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COLUMNS


News Bites
Pope Benedict XVI first to
abdicate in 400 years (Page 6)

Philatelic Bookshelf
Author shares encyclopedic knowledge
on early transatlantic mail (Page 10)

Deltiology
Helping hand reveals patriotic
and pseudo-postcards (Page 11)

Looking Back
An admirable single issue
for 1913 (Page 14)

Focus on Collecting
Spring into birdwatching
this season (Page 16)

New Issues
From around the world (Page 18)

Philatelic Profile
Photographer turns shots
into stamp art (Page 22)


REGULARS


CSN Marketplace
Are you buying
or selling? (Page 19)

Show and Bourse
Check out the shows
in your area (Page 23)


EDITORIAL


The deets in Details target a very specific audience

By Bret Evans

Whenever a new edition of Details arrives, I always take a few minutes to absorb the contents page.

Getting three months' worth of stamp issues at one glance is a good chance to get a handle on the look and feel of the stamp program.

Of course I have my own opinions, but I also realize that our stamp program has to do its best to have something for everyone, not just something to suit middle-aged editors of Canadian stamp magazines.

I suspect that putting the final touches on a stamp program is a thankless task. No doubt somebody will wonder why Big Brothers and Big Sisters are there when there are so many other deserving bodies, while someone else will be mystified about Chinese gates. Having said that, someone else out there will be wondering why Big Brothers and Big Sisters didn't get the souvenir sheet that they deserve, and somebody else will figure that the Canadian motorcycles series should have had a few more stamps.

So without getting into specific subjects, the stamps featured in this latest edition seem to be a mixture of history and contemporary society. It seems pretty balanced. History has Laura Secord, the first regular mail route, motorcycles, and an old army regiment. Contemporary society has the Queen, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Chinatown gates, and adopt a pet.

A group of collectors could debate the fine points all day, and the only conclusion would be that, in the end, the matter is subjective.

It would be even more confusing if you drew in the millions of Canadians who don't collect stamps.

Here in the hobby we are pretty well informed and have the chance to look at the whole program.

Most Canadians only see a small part of the picture.

Later this year, in the town where I live, there will be some events to honour Laura Secord. It makes sense since I live just a short walk from the place where she met with the native warriors and British soldiers, and even closer to the site of the battle that followed.

There is a good chance that the stamp showing Secord will get some play. I know if I ran the local post office I'd be selling special covers and cancels whenever I got the chance. However, I am equally sure that while some may recall a similar stamp for Maj.-Gen Isaac Brock, nobody is likely to mention Canadian motorcycles or Chinatown gates.

For this part of Canada, the stamp program will be summed up in a couple of stamps, and the rest will simply not be relevant.

That is largely because most people buy their stamps at convenience stores, which means they are most likely to get a flag definitive.

Let's face it: we probably do look at stamps in a very different way than almost everyone else in the country.

A second story in this issue deals with counterfeit stamps.

As I wrote in that piece, counterfeiting is not a new problem. Collectors sometimes try to distinguish between counterfeit stamps, made to cheat the post office, and forged stamps made to defraud collectors. Somehow, ownership of a forged copy of a rarity, fabricated by a famous criminal is deemed more acceptable than owning a counterfeit stamp of a definitive, fabricated by an anonymous criminal.

I've never understood that, because to me a fake is a fake. It doesn't matter if the criminal was trying to cheat a collector out of hundred of dollars, or trying to cheat the post office out of a few pennies, both are counterfeits to me.

Having said that, I will admit that I find the idea of owning a Speranti a lot more glamorous than having a laser-printed fake of a Vancouver Olympic Commemorative.


Regiment among war heroes honoured on new Canadian stamps (Continued)


Postal history stamp to feature Ben Franklin

By Bret Evans

The regiment was first deployed in 1866, when it was called out first to the Niagara area, and later to Cornwall, Ont., to deter Fenian raids. In 1870 members participated in the federal expedition to Manitoba and later in 1885 the regiment served in the North West Rebellion.

Like other militia regiments, the PWOR provided volunteers to serve in the Boer War of 1899. During the First World War, some members joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force to Europe, while others served locally, including at an internment camp at Fort Henry.

During the Second World War, the regiment again served in Canada. In addition to members who volunteered for service in other units, the PWOR provided officers and men to the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders regiment, seeing action on the D-Day Juno Beach landings.

Since the war, members of the PWOR have served in peacekeeping missions, as well as Korea and Afghanistan.

The stamp was created by Dave Sasha, of Sputnik Design, who also created the three previous stamps in the series.

The design shows four members of the regiment in uniforms from the 1800s through the two world wars and the present era. It has the permanent domestic rate used for most contemporary stamps. The soldiers on the stamp are modelled on actual members of the regiment. The booklet includes photographs of PWOR soldiers over the years, some of which are included on the official first-day cover.

Lowe-Martin produced two million stamps in booklets of 10, using seven-colour lithography. The stamps are self-adhesive with simulated perforations, and are produced on Tullis Russell paper with general four-side tagging.

The OFDC cancel is from Kingston and consists of the regimental crest and the number 150.

Stamps promote animal welfare

Several animal-welfare organizations have participated in the creation of a five-stamp program around the theme adopt a pet.

The participating agencies - the Toronto Humane Society, Toronto Parrot Sanctuary, and Canadian Federal of Human Societies - are stressing the importance of adopting animals from shelters.

In 2010, nearly 150,000 homeless pets were admitted to shelters.

Designer Monika Melnychuk created a design in which peeling the stamps from the booklet releases the animal from a cage, symbolizing the animal leaving the shelter to a new home. Fine lines behind each animal represent its dream of an ideal home.

The animals shown on the stamps - two dogs, two cats, and a parrot - are actual shelter animals, and their stories are included on the booklet and the OFDC.

All five stamps are permanent domestic rate.

Lowe-Martin will produce five million stamps in booklets of 10, and 180,000 in souvenir sheets of five stamps.

The stamps will be printed on Tullis Russell paper using six-colour lithography plus varnish and three-side tagging. The booklets are self-adhesive with simulated perforations, while the souvenir sheets are water-activated with 13-plus perforations.

The OFDC, dated April 22, is from Ottawa.

Chinatown gates in Canada

Eight stamps will be issued showing Canadian Chinatown gates.

Traditionally, in China, gates were used to separate subdivisions in cities. Over they years they became more ornamental. In the late 1990s they began to appear in Canadian cities as symbols of harmony and co-operation between Canadian and Chinese governments, businesses, and citizens.

The eight gates shown on the stamps are located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Mississauga, Ont., Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Victoria, B.C.

Each gate is unique, and each stamp was painted in watercolour by a different artist from the community celebrated on the stamp.

The stamps will be produced in booklets of eight, but there is also a souvenir sheet representing the shape of a Chinese coin and an uncut press sheet.

Lowe-Martin will print 4.8 million stamps in booklets, 250,000 souvenir sheets, and 2,500 uncut press sheets.

The booklet stamps will be produced in six-colour lithography with simulated perforations and pressure-sensitive adhesive. The sheets will be produced in six-colour lithography with additional foil stamping. They are water-activated with 13-plus perforations.

All versions will be printed on Tullis Russell paper with four-side tagging.

The OFDC is dated May 1 and has a Victoria cancel.

Queen's coronation marked

The 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is the subject of a commemorative stamp slated for issue on May 8.

Although Elizabeth II became Queen on Feb. 6, 1952, the day her father King George VI died, the coronation did not take place until 16 months later, on June 2, 1953.

The stamp is based on a painting by Canadian artist Philip James Richards done for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The portrait, which now hangs in Rideau Hall, shows Elizabeth as Queen of Canada, wearing her Canadian honours, with her hand resting on a copy of the British North America Act of 1867. Shown in he background is a portrait of Queen Victoria in her coronation robes. Victoria, who came to the throne in 1838, was queen at the time of Confederation.

The stamps will be issued in booklets of 10 and have the permanent domestic rate.

Canadian Bank Note will produce 3.5 million stamps on Tullis Russell paper with four-side tagging using five-colour lithography.

There is an OFDC and a philatelic numismatic cover with an as-yet undisclosed coin. Both have an Ottawa cancel.

Big Brothers and Sisters honoured

A permanent domestic-rate stamp marks the 100th anniversary of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada.

The program started out in Cincinnati, when businessman Irvin Westheimer convinced colleagues to mentor boys whose father had died. The goal was to reduce youth crime and poverty.

The organization moved to Canada in 1913, originally organized through the Toronto juvenile court system. Big Sisters formed around the same time and eventually both merged into the present form.

The stamp was designed by Dennis Page and Oliver Hill. Lowe-Martin produced 1.8 million stamps on Tullis Russell paper with four-side tagging using five-colour lithography. The self-adhesives will be sold in booklets of 10, with simulated perforations. There is also an OFDC dated May 14, with a Toronto cancel.

Get your motor running ...

Few Canadians realize that this country has a long history of motorcycle production going back more than 100 years.

Among the first motorcycles produced in this country was the 1908 model produced by the Canadian Cycle and Motor Company (CCM) using a Swiss-designed engine installed on a conventional bike frame.

In 1912, Hendee Manufacturing Co., of Massachusetts opened a factory in Toronto producing Indian motorcycles. The second stamp in the series shows a model 1914 Indian.

Matthew Warburton, himself a motorcycle enthusiast, designed Canada Post's upcoming tribute to the motorcycle. His simple designs show a top view and side view of each bike.

Canadian Bank Note will produce 3.5 million stamps in booklets of 10, plus 170,000 souvenir sheets and 5,000 uncut press sheets of 12 souvenir sheets.

The stamps will be printed on Tullis Russell paper with four-side tagging using five-colour lithography. The booklets are self-adhesive with simulated perforations, while the sheets are water-activated with 13-plus perforations.

The OFDC has a June 5, cancel from Port Dover, Ont., a town where motorcycle enthusiasts gather every Friday the 13th.

Franklin's role in Canadian postal history remembered

Benjamin Franklin appears on an upcoming stamp marking 250 years of postal history in Canada.

Franklin, who was postmaster general of British North America, opened the first Canadian post office in Halifax. In 1763, Hugh Finlay became postmaster general of Quebec. He quickly arranged for additional service between Montreal and New York to match a mail packet sailing to Britain.

The stamp, by Andrew Perro, shows Franklin in the foreground, with the harbour of Quebec in the background. It has the permanent domestic rate.

Lowe-Martin will produce 1.35 million stamps in booklets of 10, using seven-colour lithography and four-side tagging. The self-adhesive stamps have simulated perforations and are printed on Tullis Russell paper.

The OFDC dated June 10 is from Quebec.


April 9, 2013 to April 22, 2013 issue of Canadian Stamp News



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