The Stamps of CanadaPoole, Bertram W. H. (Bertram William Henry)
History
The Stamps of Canada
Poole, Bertram W. H. (Bertram William Henry)
Postage stamps -- Canada
The paper used for this set of stamps is what is generally known as
"wove" and it varies, as Mr. Howes states, "from a very thin, almost
pelure quality to a quite hard and thick variety." Mr. King, who was
evidently untiring in his efforts to discover varieties of paper, says,
"This series is of a most interesting nature, having a very large number
of varieties of paper, all quite distinct, and specimens of some are of
considerable rarity." Mr. King then lets himself go and describes some
_seventeen_ varieties of paper but, with the exception of two well
marked varieties to which we shall make extended reference shortly, they
all seem to resolve themselves into minute variations of the wove paper
such as can be found in connection with most stamps of the 'sixties and
'seventies with the aid of a micrometer and a well trained imagination!
We doubt whether any specialist, however willing and enthusiastic, could
follow Mr. King through his intricate listing.
Scott's catalogue lists a sub-variety of all values except the 1/2c on
"watermarked" paper. The watermarked letters found in these stamps were
known at least as early as 1870 and much speculation was rife as to
their meaning. Mr. John N. Luff finally solved the problem by assembling
a large number of the watermarked stamps so that he was able to
reconstruct the complete watermark, viz:--
E. & C. BOTHWELL
CLUTHA MILLS
The letters are large double lined capitals 12-1/2 mm. high with the
exception of the initial letters E, C and B of the upper line, which
are 13 mm. high. The "watermark" is, of course, the trademark of the
paper manufacturer and, like other watermarks of a similar nature, it is
not of very great philatelic importance. It is very generally presumed
that the paper watermarked in this manner was used provisionally--an
opinion with which Mr. Howes seems to concur by his statement that "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 1/2c were printed." But we fail to find from any
evidence so far adduced that this watermarked paper was in use only
during some well defined period. The fact that it is not found in
connection with the 1/2c proves nothing for this value was of a
different size from the others and doubtless paper of a different size,
but the same quality was used so as to prevent unnecessary waste in
cutting into sheets for printing. At best, as we have already stated, it
is but a papermaker's trade mark, and it is difficult to understand on
what grounds it is included in the catalogue as a variety to the
exclusion of similar and well known examples in the stamps of other
countries. We must confess that more importance seems to be attached to
the variety than is warranted by its philatelic status and we commend to
our readers' attention Major E. B. Evans' pertinent comments regarding
it, viz:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account