Canada Scott #247 has an interesting variation that one does not often see discussed but that is very easy to come across when multiples of the stamp are available for examination. This stamp, along with the other two stamps issued for the Royal Visit in 1939 were the first Canadian stamps to be produced with two separate engraved plates. One plate was used for the color portions of the stamps and another for the black and white portions.
In the case of Scott #247, the black and white portion is the War Memorial monument:
Because of the use of the two separate plates, the monument is not placed excatly the same in every printing. As a result, stamps range from showing all the steps at the bottom of the monument to only one step.
In the examples below, the first stamp shows the full number of stairs. The next stamp has only three stairs showing, the third stamp only two and the final stamp shows only one step. When placed side by side, it appears the monument is sinking!
Larry Farlow
For a short time from 1968 to 1970 there was an experimental printing done by BABN which included commemorative stamps Scott #482, 483, 484 & 490. During this time these stamps were issued with a perforation of 10. Most commemoratives of this era are perf. 12 stamps.
Many of these BABN experimental stamps have one or more straight edges as if they were booklet stamps (they were not). If one finds an example of these experimental printings which have sound perforations on all four sides it generally sells at a premium over those with one or more straight edges.
An example of one of these experimental stamps is Scott #482 shown below with the characteristic straight edge.
Larry Farlow
Foothills Trading Company
If you collect the stamps of East Germany (DDR) you'll notice that sometimes a particular stamp in a series is valued much higher than the rest of the set. Many times all the stamps in a set will be minimum value stamps (.20 each) with one exception which catalogs at several dollars in some cases.
Beginning about 1955 the Communist government of East Germany realized the profit potential to be had from its stamp program. This profit was not primarily to be had from their own citizens purchasing stamps to collect or to use for postage but from foreign collectors who would purchase the stamps using the "hard currency" so desperately needed by the regime.
To help rake in some of this "hard currency" (Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Deutschmarks, etc.) it was decided when issuing a series of stamps, to produce one stamp in the set in limited quantities, making it more difficult for collectors to obtain and thereby more expensive.
Because the value of a stamp is largely driven by the quantity issued, these "set keys" continue to be more valuable than the rest of the set still today. Collectors of East Germany often look to purchase "complete sets" meaning the set key is included.
Aside from the amount of their catalog value, these "set key" stamps are also identified in Scott by a catalog value that is in italics.
On July 1, 1926 something happened in Canada that we know nothing about in recent years - postal rates actually went down! The rate for a one ounce letter within Canada dropped from three cents to two cents and the corresponding rate to the United Kingdom and the rest of the British Empire dropped from four cents to three.
Unfortunately, according to George Marler in The Admiral Issue of Canada, the Post Office had 130 million THREE CENTS carmine Admiral stamps (Scott #109) in stock, enough to last 25 years if they were only to be used to pay the new rate to the UK and British Empire!
To deal with this situation it was decided to surcharge the THREE CENTS Admiral with a two cent rate so that the stamps could be used for the new domestic rate.
Two different surcharges were used, a one line version (Scott #139):
And a two line version (Scott #140):
Much sought after by collectors of Admirals as well as Classic Era Canadian stamps, these now catalog for $85.00 and $42.50 respectively in MNH condition.
Larry Farlow
Foothills Trading Company
You can visit my StampWants store here.
The St. Lawrence Seaway is a series of canals that make it possible for Ocean-going ships to make their way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes as far as Lake Superior.
The canal was formally opened in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II and President Dwight Eisenhower who cruised up the canal on the Royal Yacht Britannia.
There are four postage stamps associated with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The first of these was the stamp issued by Canada to honor the royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II for the opening of the canal. This stamp, one of Canada's most beautiful in my opinion, was based on the famous portrait of the queen by Pietro Annigoni. This is Scott #386:
The second and third were a joint issue of the United States and Canada to commemorate the opening of the canal itself. The US stamp is Scott #1131 and the Canadian stamp Scott #387:
However, the most famous stamp associated with the St. Lawrence Seaway opening is also one of the world's most famous invert errors, Scott #387a which catalogs for approximately $8,000. Only about 400 of these are known to have been produced:
Larry
Foothills Trading Company
You can visit my StampWants store here.
"Fathers of Confederation" was a large (8 X 13 feet) oil painting commissioned by the Canadian government in 1883. The painting featured the men involved in the creation of Canada in 1867 and was painted by the artist Robert Harris.
Many of Canada's most influential early citizens appear in the painting such as Sir John Macdonald and Thomas D'Arcy McGee, both of whom have been honored on Canadian postage stamps.
The painting itself has been featured on two different Canadian stamps, Scott #135 pictured here:
And Scott #142 :
Both feature beautiful renditions of Harris' painting. Sadly, the original painting was destroyed by fire when the Canadian Parliament building burned in 1916. Harris did, however, subsequently produce a copy which still exists today and is displayed in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Larry
Foothills Trading Company
You can visit my StampWants store here.
This coming Monday, January 26 the Lunar New Year begins (sometimes called Chinese New Year). The Lunar New Year celebration begins on a new moon and ends 15 days later on the full moon.
Every year since 1997 the Canada Post has issued stamps in honor of Lunar New Year. Since Lunar New Year follows a 12 year cycle, this year will begin the second cycle of 12 stamps. The first stamp issued for Year of the Ox 1997 was Scott #1630 pictured here:
This year's stamp (as yet unnumbered by Scott) for Year of the Ox 2009 is pictured here:
This will be the first Lunar New Year stamp to be issued as a "P" stamp in Canada, a stamp that is good for the first class domestic rate forever.
This has been a very popular and widely collected series for the Canada Post which has issued some beautiful stamps and souvenir sheets over the years for this occasion.
You can purcahse this year's Lunar New Year stamp through the Canada Post and hopefully shortly in both mint and used condition from your favorite stamp dealer here on StampWants!
Larry
Foothills Trading Company
You can visit my StampWants store here.
While sorting through a batch of Canada #2012, the Queen Elizabeth 49 cent issue from 2003, I came across what appeared to be a color variation.
When I consulted the Unitrade catalog no color variation was listed but there was a note for this issue as follows:
"Counterfeit booklets of 2012 (BK281) and 2014 (BK283) are known to exist. These are of a very high quality."
Examining the stamp more (the one pictured on the right) I noticed that it had an almost newspaper photo quality, noticeable "dots" making up the photo, and that the date was very blurred as compared to the rest of the copies I had (example on the left).
Is it possible this is a counterfeit stamp? Does anyone have any experience with this?
