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

Today's post will tackle the aspect of this issue that has probably received the most attention from specialists of this issue, and is definitely the most fun, but also the most confusing: the paper fluorescence. The study of paper fluorescence has been a "thing" since Irwin, Keane and Hughes, and Gronbeck-Jones published articles about this topic in the 1960's when the issue was current. However, it was, until relatively recently a fringe topic that was well outside the scope of even the Canada Specialized catalogue. I can well remember when I was a child in the early 1980's that the only paper varieties listed for this issue were plain paper and hibrite paper. However, since the late 1980's the topic of paper fluorescence has received more and more attention from mainstream philatelists, and consequently, the number of listings in the Unitrade specialized catalogue has grown considerably.

Despite this expansion in coverage, there is still, in my humble opi…

Overview

Today's post will deal with what is perhaps the most complicated topic of all, as far as this issue is concerned: the paper used to print the stamps. Much attention has been paid to the fluorescence of the paper, which is to say the appearance of the paper when placed under a long-wave ultraviolet lamp. However, there are other attributes of the paper that are important, and worthy of detailed study as well. These include:

1. The thickness of the paper.
2. The whiteness of the paper when viewed in normal light.
3. The direction of the paper weave: i.e. horizontal versus vertical.
4. The texture of the paper on both the front and the back - i.e. smooth versus ribbed.
5. The surface porosity of the paper - porous and soft, versus coated and non-porous.
6. The opacity of the paper.
7. The surface finish - whether or not the paper is matte unsurfaced, or glazed.

This post will discuss all of these attributes in detail as well as covering the topic of paper fluorescence. Keen …

Today marks the first in a series of many posts about what has become not only one of the most popular definitive issues for Canadian specialists, but in the world. It is on a par with the Machin Heads of the United Kingdom, in terms of complexity, for the six years that it was current. The Machin Heads are of course, much more extensive, having been in continuous use for 50 years now, but the Centennial Issue is remarkably complex for a series that lasted for only six years. Five to six years is the average life span of a modern definitive issue, but usually most definitive issues that run this long do not yield anywhere near the number of collectible varieties that this one does. This is one of those issues that you can collect for 40 years, and think at the end of that time that you know it inside and out, and just when you think you have discovered all that there is to discover, another aspect that you either didn't consider to be significant, or just didn't notice will s…