• Introduction
  • Welcome
  • About BNAPS Education
• Canadian Philately
  • Canadian Philately - An Outline
• 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
    • Topical Collecting
• 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: Forged Overprints on the Admirals.
by Randall W. Van Someren (ENA3I)

This page continues our examination of Admiral stamps that have been altered to make them appear to be something they are not. It will look at two overprints found on the Admirals, both of which have been forged.

When postage rates were reduced due to the removal of the War Tax, the Post Office was stuck with millions of 3¢ stamps that were already printed. It was decided to revalue the stamps to 2¢ by overprinting them. 140,000 post office sheets of 100 were given to the King's Printer who overprinted the stamps using the one-line overprint. However the results were unsatisfactory so all were destroyed except 500 sheets which were placed on sale at the Philatelic Agency sometime in October 1926.

The Canadian Bank Note Company was next to try overprinting the stamps. So that their work could be distinguished from that of the King's Printer, the two-line overprint was used on about 1100 post office sheets of 100. Apparently the work was again unsatisfactory and only 808 sheets were placed on sale at the Philatelic Agency in November 1926.

Because the overprinted stamps were available only through the Philatelic Agency, most of them were likely sold to stamp collectors who saved them as mint stamps. Used overprinted stamps exist, but not in large numbers.

The One-Line Overprint.

Pictured above are three copies of the 3¢ carmine Admiral with the one-line overprint. The stamps are numbered from 1 to 3. Below are enlarged photographs of the three overprints, also numbered from 1 to 3. Most of the 3¢ stamps overprinted with the one-line overprint are Die I. Die II stamps exist with this overprint, but are very scarce. Any Die II stamp with the one-line overprint should be carefully examined for a forged overprint.

Stamp & Overprint #1. Die I. Used. That there is something quite wrong with this overprint is obvious. The whole overprint is longer than the other ones, and the letters are thicker. Not visible in the photograph is the dullness of the black ink used to print this overprint. The ink of a genuine overprint is somewhat shiny when viewed at an oblique angle. The fact that this overprint is printed at a slight angle does not automatically make it suspect, but in combination with the other characteristics already mentioned, it is one more piece of evidence that this overprint is not a genuine overprint.

Stamp & Overprint #2. Die II. Used. Note the characteristics of Die II on this stamp. If the overprint is genuine, this is a very rare stamp. The ink used to print this overprint is somewhat shiny just like that of a genuine overprint. The letters of this overprint are a bit thicker than overprint #3, but this could be due to over-inking. The ends of some of the letters are a bit rounded - such as the top end of the 2, the top end of the C, and both ends of the S - but this too, could be due to over-inking. Other letters such as the E, N, and T have fairly sharp corners. The overprint is the exact length of overprint #3. That the stamp is used does not automatically make the overprint suspect, but it certainly should to be considered, especially if the stamp is Die II. At this point, I do not know if this is a genuine overprint or not, but am leaning towards thinking it is not genuine.

Stamp & Overprint #3. Die I. Mint. The ink used to print this overprint is the somewhat shiny ink of genuine overprints. The overprint does not exhibit any characteristics that would make it suspect, and I believe it is a genuine one-line overprint.

The Two-Line Overprint.

Pictured above are three copies of the 3¢ carmine Admiral with the two-line overprint. The stamps are numbered from 4 to 6. Below are enlarged photographs of the three overprints, also numbered from 4 to 6. It is generally thought that all of the 3¢ stamps overprinted with the two-line overprint are Die I. Therefore, any Die II stamp with the two-line overprint most likely has a forged overprint.

Stamp & Overprint #4. Die II. Used. The characteristics of Die II are very obvious on this stamp because they are not covered by the overprint or the cancellation. The alignment of the 2 over the letters of CENTS is different from overprints #5 and #6. However, Marler says this alignment varies on the genuine overprints, and this particular overprint seems to be within the limits described in his book. The top right end of the letter S does not come out as far as that on the other two overprints. Not visible in the photograph is the dullness of the black ink used to print this overprint. The ink of a genuine overprint is somewhat shiny when viewed at an oblique angle. Because of the dull black ink and the Die II stamp, I believe this overprint is not genuine. It is a dangerous forgery in that it so closely resembles a genuine overprint.

The 2-line overprint forgery described by Marler (The Admiral Issue of Canada, p. 552-553) is probably the same as this one. He describes going through a lot of several hundred used stamps, all of which had the forged overprint.

Stamps & Overprints #5 and 6. Die I. Mint. The ink used to print these overprints is the somewhat shiny ink of genuine overprints. These overprints do not exhibit any characteristics that would make them suspect, and I believe they are both genuine two-line overprints. Some of the letters on overprint #5 seem to be thicker than the letters on overprint #6, but this is likely due to over-inking.

Other Forged Overprints on the Admirals.

The WAR TAX overprints on the 5¢, 20¢ and 50¢ Admirals have been forged. I had one many years ago that I had expertized because I was suspicious of the overprint. The certificate came back saying the overprint was not genuine, so I sent the stamp back to the dealer and got a refund. Since then I have not examined enough WAR TAX overprints to write about them at this time.

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