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

Today's post will conclude the King George VI period with a look at nine commemorative issues that were released between March 3, 1947 and October 26, 1951. All of the issues, except for the 1947 Canadian Citizenship issue were designed by Herman Herbert Schwartz, who by now, is well known within Canadian philatelic circles as the country's leading stamp designer. He was involved in the production of the model upon which the Citizenship Issue was designed, but the designer himself was Alan Brookman Beddoe. Silas Robert Allen and William F. Ford, both prominent engravers with the Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN), were responsible for all the engraving. The CBN printed all of the issues except for the Prime Ministers series in sheets of 200, which were split into four post office panes of 50, while the Prime Ministers stamps were printed in sheets of 400, which were then split into four post office panes of 100.

These commemorative issues are important because they mark the beg…

OHMS Perfins and Overprints




This was the first issue to feature both OHMS perfins and overprints in the same set.

OHMS Perfins

The only perfin type in use at this point was the 4-hole type shown above.  However, there were three sub-types of the 4-hole type, the second of which came into use in 1942:


The first type, which was used until 1946, has a narrow "O", which can be difficult to identify if you are not familiar with these. However, this type can be positively identified by looking at the seventh hole from the top of the "S" and noting where it is in relation to the first and sixth holes. The first and sixth holes are aligned vertically. However, the seventh pin is not quite vertically aligned with these two pins, being just slightly off to the right of them. The second type, which was in use between 1942 and 1949 occurs on seven of the 10 dies used during this period. It is characterized by a wider "O", but also by the fact that the seventh hole of t…

There were not very many commemorative issues for the King George VI period until after the War, but today's post will deal with the two commemorative issues that appeared before the War: the 1937 Coronation issue, and the 1939 Royal Visit Issue.

The scope is very limited for the 1937 Coronation, although there are quite a few proof items for it that are more challenging, and one can always seek out better frankings on cover. However, it is the 1939 Royal Visit issue that affords real scope and challenge for the specialist. The main attraction of this issue lies in the plate blocks. This was the very first bicoloured engraved issue to be produced, and it is in fact one of the only such issues prior to the introduction of multi-colour printing in the late 1960's. Consequently, two separate plates were employed to print each stamp in the set: one for the frame, and the other for the vignette. The result is a surprisingly large number of different plate blocks, some of which are…