Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal StationeryHowes, Clifton A. (Clifton Armstrong)
History
Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery
Howes, Clifton A. (Clifton Armstrong)
Postage stamps -- Canada; Postal stationery -- Canada
any further printings were made. The watermarked paper must therefore
have been used sometime during the course of the year 1868, probably the
middle, when supplies of all values except the 1/2 cent were printed.
[97] =Dominion Philatelist=, I: 5.
[98] =Halifax Philatelist=, III: 8.
For the determination of the character of the watermark we are indebted
to Mr. John N. Luff, whose thoroughness and acumen when delving into a
philatelic problem are proverbial. The result of his study was published
in 1895[99] and we take the following extracts from his interesting
paper:--
[99] =American Journal of Philately=, VIII: 77.
Most philatelic writers, when treating of the Canadian issue of
1868-75, give small space to the series watermarked with large
letters. Most of them make a few speculative remarks as to the
probable watermark and then drop the subject. So far as I am aware,
no one has taken the trouble to ascertain what the watermark
actually is. The London Society in the _North American Colonies of
Great Britain_ says: "Some of the stamps on wove paper have been
catalogued with a watermark, consisting of various letters. It is
probable that these letters are portions of the name of the
papermaker, which most likely exists in the margin of the sheets."
Other writers are equally superficial. The _Catalogue for Advanced
Collectors_ says: "Although we catalogue as varieties the stamps on
watermarked paper, it is very possible that these form a separate
issue. It may have happened that the printers, having-run short of
the regular paper, replaced it by some similar paper that they had
in stock, bearing this watermark"....
In the _Stamps of British North America_, by Messrs. C. B. Corwin
and Donald A. King (_Metropolitan Philatelist_, June 1891), this
watermark is given more attention. The possibility that it is the
words "Canada Postage" or "Canada Post Office Department" is
discussed and rejected, because the authors have found certain
letters and pairs of letters which do not occur in these words.
It has seemed to me that it would be of interest, probably of value,
to know exactly what this watermark is. I have therefore given the
matter considerable study, and now have the pleasure of presenting
the result to your readers. The extensive stock of the Scott Stamp &
Coin Co., being placed at my disposal, together with a quantity of
stamps from private sources ... I believe I have correctly
reconstructed the watermark.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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