A Find Of A Life Time...#32

So how many of us pulled out our Queen's heads and started looking for watermarks? Well, I don't have any new disoveries here. Congrats on your find! I'm still looking for mine.

I wouldn't recognize laid paper if it smacked me in the face. I understand that it has light and dark lines, but I can't really see it in the posted image. What is the "touch and feel" test for laid paper?

EDIT: Looking again, I do see it in the scan in the green area, but I probably wouldn't notice it otherwise.

Touch and feel is just saying that side by side comparisons of stamps to determine genuineness is some what antiquated by the scientific methods used today.

Better images can be seen in this thread of the stamps laying on black backgrounds the horizontal lines are characteristic of laid paper.

https://goscf.com/t/36076

In addition to you and Ron Brigham each owning a copy of Canada # 32, is George W. Holschauer, owner of Colonial Stamp Company, the owner of a copy of Canada # 32 as well?

Yes George Holschauer owns the Hamilton 2 ring 5 canceled copy.

There's this question in some Canadian philatelic circles of whether # 32 should have gotten its own individual listing in Scott or whether it should have been listed as a rare variety of Scott # 24 with a letter following the number. The same applies to # 31 as a variety of # 22 and # 33 as a variety of number 25 as well. Do you have any opinions on this?

To renumber laid paper stamps would involve all stamps that come on laid and wove papers. Would you renumber #1 or the varieties of #4? The numbering system is established for these varieties and they are significantly different. Leave well enough alone. I have US stamps my father collected and many of the varieties in the Washington Franklin series were given separate numbers instead of sub numbers when he collected. Years ago Scott catalog renumbered the issues and made many of these numbers sub numbers. Now I find it near impossible to find some of the varieties he collected. As I say leave well enough alone.

If you don't like Scott's numbering system try using another catalog with a different numbering system.

I am not suggesting that Canada number 32 should be listed differently as a variety of Canada number 24 since it very well deserves the prestige of having its very own separate number as a major rare stamp.

However, Canada Scott number 6 used to be the 12 pence on wove paper where as Canada number 3 is on laid paper. I remember Bileski not agreeing with the removal of this listing since he wrote about such a wove stamp existing.

I do not think minor paper varieties should have ever been given major numbers by Scott. They no longer even list such varieties for modern stamps. Look at the 1973 Caricature definitives. The ribbed paper stamps are not listed and they are much easier to distinguish from the front of the stamp than #24 or #32. Unitrade of course gives their own minor numbers for the Caricatures.

I make my own album pages and I consider Canada's first stamp either #1 or #4. I only have #4 and show it as the first stamp. I have no intention of looking for the #1 laid paper. The same goes for the 3c large queen. I have the wove and that is all I need.

Scott and Unitrade are just guides for me, which I use to determine which stamps belong in my own collection. Completeness is defined by the collector - not a catalogue.

jogil, Here is another twist on the 12 pence:

The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Canada, Winthrop S. Boggs, Quarterman Publication, Second Printing, 1975, Pg. 133.

"Some collectors claim that laid paper is often such nature that the laid lines do not show in some parts of a sheet, and I believe there is evidence to support this theory.

That there is considerable difficulty in seeing the laid lines in the paper is demonstrated by the fact that many copies of the Six Pence offered by dealers or auctioneers as "thin wove" are in reality on the laid paper.

Copies of the Twelve Pence on thin wove paper are also well known, and we therefore list this stamp on three different papers.

A. Thin laid semi-transparent
B. Thin wove paper semi-transparent
C. Medium thick wove paper."

It all depends on what you wish to recognize and which catalog you wish to follow.

To all: If this business about laid paper needs further discussion may I suggest a new thread be started. This has little to do with my stamp and the findings of the VG Greene Foundation.

Watermark, Please elaborate a little more on these circulation books. I am not familiar. How does one get involved in such a process? I am in Texas and collecting Canada here is not common.

Thanks again for all the info you are providing.

xyyz,You can join a philatelic organization they usually have a sales department. I would recommend the American Philatelic Society, British North American Philatelic Society, The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada. I believe all three can furnish circuits. The APS would probably be your easiest choice here in the US. I also think there are private firms/dealers that do circuits but I don't have any information on those.

Thanks Watermark, I will do some research

xyyz, definitely check the APS as they offer numerous Canadian circuit books. http://stamps.org/userfiles/file/sa..._Country.pdf

Did you write the following article a few years ago and one of your listed dreams came through? See: http://www.waybacktimes.com/christm...amps97..html