• 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: Coil Paste-up Stamps.
by Randall W. Van Someren (ENA3G)

The photo above shows both sides of a 3¢ brown coil stamp. Notice that the perforations along the bottom edge are on another piece of paper stuck to the back of the stamp.

Single coil stamps with a "tab" or piece of selvage attached to one side can also be confusing to collectors. The above photo shows three coil singles, each with a piece of selvage attached to the right side of the stamp.

Both of these varieties exist because of the way coil stamps were made. During the Admiral era, rolls of 500 coil stamps were hand-made by joining strips of stamps end to end. The strips were either 10 or 20 stamps in length, with a straight edge at one end, and a piece of selvage at the other end. The straight edge stamp at one end of the strip was simply attached to the piece of selvage at other end of the previous strip.

The photo above shows a pair of stamps where two strips of stamps were joined in this manner. A pair of stamps joined this way is known as a paste-up pair and is collected as such. If you look at the bottom part of the photo - which shows the back of the stamps - you will see the stamp on the right has a piece of selvage attached to it. If the pair were separated into two stamps, one would be a paste-up single, and the other would be a normal coil stamp. If the pair were soaked in water, the stamps would separate into two stamps - one with 3 straight edges, the other with the piece of selvage still attached.

The photo above shows two used pairs of coil stamps, each with a piece of selvage at the bottom. You will notice the bottom cancellations on each pair are incomplete even though there is enough room on the selvage for the rest of the cancel.

These are examples of coil stamps where the paste-up joint separated in the process of soaking the stamps off the envelope. The missing stamps had the rest of the cancellations on them.

Paste-up singles and coil stamps with a piece of selvage on them are fairly common. They are certainly collectible and are much more affordable than mint past-up pairs.

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