Canadian Hidden Dates & Designer's Initials

Litho, I scanned it at 1200 dpi with a window selecting the area I wanted, then I cropped it in Paint Shop Pro.

Edit:
I think I misunderstood. I got the images side by side by backspacing the HTML code so there were no spaces like this:

[ img ]http ://whatever_image1[ /img ][ img ]http ://whatever_image2[ /img ]

Litho: a great point regarding the 50c Prairie Street scene and the variety order. Many years ago I dumped a bunch of used ones into an envelope and lumped them into the Scott#723 category to avoid having to distinguish between them (something I would get to later when I had more time). Last night, spurred on by your post, I got out an 8x magnifying glass and a strong light and looked at the license plates on those stamps and surprisingly, to me, of the 13 stamps 10 were the 723A type showing the copyright symbol and year on the plate. Great stuff!

The 1977 Bernier - Flemming issue:







No date here, but the train is cool!

BeeSee

I usually scan at 800dpi but for the dates I go up to 1200 and do basically what you do but I can't get them as large.
Nice Bernier - Flemming, in my opinion the last single colour engraved Canadian stamps which would be comparable to the quality of issues in the fifties & sixties.

cynical

I checked my used ones and all 3 were #723A further confirming their non rarity.The initial 50c issue #723 was only out for 5 months before they were replaced by the "variety" 723A in December 1978, which in turn wasn't replaced until the next medium definitives were issued in 1983.

Hi All

There was a small book published on these hidden dates. The title of it is "Canadian Secret Mark Stamps" by Garret W. Satfield. The publishing date is not specified or listed anywhere in the book but I think it was published in the mid or late 1950s (?). I am sure that there is still a possibility that anyone into these dates can procure a copy from a good philatelic book dealer.It is a very small book with only 18 pages and it goes up to the 'sports' set of 1957 with Scott #s 365-8.

I was fortunate enough to get a copy but this was many moons again <G>.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Lithograving: you make another good point re "the last single colour engraved Canadian stamps which would be comparable to the quality of issues in the fifties and sixties".

It is interesting that Ian Robertson made a similar comment in a Canadian Stamp News article entitled "1953 Queen stamp images drew public ire" (March 9, 1991). In that article, in reference to the criticism of the Karsh issue, he stated that "our pre-1940s stamps appear more finely engraved than those from the post World War II era". Having said this there is something to be said for the coarser engraved scenes displayed in the stamps provided here by yourself and BeeSee.

I can't tell you the number of times just flipping pages that I have looked at the Bernier-Fleming se-tenant pair (Scott#738-739) without really seeing them. The people beside the boat were particularly moving. I'm inspired to make better use of my scanner.

Not only people, there is a DOG!

Yes I've heard of that book Bujutsu, but I haven't seen it yet.

cynicalYou have a point there about some of the forties and early fifties being as you say coarser engraved but then again in the late fifties & sixties Yves Baril did some excellent, fine detailed engraving.

Look at the 1967 Vanier engraved by Baril. It's comparable to any engraver even the great Slania, of course Slania was consistently excellent.

CANADA

Scott 474

The 1950 KGVI Scott 289 - 293 with " Postes Postage " omitted, still have the 1949 date in the lower right.

CANADA

Scott 289





Scott 290




Scott 291




Scott 292




Scott 293

The four values of the 1951 Capex issue all had 1851-1951 in the design, so no hidden date, except on the 4c is part of the date.

CANADA

Scott 311

Lithograving: given your obvious knowledge of engraved stamps I seem to recall from my collection (I delve into it only periodically i.e., every few years) and I am guessing here, some fantastic engraved stamps from Sweden and Norway. Hoping I have the right countries - have you ever looked in to these.

No date on the Vanier stamp?

Yes I have collected Sweden, Denmark and Norway to a lesser extent mainly for their engraved stamps. They have excellent engravers and not just the famous Czeslaw Slania.

Like you I also neglected my collection for long periods especially when the kids were growing up, I didn't have the time or energy.
Then again there was no internet or wonderful forums like SCF where one can discuss all aspects of collecting, find lots of info and have fun.
Now that I'm recently retired I have plenty of time to spend on my collection, too much time according to my wife.

There is a HD on the Vanier BeeSee but this was an old scan I had.

The date is very small & I remember I had a hard time finding it when the stamp first came out

Scott 474