• Introduction
  • Welcome
  • About BNAPS Education
• Novices
  • Youth
    • Introduction
    • Canada’s Art and Artists on Canadian Stamps
    • My Favourite ... Cartier, 1534-1934
    • Collect Canada’s 1953–57 Wildlife Stamps
    • A Ship from History
    • First Day Covers
  • Adult
    • Introduction
    • A Small Start Can Build a Grand Collection
    • Canada's prime Ministers series of 1951-1955
    • The Admiral Stamps of Canada
    • An Introduction to Canadian Machined Slogan Cancels
• Experienced Collectors
  • Stamp Collectors
    • Introduction
    • Grenfell on Stamps of Newfoundland and Canada
    • Bluenose is Still Considered Canada’s Finest Stamp
    • The Open (or Shut) Case for Booklet Collecting
    • 1946 Stamps Show Canada’s Return to Peace
    • Issues of WWII: King, Country, and Conflict
    • The 1932 Medallions are Modern Classics
    • Canadian Stamps Marked Montreal Olympics
  • Postal Historians
    • Introduction
    • Canada’s ½¢ Small Queen had Multiple Uses
    • Covers Commemorated the Royal Visit of 1939
    • Some 19^th Century Mail That Took it on the Chin
    • Markings on Canadian Naval Mail of WWII
    • Crashes, Fires, and War Interrupted the Mail
    • Paquebot Covers: Mailed on the High Seas
• Exhibitors
  • Introduction
  • Aid to Exhibitors and Judges
  • Getting Started in Philatelic Exhibiting
  • Use resources to help solve puzzling covers
• The Press
  • Commercial publications
    • Introduction
    • Stamp Society Supports Youth Philately
  • Society publications
    • Introduction
    • Stamp Society Supports Youth Philately
• EDUCATION SECTION MAP

Introduction |  Formats |  Printings |  Dies |  Paper |  Straight-Edges |  Coils |  Fakes |  Forgeries |  Varieties |  Cancellations |  Rates |  Bibliography

The Admiral Stamps of Canada - Plate and Printing Varieties: A Short Introduction.
by Randall W. Van Someren (ENA3J)

In the Introduction to these pages on the Admirals, I said my intended audience was the beginning and/or intermediate stamp collector who was interested in the Admiral stamps of Canada. The subject of this page is probably beyond those levels. It is hoped, however, that this page will serve as an introduction to someone who will find the subject of plate varieties interesting enough to pursue it further.

Plate Varieties.

A flaw on a printing plate will show up on any stamp printed from it as a plate variety. A plate variety is constant: every sheet of stamps printed from a plate with a flaw on it will show the variety in the same place. There are several types of plate varieties, some of which are discussed below.

1. Hairlines.

When cracks develop on a printing plate, ink gets into them and they show up on the stamps printed from the plate as fine (usually) horizontal lines known to stamp collectors as hairlines. Usually these hairlines extend horizontally from just the corners of the stamp design. (On a few plates used to print booklet panes, the hairlines extend vertically from the corners of the stamp design.) The 2¢ denomination with numerous hairlines (shown above) comes from plate 4, but stamps from plates 51-52 also exhibit numerous hairlines.

2. Re-entry.

When a printing plate is being made, each stamp subject is carefully entered into its correct spot on the plate. This is done by using a small roll of steel called the transfer roll that is made from harder steel than that of the plate. The stamp design is in relief on the transfer roll. As the transfer roll is carefully rolled back and forth under pressure on the surface of the plate, the stamp design is gradually impressed into the printing plate. If everything goes right, every line and dot in the stamp design will transfer to the plate without any problem. If there is some slight movement which brings the transfer roll out of alignment with the lines of the already partially transferred stamp design, some lines will be doubled or partially doubled.

In the above photo, you will notice the doubled lines at the lower right corner of the stamp: the lower right frame line, under the numeral box, the S of CENTS, and even the 2. This re-entry comes from plate 161, the lower left pane, stamp number 69 - this is usually abbreviated as 161LL69. (If you need to refresh your memory on this, go back to the page on Straight Edges and look at the first illustration of the layout of the printed sheet of stamps. Position 69 of the lower left sheet has a dot in it.)

The subject of re-entries on stamps gets technical very fast. An in-depth look at re-entries on Canadian stamps can be found at http://www.re-entries.com/ .

3. Plate Scratch.

From time to time, printing plates get scratched. All scratches on a printing plate will show up on the stamps printed from it. The stamp shown above has a large scratch in the top margin.

4. Incomplete Transfer.

This variety is known as an incomplete transfer because part of the stamp design did not get completely transferred from the transfer roll to the printing plate. Perhaps the surface of the plate was a bit lower at this point, or perhaps uneven pressure was applied to the transfer roll.

You will notice on the stamp pictured above that the lines in the upper left corner seem to get lighter and fade out as they get nearer to the left frame line. Closer examination reveals that they are thinner and there is more white space in between them. Both the left frame line and the top frame line get noticeably thinner as well. This is because these lines on the printing plate are not as deep as they should be, and consequently they show up thinner.

5. Retouch.

There are times when a printing plate is "touched up" by hand with an engraving tool. When this happens, the plate and the stamps are said to have been retouched. Usually lines are strengthened when a plate is retouched. The stamp shown above has been retouched in the upper left spandrel (the "triangle" with the crown in it). The line along the left side of the spandrel is heavy from the bottom corner up to the crown, and the curved line is heavy from the bottom corner to just past the base of the crown.

Retouched stamps are fairly common on the Admirals. The stamp pictured above is from plate 23 which had every subject in the first 13 rows retouched. Other Admiral denominations that had printing plates extensively retouched are the 2¢ carmine (plates117-118), 5¢ violet (plates 19-20), 7¢ ochre (plates 3-6), 20¢ (plate 9), and the 2¢+1¢ carmine War Tax stamp (plates 1-4, 7-8).

Other printing varieties.

The first 5 varieties shown on this page are constant plate varieties because their source is a flaw on the printing plate. There are other varieties which can be loosely termed "printing varieties" because they are occur while the stamps are being printed. The printing plates can be over-inked or under-inked. A corner of the paper can become folded which results in stamps being printed on the back of the fold-over (if folded up), or no printing at all (if folded under). The printing plate of the stamp pictured above had a fairly large piece of thread or string on it when this stamp was printed. This is not a constant variety because the piece of thread was likely wiped off the printing plate when it was re-inked for the next sheet of stamps.

Introduction |  Formats |  Printings |  Dies |  Paper |  Straight-Edges |  Coils |  Fakes |  Forgeries |  Varieties |  Cancellations |  Rates |  Bibliography