Canada 1534ii And 1535ii

Are Canada 1534ii and 1535ii stamp essays?

Jogil,
they are not essays but were prepared in anticipation for release with the new rates. The government did not approved the new rate so had to print new ones on the previous rate. The 52c and 90 cents found their way into a few private hands and became well sought after by collectors. Not sure if any were used postally though

Can essays be stamps that have been fully prepared but not issued at the last moment for any reason? These stamps were most likely printed first but most were destroyed and replaced by the stamps that were issued and released to replace them. Are they unissued stamps without any other description? They were not withdrawn from circulation because they were never officially issued in the first place.

Jogil: You ask a question, then you get a response and then you answer the question that you originally asked that contradicts the Gilles le timbre's response. Sounds like you weren't asking for information, but for validation for your opinion, which is wrong.

Essay are trials. These stamps were not trials but fully printed and ready to go. Some how a few entered the public arena.

Sorry I meant to phrase it as a question which I now have. I was awake too late when I posted it last night and forgot to do it right.

It is my humble opinion that collectors of these two stamps are possessors of stolen property.

Does that mean that if you paid big bucks for these stamps from some dealer, there may be a chance that the authorities can confiscate these stamps as stolen goods? Are these stamps illegal then?

jogil, I think that is theoretically correct. However, I also think it is very unlikely that they would be confiscated. In fact, I suspect that my odds of finding a 12 penny black in a dealers 10c book are much more favorable. Years ago, I was at a Sissons auction. When Jim announced the lot, a Queen Elizabeth die proof, a gentlemen in the back of the room stood up, identified himself as a RCMP officer and announced that he was confiscating the proof in the name of the Crown. And when the Americna Bank Note Archives were auctioned by Christie's-Robson Lowe in New York, the Canadian Government laid claim to a number of lots which were withdrawn.

The Unitrade Canada catalogue says that there are 1000 copies known of 1535ii as singles only. Since these come in panes of 50 stamps that would be 20 panes. I assume that the higher value is scarcer since it has a much higher catalogue value of $600.00 vs $200.00 but I could be wrong which could indicate that there are more 1534ii than 1535ii but I am not sure and I could be wrong.

Here is the best article that I have found so far on these stamps: https://www.saskatoonstamp.com/article_xmas.asp

It would appear that more of 1535ii (1000 = 50 x 20 panes) have been found than 1534ii (400? = 50 x 8 panes?) but catalogues still value 1535ii at around twice 1534ii even though there are around twice as much.

The 1534ii exists in panes, corner inscription blocks, blocks, multiples and singles. This points to these being released only through the Canada Post Philatelic Centre and/or their printer. These were first discovered and reported.

The 1535ii only exists in singles without any selvage left. The explanation given for this is that by the time that these were discovered in non-collector hands, they were already broken down into singles only. Some will only sell you this stamps if you have already bought the 1534ii from them.

Also, both unissued are printed on Coated Papers rather than Peterborough Paper which the regular ones are on.

A lot of dealers consider some of these varieties as nothing more than printers waste, that happens to sneak out the back door. If you can't find it at least postally used, than it was never issued as is.

Interestingly, the Unitrade catalogue for 2002 says 100 known for 1535ii, but in 2003 it changed it to 1000. What prompted this change? Were 900 single copies found by someone?

I think it's obvious that a certain someone is hoarding these - perhaps the person who just happened to stumble upon the gullible flea-marketer who just happened to have 28 panes of unissued stamps at his stall. Unbelievable!

In my opinion if they made it to a PO and were actually sold then they are true errors and deserve catalog numbers. But if they 'somehow' made it into public through other channels then they are nothing more than printers waste.

Catalog/album publishers, hobbyists, and the rest of the marketplace needs to be very careful about supporting printers waste items.
Don

It is very unlikely the stamps ever made it to any post office. The first day of issue never changed from Nov 3, 1994. The new values were obviously printed well in time for the date of issue, and as mentioned in the linked article by Jogil, stamps usually reach the post offices a week in advance. That practice is still the same today, according to the postmasters of post offices I frequent.

There need be no mystery here. Gary Lyon reports each time in his advertising flyer on the story of how these stamps were discovered: in a flea market!
If you want to know how that happened, I suggest the more influential of this august group of bloggers give Gary a call. Some of you must know him personally. You could answer the question with one easy phone call. In the meantime, his explanation hardly holds water.