The King's head series of Canadian stamps will probably shortly make its appearance. The die has been received by the Post Office Department and approved of. The stamp will be very similar to the present stamp except that the maple leaf in each of the upper corners will be replaced by a crown. The figures of value will appear in the lower corners as at present and the value will be spelled out as at present in the oval frame which surrounds the portrait. This frame will be as in the present stamp. The portrait of the King shows him three-quarters to the right, head and shoulders, as the Queen is in the present stamp, but there is no crown on his head. The portrait is an exceptionally nice one and it is understood that Royalty has had something to do with its selection. The die was made in England, although the American Bank Note Co. are contractors for the government work.
These details all proved correct and shortly afterwards postmasters were given definite information with regard to the forthcoming stamps by means of an official circular, dated June 10th, and worded as follows:—
Postmasters are hereby informed that a new issue of postage stamps, bearing the portrait of His Majesty, King Edward VII., and comprising five denominations (1c, 2c, 5c, 7c and 10c), is about to be supplied to Postmasters for sale in the usual way, but none of these stamps are to be sold until the first of July, 1903. The colors of the forthcoming series will be the same respectively as those now used for the denominations specified, except that the shade of the 7c will be slightly deeper.
Postmasters will please bear in mind that, notwithstanding the new issue, they are not to return to the Department any of the old stamps on hand, but will sell them in the ordinary way. At first, the public may prefer getting new stamps, and if so, there is no objection to this wish being acceded to, but it is also desirable to work off in due course all remnants of old stamps. A change in the design of the stamp of the present series of postcards, post-bands and stamped envelopes, to correspond with that above referred to, will be made as soon as the present stock of these items shall have been exhausted.
The new King Edward 1c, 2c, 5c, 7c and 10c stamps were accordingly issued to the public on Dominion Day (July 1st), 1903.
It will be noted in one of the extracts quoted above that the die for the new stamps was engraved in London, and shortly after the appearance of the stamps the London Philatelist published the following article which is of such interest as to merit its reproduction in full:—
Although for a long time past we have been aware of the circumstances attending the preparation of the new postage stamps for Canada, and in a position to illustrate the approved design, we have refrained from publishing the facts in compliance with the desire of the authorities that no details should be made public until the stamps have been completed and were ready to be put into circulation. We believe that the delay which has taken place in bringing out the new issue has been due to questions arising out of the existing contract under which the postage stamps of the Dominion are produced, and that even after the approval of the design and the receipt of the die some difficulties were experienced in connection with the preparation of the plates by the contractors.
These have happily been surmounted, and now that the issue is an accomplished fact it is with much gratification that we illustrate the design of the new stamp, our illustration, prepared some time back, being taken from a proof from the steel die engraved by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., of London, and used in the manufacture of the plates of the several values issued by the Canadian postal authorities on the 1st instant By comparing our illustration with the stamp as issued it will be seen that the contractors or the postal authorities have made some alterations in the design, which, in our judgment, are by no means improvements. The leaves in the lower corners have been redrawn on a smaller scale, and hardly impinge upon the frame; their drawing is vastly inferior, and the graceful effect of the broken circle is lost. The numerals of value are in color on a white ground reversing the original design, the labels being larger and the figures taller and thinner, this also detracting materially from the charming homogeneity of the stamp as first proposed. The greatest alteration, and the worst, is the substitution of heavy diagonal lines for horizontal ones in the background. The latter were finely drawn and delicately shaded, leaving the King's Head in clear outline, and framed by the dark oval band containing the inscriptions. The background and frame no longer present this artistic effect, and the whole design materially suffers thereby.
The circumstances connected with the inception of the issue are as gratifying as they are novel, and will be hailed with acclamation by the Philatelists of the British Empire.