Canadian Philately - The Stamps and Postal History of Canada 1851 to Present by Brixton Chrome

This week I turn my attention to the 1968 commemorative issues. As I point out in my detailed post that follows, this year marks the beginning of a new era in which certain aspects of stamp production that had been experimental in previous years now becomes standard practice. These aspects are:


All of the stamps printed are now in the new metric sizes, rather than the old imperial ones. Fluorescent papers are now the norm rather than the exception.Straight edged sheet stamps appear for the first time since 1934. Cello-paqs, which had been in use since 1961 are discontinued in favour of large softcover booklets for the Christmas issues. Lithography, photogravure, engraving and lithography, and engraving and photogravure all become mainstream methods of printing. Photogravure and engraving is a completely new method of printing that BABN introduces in this year, and photogravure is introduced for the first time by CBN. Prior to this almost all Canadian stamps had been engraved. In 1968,…

Today's post marks the first in a new series - one that will explore the intricacies of the commemorative stamps that were issued between 1967 and 1972, just before the next definitive issue, the Caricature issue appeared. I have elected to keep each post restricted to the stamps of just one year, so I anticipate that this series will consist of six posts.  The commemorative issues are often overlooked by specialists who think that since they were only issued for a brief period of time, and because they are aimed at collectors, that there is nothing interesting to study about them. I wholeheartedly disagree. For one thing they serve as important time markers for the various changes that the post office adopted in terms of paper, perforation, gum, ink and tagging. By carefully studying these changes in the commemorative stamps and being familiar with the dates, you form a basis against which to study the same changes that you encounter in the definitive stamps of the same period. …

Today, I finally reach the end of my detailed coverage of this incredible definitive issue, with the $1 value depicting the Edmonton Oilfield, by H.G Glyde. Like most of the stamps in this issue, this stamp had many printings and there are plenty of paper and gum varieties to collect, as well as a few subtle shades.  Unitrade lists no fewer than 6 varieties of this stamp, four of which have dextrine gum, and the remaining two of which are PVA gum printings. The dextrine gum printings are listed as existing on dull, dead, low fluorescent and hibrite paper. As is the case for the other values of this series, the paper exhibits other differences besides the fluorescence level, and the low and medium fluorescent papers are actually flecked papers at a lower fluorescence level, which appear brighter than they actually are, due to the fluorescent fibre content of the paper.  The shades found on this stamp are very subtle and really only visible when several stamps are very closely compared…

Today's post took longer than expected because I took a different approach this time. Rather than detail the paper varieties, shades and paper varieties separately, I identified the shade varieties first and then for each identified variety of shade, I detailed the paper and gum varieties. This makes for a more precise determination of the maximum number of varieties that may be found.

In any event, you can access the full post on my website, by clicking on the following link:

https://brixtonchrome.com/blogs/canadian-stamps-and-postal-history/the-50c-summers-stores-stamp-from-the-1967-1973-centennial-issue

I must apologize again to my readers for another break in the continuity of my posts. I had resumed posting last week and had hoped to complete this week's post today before I go on vacation tomorrow for two weeks. However, the final content edits that I had to make to the my new website took more time than I expected, so unfortunately I did not get a chance to prepare this week's post.

However, the website is now completely functional. The only thing I have left to do is migrate these blogs to it, install the language translation app and connect all the social media sales channels. I will deal with all that when I return, as well as resuming my regular posting schedule. I do apologize for all the interruptions, but I can promise you all that I don't have any other plans, except possibly to take a week in January next year. So, you can look forward to at least 2 or three uninterrupted months of postings.

The website itself has been well worth the effort and the patience t…

At last I have completed enough of my new website to be in a position to write and publish my first post dealing with the 25c Solemn Land definitive from the series. Rather than post the content here and migrate it to the new site, I have decided to publish it entirely on the new website with a link here that you can click to get to it:

https://brixtonchrome.com/blogs/canadian-stamps-and-postal-history/the-25c-solemn-land-definitive-of-the-1967-1973-centennial-issue
I will do this for the next several weeks to give all my readers a chance to get used to reading the new blog on my website, and then eventually, I will move the content from this blog to my website and will shut this blog down.

I wanted to let my readers know that I am almost finished my new website, and need another week to complete the finishing touches. So, I will not be posting this week either. However, I will pick up where I left off next Tuesday, with the 25c Solemn Land stamp from the 1967-73 Centennial Issue.

Thanks very much for your patience.

In the meantime, I would encourage you all to check out how the site looks so far:

www.brixtonchrome.com

I have added a lot of information resource pages aimed at collectors of all levels of experience. The "Getting Started With Stamps" section covers a lot of topics for beginners, and "Stamp School" covers a range of topics for the intermediate to advanced collector.

I would love to have comments about any topics that you think should be covered that are not, as I would like to include as many as I can ultimately.