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

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 ve...

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

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. 

With over a year in the making, this series of posts is finally entering the home stretch, with the last four values of the set: the 20c, 25c, 50c and $1. This week I will deal with all the printings of the 20c value, which depicts "The Ferry Quebec" by J.W. Morrice. It is one of the less complicated values in the set, at least according to Unitrade. However, as we shall see, there is still plenty of scope to interest the specialist. Interestingly, none of the high values from this point forward exist with general Ottawa tagging. This value exists only Winnipeg tagged. According to Unitrade, the printings with dextrine gum were in use from February 8, 1967, when the set was first issued, until May 1972, when the printings with PVA gum replaced them. The life of these later printings was very brief, as the 20c Prairies from the Caricature Issue was issued on September 8, 1972. The Winnipeg tagged stamps appeared on December 9, 1969, on cream paper with dextrine gum, and the...

Today, I finish off my examination of the 15c Bylot Island stamp from the series, with an exploration of the printings made using PVA gum. Unfortunately I do not have some of the scarcer paper varieties on hand, so my descriptions will be less than complete, and I will have to add examples as they become available. Unitrade lists four varieties of the untagged stamps, three of which are very scarce, and does not list any plastic flow varieties, even though they clearly do exist on the untagged PVA gum printings, as well as on the dextrine gum printings. I have started to use the term dextrine rather than dextrose after David Gronbeck-Jones, the famous Centennial issue specialist and author pointed out to me that dextrose is the sugar from which the dextrine gum is made. The tagged stamps are listed by Unitrade as existing with both Winnipeg tagging and General Ottawa tagging, on both dull and low fluorescent papers, for a total of 4 basic varieties. All of these exist, of course wit...

Today's post tackles the third high value in the Centennial series: the 15c Bylot Island, by Lawren Harris. Bylot island is in part of what used to be the Northwest Territories and is now Nunavut. Next to the 10c this was the second most heavily printed high value. The reason is because the foreign airmail rate to Europe was 15c during the life of this issue. So, the vast majority of covers to those destinations would have had the postage paid by a single 15c stamp. The demand for these stamps would have led to many printings, and of course a very delightful array of collectible varieties, including many rare plastic flow varieties that are now listed in Unitrade. In keeping with the method I followed in dealing with the 10c value, I am going to separate these by gum type and then cover this value in two posts: one for the dextrose gum stamps, and one for the PVA gum stamps. Today's post will look at those stamps issued with Dextrose gum. Unitrade lists five varieties for ...