Canada Scott #86 Questions???

I know there are volumes of books on this stamp. I have just received my first MAP STAMP and have a few questions. I have noticed that this stamp has the same red colour shift as the Major re-entry 86iii, but no re-entry. There is also a blue colour shift leaving a colourless gap beside the right frameline and shading the Eastern coasts blue. I have looked at many MAP STAMPS and have not found another with such a large shift. Is this blue shift common?

I have noticed 2 extra red islands on this stamp which I have not seen on others. Is this common?

Extra Islands(red)






Blue Colour Shift

Hey CW! Yes very common... in fact my 86 looks almost exactly like yours in terms of the red and blue shift towards the left.

Of my 20+ map stamps, 5 of them show similar shift

What about the extra islands(red)?

There are all kinds of extra islands. The position and number can help if you want to do a plate position study of this issue.

As was said before on this forum, the real challenge with the Map Stamp is to find one without all the island and shift varieties.

Gilles le timbre...you mean like this...guess this one is the only one without major colour shifts..,.

hehe exactly!

1. colour shifts (which are plentiful on this stamp) are NOT related in any way to re-entries.

2. when looking at the Unitrade catalogue, do not forget to read *all* of the notes for the particular stamp. In this case, the first note under the listing describes the re-entries.

3. anything to do with Canadian re-entries ... you must check out Ralph Trimble's site: http://www.re-entries.com/

4. to plate your Map stamp, you need "The Canadian Map Stamp of 1898 - A Plating Study" book by Whitney L. Bradley (published by BNAPS, 1999, 188 pages).

I am pleased nobody has referred to this as the "first Christmas stamp"

..Why not..is there an earlier "Christmas Stamp" anywhere else..???

Last I checked it's the first Christmas comm. stamp ever issued by a national postal company. Has that changed?