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

This is my last post before my Christmas break, and my second last post before I get into another very long series of posts for the 1972-1978 Caricature Issue. This week, I have explored the first four commemorative issues of 1972. Like the previous issues of 1971, a good grounding in the paper varieties of these stamps will prove to be a very useful reference for the specialist of the 1967-73 Centennial issue, who is trying to sort the 1972 printings of some of the stamps from the 1971 printings, as the stamps of 1972 exhibit characteristics that were not seen on the earlier stamps.

In my detailed post I go through the usual discussions of paper types, fluorescence, gum and perforations. There are several things though about these issues that stand out:


There are more se-tenant stamps being issued again, but this time, they can only be found in horizontal or vertical pairs. There are many fewer varieties of fluorescence on most of these stamps, with most having fewer than 5 varieties…

This week's post completes my examination of the last six commemorative issues from 1971. This is the last year to include stamps with dextrine gum, and the formula for PVA gum had more or less been perfected by both the BABN and CBN by the end of the year, after several months of experimentation.

The use of chalk-surfaced paper continued and by the end of the year, only 2 stamps were issued on non-chalky paper. BABN introduced, with the last stamp of 1971, the Pierre Laporte stamp, a ribbed, chalk-surfaced paper, that continued to be used to produce the first printings of some of the 1972-78 Landscape definitives.

Fluorescence turns out to be a far more complicated topic on these issues than it has been for any other period in quite a long time. The main reason is that the fluorescence on the front and the back of the stamps varies, due to the chalk surfacing on the front of the stamps. Most issues show at least 3 or 4 varieties of fluorescence on the front, and almost as many o…

In this week's post I explore the first six commemorative issues of 1971, which comprised 10 stamps, including the "Maple Leaf in Four Seasons" which was issued over the course of the year, at the beginning of each season. 
As I note in my detailed post, 1971 was a significant year in three respects, the main one of which os that this is the first time that PVA gum is introduced to replace dextrine gum.  As we will see next week, this replacement is not completed until 1972, with two of the Christmas stamps having the old dextrine gum. 1971 was, therefore a year in which experimentation was undertaken by the printing companies to find a gum that was optimal for use. In addition to the so called "spotty white gum" that is found on a few of the stamps from this year, there were also gums with a distinctly dull sheen, which I refer to here as eggshell, and I have even discovered a small number of stamps with what appears to be almost completely invisible gum. Thi…

My apologies for being late with this week's post. I had a computer hardware disaster yesterday that saw me lose most of my data, and I spent most of yesterday trying to recover it, without any success I might add. So, I did not get a change to write this week's post until today.

Today, I delved into the last 17 stamps of 1970, 12 of which came from the Christmas issue. These issues were replete with varieties that are not listed in Unitrade, such as:


A distinct smooth/ribbed paper distinction that is found on all of the issues except for the Alexander Mackenzie issue and the Oliver Mowat issue. Additional plate flaws on the Christmas issue 5c and 6c stamps.A double print of the Canada inscription on the Group of Seven issue. Three or more varieties of paper fluorescence for nearly all the stamps listed.Shade varieties on several of the Christmas stamps and the Group of Seven issue. In addition, there are the usual variations in perforation on the stamps printed by CBN, which …

Today, I began my examination of the stamps of the 1970's with the first 10 stamps of 1970. This is one of the supposedly simpler periods according to Unitrade, with no varieties other than the basic Winnipeg tagged versions of the commemoratives being listed. 
In contrast to the previous two years, in which most of the stamps are printed on fluorescent papers, this is the first time in two years that the vast majority of the 10 stamps are printed on dull fluorescent papers, with only one issue being issued on high fluorescent paper. Despite the relatively simple appearance, it turns out that most of the issues have upwards of 6 different varieties of dull fluorescent paper. There are also the usual variations in perforation on the CBN printed stamps. When these two factors are combined, there is quite a bit more collecting scope than one would expect at first glance. 
There are not really much shade varieties to collect, nor are there any constant varieties known at the current …

Today's post completes my examination of the 1969 commemorative issues of Canada, and looks at the last 9 stamps issued in that year. Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN) printed all but two of these using either lithography or engraving and lithography, while the British American Bank Note Company printed the other two, using engraving and photogravure.  For these last 9 stamps, high fluorescent or hibrite paper is now the norm, for all except two issues: the Issac Brock Issue and the Stephen Leacock issue, which was the last one to appear on November 12, 1969. Unitrade does list a dull paper variety on the other BABN issue, the Charlottetown Bicentennial, though no other dull paper varieties, are, as yet known on the other issues. Gum and perforation displays the usual variations that were noted in the last post and there are a good number of constant varieties on the lithographed stamps. None of these were listed 20 years ago, having all reached prominence since then. So, there ma…

This week is the first of my shorter posts, which will explore the first half of the commemorative issues that were released by the Canadian post office in 1969. 1969 continues the innovation that was begun in 1968, with hibrite papers firmly taking hold as the standard paper used for stamp printing, and the prevalence of dull paper beginning to drop off. The 10 comb perforation that the BABN had introduced in 1968 is abandoned by them and replaced with a much finer 12.5 x 12 comb perforation. In terms of printing techniques, photogravure and engraving and lithography and engraving are the most common, but pure photogravure and pure lithography are used also.

Perhaps the most marked difference between the 1969 issues and the 1967 and 1968 issues is the lack of perforation varieties. Only 2 stamps of the first 6 stamps issued in 1969 have four variations of the the 11.85 or 11.95 line perforation. The remaining stamps are all only known in a single perforation. This is also the first …