• 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
  • 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: A Guide for the Beginning and Intermediate Collector.
by Randall W. Van Someren (ENA3A)

The first Canadian definitive stamps with a portrait of King George V were issued on January 1, 1912, and were in use for the next 16 years or so - longer than any other definitives except the Small Queens. Today stamp collectors call these stamps the Admirals because the portrait shows King George dressed in his Admiral of the Fleet uniform.

During the Admiral era, Canadian stamps and their usage were affected by many factors. For example:

• World War I interrupted the supplies of pigments from Europe as well as the supply of high quality metal used for printing plates.
• The printers changed from printing stamps on wet ungummed paper to dry pre-gummed paper.
• A growing population and increased use of the mails required the printers find faster ways of printing greater numbers of stamps.
• A 1¢ War Tax was placed on each piece of mail; eleven years later it was repealed.
• The postal rates changed numerous times, and this resulted in new stamps being issued to meet these rates, and existing denominations being issued in new colors.
• Increased use of stamp vending and affixing machines prompted the Post Office to issue stamps in coil format.
• Increased popularity of stamp booklets resulted in their continued issuance during this era.
• New services such as Airmail were offered by the Post Office.
• Old canceling devices were gradually phased out as new types of cancels were introduced.

All of these factors combine to make the Admirals and their usage a most fascinating issue to study.

Most of these web pages about the Admirals were written with the beginning or intermediate collector in mind. I feel a collector wishing to study the Admirals - or stamps of any other era, for that matter, - should know the basics about printing processes, perforations, dies, paper, etc. Only by being knowledgeable in such matters will he/she be able to move forward in the study of these stamps and their uses. To that end, I've decided to write on different facets of the Admirals that I feel are important to the basic study of these stamps.

• The formats in which the Admirals were issued.
• Identifying wet and dry printings.
• Identifying the different dies on the Admirals.
• Paper varieties on the Admirals.
• Admirals with straight edges: From post office sheets or booklet panes?
• Coil paste-up stamps.
• Fake coils and imperforate stamps.
• Forged overprints on the Admirals.
• Plate and printing varieties: a short introduction.
• Cancellations on the Admirals.
• Postal rates of the Admiral era.
• Bibliography.

For those who may be interested, the pictures used on these Admirals web pages were scanned at 600 dpi using a Cannon LiDE 30 scanner, or taken with a Nikon CoolPix 4300 digital camera. They were processed with Photoshop Elements 2.0 on an iMac computer.

A special thanks goes to John Burnett for all his advice, suggestions, and encouragement.