Canada Scroll Issue Completed

The 1928-30 Scroll Issue was an extremely short lived set that was almost entirely replaced by the end of 1930 by the Arch Issue. The reason had to do with the Canadian Bank Note company losing the printing contract to the British American Bank Note Company. It certainly wasn't due to the designs, with the 50c Bluenose being an internationally acclaimed, iconic stamp.

The stamps were all designed by Herman Herbert, who would continue to figure prominently in Canadian stamp design well into the 1950's. Three talented engravers were responsible for executing the designs:

- Robert Savage, famous for his rendition of the Admirals engraved the low values, the 10c and the $1.
- Silas Robert Allen engraved the 12c and 20c.
- Harold Osborn engraved the Bluenose.

Condition is definitely a problem on this issue, which generally had very poor centering. There are a lot of fine and VF centered stamps on the market, but they are a very small fraction of the total issue. Some values like the 1c and 2c, despite being printed in colossal quantities are surprisingly hard to find perfectly centered. In reality a very large number of the stamps printed were fine or just very good in terms of centering. Also a lot of the straight edged high values have been reperforated to improve their appeal, which makes collecting genuine, nicely centered straight edged stamps difficult. Finally a lot of collectors these days expect to find very fine never hinged examples of these, but these are difficult to find and it is my belief that a hinged stamp should be every bit as desirable as a never hinged one.

(Write up by Brixton Chrome)

Very nice and great centering. I still need the Bluenose..

Walkman - Really, really well done. The layout/ overall aesthetic and of course the stamps themselves are a pleasure to view. The care taken in selection and presentation shines through brightly.

walkman,
It is always interesting to see how a collector decides to mount their collection. Could you tell us a little more about the pages you have just shown. Are they commercial pages or ones you have designed? If they are your design, what was the design and thinking process here?

I must admit with the beauty of the set, I did some cut and paste with your pages to separate the booklets, which allows for the sheet-version to fit on one page and the booklets on another and has some parallel to having the coils as a separate grouping..



The purist in me would also mount the first two stamps on a different page, but that is a personal preference.

I am also intrigued by what choices page makers make. What text to include or exclude. In this case stating the *obvious* color, while omitting a catalog number or perforation rate or printer, etc. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Walkman, very nice set. I've always loved these early Canadian pictorial sets (especially the consistent use of the "bistre" color!).

shoveler, rogdcam, and canyoneer: thanks!!


John Becker,

Thanks for your questions! I'll answer them as best as I can...

When designing pages, I try to balance each series with aesthetics that make the page visually pleasing. I generally sequence everything by Scott number, which is why booklet panes and booklet singles are comingled among the pages.

The two Admiral Series stamps on the top of the first page are there as they mark the end of that series and I was reluctant to place them on an otherwise empty page all on their own. I hope to complete the Admirals very soon as I only need 4 more items (one booklet page, one imperforate horizontally block of 4, a coil single, and a coil pair).

I don't have any hard fast rules on what to include when it comes to varieties of each stamp. Sometimes, if a stamp is printed in different shades/colors I'll include the varieties...other times I won't. The same is true of perforations, printers, watermarks, etc. Generally, if it is a different Scott number or major variety I'll include it on the pages. My Canadian collection is NOT currently highly specialized. I haven't collected the different color varieties of the Small Queens (yet?) or tried to pursue the many re-entries of different issues. Maybe that will become a thing for me, I just don't have an interest in that now.

Each page is custom designed using Microsoft PowerPoint and are the result of years of experimenting and trial-and-error. After trying a few high-end graphics and publishing software applications, I decided to go with PowerPoint as it is easy to use and it has worked well for me. Each stamp often includes relevant information on the bottom part of the space for the stamp such as printer, press type, watermark, tagging, issue city, and issue date. By keeping the information on the bottom half of the space, I can lift the mount and view the information for the issue.

Pages are printed on 55 and/or 110 lb card stock (using a Canon TS7720 inkjet printer) in colors based on the collection type and category, punched with three holes, and has paper reinforcements on the front and back. I use paper reinforcements as the plastic reinforcements tend to shed sticky adhesive on the posts of the binder. Each stamp is mounted with a black ShowGard/Scott/Prinz mount. I try to keep a good supply of different mount sizes, but sometimes use mounts that are mismatched with the space in the album. I'm working to correct the problem by reprinting the pages with the correct sizes for the issue and mount, but have not prioritized it as of yet.


Scott