Canada's Efos And Weird Mistakes.

Hello, This is my first post on this forum.
Most stamp collectors, in the old days, saw a couple of unusual stamps throughout their collecting lives. Now, because of the internet, we have access to so much more. What do you have hidden in your collection?
Here is one for the fly speck lovers.

Here is another teaser

Welcome,
There was a very helpful heartfelt enthusiastic man, wert (RIP)
A pleasure to read his posts on this topic even if you didn't collect, you'd still look for him :)
His posts are greatly missed,
You should look into finding them! I think you'll enjoy
(Use the search, top left below your name)

http://goscf.com/t/54525&whichpage=5&

Wow,
How did you know I was wondering how to find links to this wonderful philatelist?
Many thanks for this. I will read and learn.

Enjoy :) lots to learn
You'll notice some of the people he kept, and perhaps you'll find something he has pointed out
Please share if you do!

Bk80, welcome to the forum. Your strip of parliment buildings looks like it has some tape residue and dirt stuck to it, and or staining as well as pencil or pen strokes. Can you feel it on the surface? Hard to tell. A clear scann, of both sides is best.

As well, that quarter sheet of 25c bear stamps is just damaged. You can clearly see a stain around the hole. So it may have stuck at that spot and tore away when seperated from other paper/item, or digested by some bug.

Edit: added word- "quarter"

No1philatelist, yes it looks dirty. When I was a kid I called these long legged bugs "daddy-long-legs". I think it got caught between two sheets right after being printed. These lines are definitively legs and pieces of body scale above the ink but also some lifted ink on a lower stamp where it got squashed. I will try to get you a better close-up.

The 25c damaged stamp, in my mind, was damaged before the glue was applied since you can see the residue around the hole. It was shipped to the printers this way, was never noticed, and was printed over the hole. I'm thinking of getting it certified so that there is better understanding of this weird oddity.
Any other attempts at explanations are most welcomed.

A thought,
the body seem elongated perhaps a "mosquito eater" I don't know what there really called,
Just what we call them
Could be a wing bottom right near the A of Canada

Crane fly?
Edit: Also referred to as a "daddy long legs"
(I thought your reference was to the cellar spider, at first)

What a fly speck! Wert, RIP.

Sak, yes Robert would be If he read your response to this thread as I just did. And its definetly not a mistake nor error. I must admit it definetly is freaky/odd.

And BK80, not to deflate expectations, and in my personal opinion, don't waste time and money on a cert for the polar bear stamps, as it is not what you believe it is and it definetly is not worth the trouble. Use those two for postage and use the money you would have spent, if they even gave an opinion, on something worthwhile. Otherwise enjoy!

Mike

Edit: spelling error corrected
Inserted -IMO

Thank you for the kind words No1philatelist. I'm thrilled that you responded about the 25c polar bears and I've had this for years and I have turned my brain inside out trying to make sense of this one.
I understand that this is probably not an important philatelic subject to most collectors but for those few like myself who relish the unusual, it has some relevance to our enjoyment of this wonderful hobby.
I know you have already given an explanation but since the glue around the hole is thicker instead of thinner and that the slivers and particles of paper around the hole are covered with glue then, it suggests to me that it could not have been torn away after being printed. It may suggest that the hole was there when the paper was actually made, well before the glue was put on and long before the printing was done.
Not trying to convince anyone here but rather putting it out there for those with more knowledge than myself.

Do you have a UV light?
Could you take a image with the uv illuminating the area?
I'm curious about the staining.

Yes I have a UV light. What could I do with it for you?

Welcome bk80,
The most likely explanation is post-production damage.

Could either be possible production damage? Yes, but it would be extraordinary long odds. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. In this case extraordinary evidence would be things like a known and documented production issue, a signed document from a postal clerk, or a certification from a respected organization.

If I owned these and felt strongly that they were post-production issues, I would hold on to them and see if anything ever came up in the future which would help verify the cause. Alternatively, you could spend some money and send them in for a cert.
Don

Edited my post above
I'm not disagreeing with don,
I'm curious is all.

Polar bears:

The hole is fairly typical of a "slime hole" created during the production of the paper, and thus would be a very collectible freak. See this link:

http://offsetpressman.blogspot.com/...defects.html