine the first 6 commemorative issues, which comprise 9 stamps issued between February 12, and November 19. I have elected to deal with the Maple Leaves in Four Seasons issue in its entirety, even though the issue spans the full year, in the interests of keeping it together. Then, next week, I will deal with the last 4 issues. which comprise the final 7 stamps.
The Stamp Designs, Designers, Issue Quantities, Issue Dates and Printers
6c multicoloured
Big Raven, by Emily Carr
Issued: February 12, 1971
Issue quantity: 27,250,000
Printed by: Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN) by lithography
Designed by: William Rueter
6c multicoloured
50th anniversary of the discovery of insulin issue
Issued: March 3, 1971
Issue quantity: 24,200,000
Printed by: the British American Bank Note Company (BABN) using lithography
Designed by: Ray Webber
6c red, orange and black
Birth centenary of Ernest Rutherford issue
Issued: March 24, 1971
Issue quantity: 24,950,000
Printed by: the British American Bank Note Company (BABN) using lithography
Designed by: Ray Webber
6c multicoloured
The maple leaf in spring issue
Issued: April 14, 1971
Issue quantity: 27,280,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter using lithography
Designed by: Alma Duncan
6c multicoloured
The maple leaf in summer issue
Issued: June 16, 1971
Issue quantity: 26,440,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter using lithography
Designed by: Alma Duncan
7c multicoloured
The maple leaf in autumn issue
Issued: September 3, 1971
Issue quantity: 26,550,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter using lithography
Designed by: Alma Duncan
7c multicoloured
The maple leaf in winter issue
Issued: November 19, 1971
Issue quantity: 26,000,000
Printed by: Ashton Potter using lithography
Designed by: Alma Duncan
6c multicoloured
Death centenary of Louis Papineau
Issued: May 7, 1971
Issue quantity: 13,900,000
Printed by: the British American Bank Note Company (BABN) using photogravure and engraving
Designed by: Laurent Marquart
Engraved by: George Arthur Gundersen
6c buff, red and brown
Bicentenary of Samuel Hearne's expedition to the Copper Mine River
Issued: May 7, 1971
Issue quantity: 14,300,000
Printed by: the British American Bank Note Company (BABN) using photogravure and engraving
Designed by: Laurent Marquart
Engraved by: Charles Gordon Yorke
Paper Characteristics Other Than Fluorescence
As was the case with the stamps of the past few years, the stamps of 1971 continue to show a wide variety of different papers used to print the stamps:
Paper Fluorescence
Most of the stamps from these issues are printed on variations of medium fluorescent, high fluorescent and hibrite papers. Only the Papineau and Samuel Hearne issues are on paper that is duller, being at most low fluorescent. However, each issue does exhibit variations within this, and because of the chalk surfacing found on many of the papers, the fluorescence on the front of the stamps is different from the fluorescence on the back.
The Emily Carr Stamp
Here, the common paper is high fluorescent. There is a very slightly brighter version of this paper, but it is not really bright enough in my opinion to be classified as hibrite. Then, there is a less bright version, which I would call medium fluorescent. The pictures below show these differences:
Here is the high fluorescent paper.
The block is on high fluorescent paper, while the single is on medium fluorescent paper.
The Insulin Stamp
On this stamp Unitrade lists no varieties, which is curious, because this stamp is printed on the same kinds of paper as the Ernest Rutherford stamp, which is listed on two types of paper, being hibrite and fluorescent. On this stamp, three levels of fluorescence are found on the front of the stamp, and three on the back. Those three levels are: hibrite, high fluorescent and medium fluorescent. It would appear that all combinations of front and back fluorescence are possible, so that there are 9 different levels of front and back fluorescence possible:
I have seen most, but not all of these combinations. The pictures below show the basic differences between these levels of fluorescence as seen on the front and back of the stamps:
This block shows the hibrite paper as seen from the front of the stamp. The colour is a clean white under UV.
The block on the left is the high fluorescent paper, while the one on the right is medium fluorescent. The high fluorescent paper looks slightly greyish white under UV, while the medium fluorescent paper appears fully greyish.
This picture shows the papers as seen from the back. The block at the front right is the hibrite paper, which is the brightest white under UV light. The block on the left is high fluorescent, while the block on the back right is the medium fluorescent paper.
The Ernest Rutherford Stamp
This stamp exhibits the same range of fluorescence on the front as the insulin stamp. In addition, the medium fluorescence is found appearing both bluish grey and grey on the front under UV light. However, the paper from the back is slightly different from the insulin stamp in that the paper is either high fluorescent with very sparse hibrite flecks, ot medium fluorescent with sparse hibrite flecks. I am not certain of this, but I suspect that both types of paper on the back likely exist with all three levels of fluorescence on the front, though I have not seen all eight combinations. Unitrade calls the high fluorescent paper hibrite, but in fact the true hibrite is scarcer than the medium fluorescent, which Unitrade refers to as fluorescent.
In the above picture, the high fluorescent paper with hibrite flecks is shown by the top block, while the medium fluorescent paper is shown by the bottom block.
The Maple Leaf in Four Seasons Stamps
Like the Insulin and Rutherford stamps, this issue displays a similar variation in fluorescence on both the front, and the back of the paper. Hibrite, high fluorescent and medium fluorescent, while the back shows either as hibrite, high fluorescent with very sparse high fluorescent fibres, or as medium fluorescent with very sparse high fluorescent fibres. The medium fluorescent paper on the back is also found without the high fluorescent fibres, so there are four different fluorescence levels from the back that I have seen so far. This makes for a total of 9 possible front and back fluorescence combinations.
The pictures below show the basic differences as they appear on this issue:
The block on the left is the true hibrite paper, while the one on the right is the high fluorescent paper.
The block on the left, once again is the hibrite paper, while the one on the right is the medium fluorescent paper. Notice how strongly the vertical wove paper curls in the vertical direction on these stamps.
The medium fluorescent paper is shown on the left, while the high fluorescent paper, with sparse high fluorescent fibres is shown on the right.
The block on the left is on true hibrite paper, while the one on the right is high fluorescent. Notice how this set of two pictures does not appear that much different from one another, and yet the grades of fluorescence are different overall. I only show the varieties in general for this issue, as all four values can be found with all possible combinations of front and back fluorescence.
The Papineau Stamp
Unitrade lists two basic varieties of fluorescence on this stamp. The first is a completely dull paper that is dull on both sides, while the other is listed as fluorescent on the front, and medium fluorescent on the back. In actual fact, the difference on the front is solely due to the chalk coating which dulls the fluorescence coming through from the back on the medium fluorescent paper. The fluorescence comes from the fluorescent fibres in the paper, the basic fluorescence being dull. A careful look at this stamp reveals that there are, in fact several varieties of each basic paper that differ according to the brightness and concentration of fluorescent fibres found in the paper.
The pictures below show the two basic levels of fluorescence, as seen from both the front and the back:
The so called fluorescent paper is shown on the left, while the dull paper is shown on the right.
The medium fluorescent paper is shown on the left, and the dull paper is shown on the right.
I have found six varieties of paper, being three of each basic type:
So, in actual fact, none of the papers are completely dull. They only appear so when compared to the papers with higher levels of fluorescence.
The Samuel Hearne Stamp
This issue is generally known to exist on dull fluorescent paper only. I have found a very slight variation in which the paper appears very low fluorescent. Upon closer examination, the paper does contain fluorescent fibres, of different brightness levels and concentrations. The differences are shown (albeit not well) in the pictures below:
Here you can see that the general appearance of the dull fluorescent paper on this stamp is: a greyish colour. In actual fact, the block beneath is a dull fluorescent greyish white colour, while the block above it is a pure grey colour under UV.
Here you can see a very slight difference between the two blocks as seen from the back. The top block is a dull fluorescent ivory colour, while the larger block is a dull fluorescent greyish white. Upon closer examination, the smaller block contains a low density concentration of dull fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of low fluorescent fibres, and a very sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres. These fibres are not present in enough concentration or bright enough to change the overall perceived fluorescence level from dull to low fluorescent. The larger block contains low density concentrations of dull and low fluorescent fibres, and a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres. These fibres are almost enough to change the perceived fluorescence level from dull to low fluorescent, but not quite.
Shade Varieties
Although there are fewer shade varieties on the stamps of these issues, there are still a few that although unlisted in Unitrade, are worth noting here:
Emily Carr Stamp
On this stamp the main variation lies in how prominent the pink colouring that is normally found in the mountains and the sky is. On one variety, the pink is mostly confined to the mountain, and while visible in the sky, is understated. The raven itself on this variety is a district slate colour that lacks any purple tone. On another variety, the raven has a distinct purplish tone to the slate, and the pink colour in the sky is noticeably more prominent.
The scan below shows this difference:
The first variety is shown on the left, while the second, showing more pink is shown on the right.
The Insulin Stamp
On this stamp, the main difference lies in the appearance of the brown background, namely in how much red is present in the brown. On one variety, the brown contains very little red, appearing to be a deep brown. On the other variety, the brown contains a distinct reddish undertone. The scan below shows both of these varieties:
The reddish brown shade is shown on the top stamp, while the deeper brown is on the pair that lies underneath.
The Maple Leaf in Autumn Stamp
On this stamp I have found variation in the colour of the centre leaf. On some examples the leaf contains more red and on others the red contains way more orange. The picture below shows the difference between these two shades:
Notice how much deeper the red of the left leaf is compared to the one on the right.
The Maple Leaf in Winter Stamp
On this stamp the colour of the snow usually contains a hint of grey, caused by a light screening of grey dots across the background of the stamp. On some stamps, these dots are quite light, resulting in the snow appearing whiter, as shown in the scan below:
Notice how the grey of the snow is clearly deeper on the left stamp, compared to the one on the right.
The Papineau Stamp
On this stamp, I have seen variation in the red of the Canada inscription and the dull green of the laurel above Papineau's head, as shown on the two stamps below:
If you compare the two stamps, you can see that the red of the right stamp is slightly darker than the red of the left stamp, as is the dull green.
The Samuel Hearne Stamp
On this stamp I have seen distinct variation in the red inscriptions. On some stamps the inscriptions are a bright carmine red, while on others they are a deep carmine that is almost crimson. The scan below shows the difference between these two shades:
The brighter carmine red is shown at the top and the deeper carmine at the bottom.
Gum Varieties
This is the first period in which all the issued stamps have PVA gum. That being said, there are a number of different types of PVA gum found on these stamps:
Perforations
For these issues, there are no fewer than four different basic perforations used by the three companies that were involved in printing the stamps:
Apart from the measurement, some of the issues show variations in the configuration of the perforation with regard to the selvage of the sheet. For example, most issues exist with the selvage perforated through in both directions. However, on the Maple Leaf in Four Seasons issue, some sheets can be found with upper selvage perforated through, while others can be found with the upper selvage imperforate. The scan below shows both types on the 6c spring:
The Emily Carr, Insulin and Ernest Rutherford stamps have selvage that is fully perforated through on all sides of the sheets. The Papineau and Samuel Hearne stamps have selvage that is fully perforated through on the top and bottom of the sheet. On the sides, the horizontal perforations extend one single hole past the outer vertical perforations. This is called partially perforated selvage with a single extension hole.
Constant Varieties and Double Prints
There are a fair number of listed constant varieties on these few issues, none of which were listed by Unitrade only a few short years ago.
The listed constant varieties are as follows:
I now have a scan of the seven sisters variety, which my customer, Mr. Terry Goertzen was kind enough to send me:
As you can see, there are 7 black dots in the sky where the light blue dots would normally be.
The scans below show the "blue throat":
Here is the normal throat. The blue colour of the sky underneath the beak is even.
Here is the blue throat. If you look in the blue of the sky below the beak you can just see a semi-circular line in the blue, enclosing a slightly deeper and brighter blue patch of colour.
In addition to the listed varieties on this stamp, I have also found a "blue line on the raven's back", which results from mis-registration of the colours:
Here is the normal backed raven. Notice how clean the line of the back of the raven is.
Here is the blue line on the back of the raven. As you can see, it is quite a prominent variety - much more so than the two that are listed in Unitrade.
The next two scans show the hooked 6 and the green frog on leaf varieties:
Here is the hooked 6.
The green frog is the green dot that appears toward the bottom of the second blade of grass from the left in the foreground.
The next scan shows the Snow Bug variety on one stamp, next to a normal stamp in the same sheet:
The variety can be seen on the left leaf, if you look directly above the inner end of the stem. You will see two small black arc-like markings that do not appear on the right leaf, which is the normal leaf. These two markings are known to collectors as the "Snow Bug" variety.
The "scratch beside the south spoke" varieties are all very difficult to show in a scan, due to the close proximity that the scratch has to the spoke. However, I will attempt to illustrate them here. In addition, I have found one unlisted variety which has the scratch, bit for which the middle left spoke is broken, and another variety in which there is a scratch inside the south spoke. I don't illustrate the last one here, as I know it will not show up, even in a 1200dpi scan.
This is the long scratch from position 1. If you look closely the right side of the spoke appears doubled, to about half way up, and then it becomes a clean, solid line. The doubling of course, is the scratch.
Here is the short scratch. Here, the doubling goes about one quarter of the way up the spoke. This comes from position 41 in the sheet.
Here is the medium scratch, plus the broken west spoke. Here, the doubling on the south spoke ends just under half way up the spoke. This also comes from position 1.
Both the Samuel Hearne and Papineau issues are found with doubling of the red inscriptions, called "Ghost Prints". The strength of this doubling varies widely from weak kiss prints showing just a shadow of doubling, to strong double prints that show a distinct, second impression.
The scan below shows a very weak example of a kiss print on the Papineau stamp:
The kiss print is shown on the left. If you look carefully you can see a shadow on the outside of the "a's". But what is most noticeable is that the left inscriptions look fuzzy compared to the sharp and clear inscriptions on the right. This is not the priced ghost print in Unitrade - that must show much stronger doubling than this. I don't have an example of that to show here. But I will add one, when one becomes available.
The scan below shows a stronger kiss print on the Samuel Hearne stamp:
Again, I doubt this is strong enough to be an example of the Unitrade listed ghost print, but is rather one of the weaker kiss prints. Still, it is quite noticeable compared to the normal inscription shown below:
Notice how much clearer the normal inscription is.
Errors and Imperforates
This is the first period in several years to feature five major errors, which are all listed in Unitrade. Two of these are colour omitted errors, one is a double paper and two are imperforate errors:
I have not been able to find images of the first and last of these, but I have been able to find images of the second and third:
The imperforate pair of the 6c Maple Leaf in Spring Issue
The missing grey on the 7c Maple Leaf in Autumn
Plate Blocks
This is the first period for which the corner blocks bear no plate numbers at all. All of the blocks for these issues bear only the inscription of the printer and usually the designer. In addition, field stock corner blocks exist as well for all issues. As was seen on the Maple Leaf in Four Seasons issue, these field stock blocks can be found with different selvage widths as well. Some blocks which had both sides fully trimmed can be found with narrow selvage on both sides, while others can be found with narrow selvage at the top or bottom and wide selvage on the sides.
This it would seem that most issues can be collected in:
So, this would mean that every variety can be collected in up to 12 different blocks.
First Day Covers
Starting with the above issue in 1971, Canada post began producing and selling first day covers. These generally only had one single cachet design, and one official Ottawa cancellation. However, generally Canada post issued several different configurations of stamps on each cover, which would usually include:
So, for most issues there are at least 6 different official first day covers. Then the envelope stock itself can show collectible variations. These can be in the paper stock, as well as its fluorescence. For example, on the above issue, many of the envelopes can be found with the papermaker's watermark. In fact, if you look closely at the above scan you can see the watermark reading diagonally across the envelope.
Of course, the private cachet makers continued to produce covers as well. Art Craft and Rose Craft continue to be seen quite frequently, but also Cole and Kingswood to name a few. These are generally worth a premium over the Unitrade prices because they are much less common in this period than they were before. The scan below shows a Cole first day cover of the Discovery of Insulin issue:
Postal History and Cancellations
Among these issues there are no high value stamps. All of the stamps were issued to pay the basic, first class letter rate within Canada. So, used examples and covers with single usages are not uncommon at all. However, given that the foreign airmail rate was 15c to Europe and 25c to other continents, and the fact that the denominations are 6c and 7c, it is possible to find the higher rates made up using two or more of the commemorative stamps. The most desirable and challenging covers will be those that use more than one issue, within the correct time period.
The cover below shows an airmail cover to Germany, for which the postage has been paid using a block of 6 Emily Carr stamps:
The postage on this letter, which was mailed on April 1, 1971 is 24 cents. The airmail rate to Germany at this time was 15 cents per half ounce. So, if it is truly an airmail cover, as the envelope suggests, then either:
Both of these scenarios are unlikely. So I did some further research and found that the UPU surface letter rate to Germany on April 1, 1971 was 12 cents per half ounce. So, what this actually is, is a full one ounce letter that was sent surface mail. It says airmail at the bottom because a pre-printed airmail envelope was used, but it was not sent this way.
It is an interesting cover, I think. These covers can be quite fun to collect because they are not that common. People generally did not save modern covers like this regrettably. So, it can be quite a fun challenge to assemble a collection of different covers showing all the postage rates.
This concludes my examination of these first issues from 1971. Next week I will cover the last five issues, and then it will be on to 1972.
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