The Admiral Stamps of Canada

One Cent Green - Coils

Introduction

Stamps in coil format, for both vending and stamp affixing machines, were issued. (See Summary for details regarding plates.)

The description of Coil issues is given in two ways: as quoted in Gibbons and as quoted in the Scott and Unitrade catalogues. Non North American collectors find their cousins' description somewhat confusing in that the use of "Horizontally", or "Vertically" creates a tendency to think of the North American terms in reference to the format rather than the direction of the perforation.

a) Perf 8 x Imperf, also known as "Endwise" Rolls, Perf 8 horizontally.

All were printed from the Original Die, with Plate 1, Type E (see Formats for explanation of types), and are believed to have been released 15 February 1913. "Endwise Rolls" were designed to be used in vending machines. The total number of stamps printed, stated by Boggs, in Vol I of "Postage Stamps and Postal History of Canada" quotes 3,330,000, but this is disputed by Marler as not being accurate, as it appears that a number of the Perf 12 x Imperf rolls are included in this figure.

b) Perf 12 x Imperf, or "Endwise" Rolls, Perf. 12 horizontally.

The original date of issue is not clear, and although the same date as for the previous coil is mentioned, it is thought that the finer perforation came into use as a result of the poor separation qualities of the coarser Perf 8.

Two Plates were used in the production of this issue, Plate 1, Type E, made from the Original Die, and Plate 2, Type E, from the Retouched Die. Again the total printed is open to debate, with figures between 18,050,00 (Boggs) and 20,890,000 being quoted. Marler gives the earliest date of use as being 19 February 1915 as seen on cover, but also gives an example of the previous coil being the earliest seen on cover as 24 February 1915, which raises doubts about his theory that the Perf 12 version was the later of the two issues.

The difficulties experienced by the public in using the vending machines resulted in an experiment with the "Endwise" Rolls Perf 12 horizontally being issued with two large additional holes being applied to each separating perforation to facilitate easier and cleaner removal from the machines. The theory was that, with larger tapered pins in the feeding mechanism, jamming would be less likely, and it would be easier to remove the stamps. To this end, in July 1918, several machines in Toronto were modified to provide these specially adapted coils, or rolls. The experiment was not a success and was concluded after only two days. The stamps used were all from Plate 2 (the Retouched Die), and it is thought that between 5000 and 8000 stamps were involved. Many fake versions of what have come to be known as the "Toronto Coils" abound, and collectors should note particularly the criteria by which the original may be identified - the vertical upright line in the left numeral box should be unbroken, and the second type in which there is a small break in the bottom of that line. The colour is Yellow Green. Care should always be exercised in the purchase of this coil, as one of the authors has found to his cost!

Experimental Coil

The holes themselves varied in measurement, being from 3.25 to 3.5 mm in diameter, 6 to 7.5 mm apart. In between each stamp the vertical distance between holes varied from 20.5 to 21.5 mm.

It is unfortunate that so much accurate information with regard to the manufacture and issuing of stamps in this period is lost, or perhaps never precisely recorded. Nearly every issue with regard to both numbers and dates of issues have to be painstakingly researched, and collectors owe a debt of gratitude to philatelists such as Boggs, Marler, Reiche and Steinhart, to name but four, who have worked so arduously to provide collectors today with such information that exists.

This issue, produced for the stamp affixing machines used frequently in commercial premises at the time, also has questions not completely answered. Printed from the Original Die (Plates 1 and 2, Type F), and the Retouched Die (Plates 3 - 10, Type F), the total produced lies between 180,005,000 (The Philatelic Agency's figure) and 190,000,000 (stamps received from the American Bank Note Co.)

The first stamps in this format were made up from the regular sheet format stamps, but due to the layout of the subjects, could only be cut in strips of ten, and a complete roll therefore required 50 strips in all, or 49 paste-ups. This was obviously undesirable, and a new plate format was introduced that permitted strips of 20 to be cut. Later on, the plates for the sheet stamps were altered to provide a similar format, and some rolls were produced from these printings.

So it is obvious that, given the lack of official records, totals of both sheet and sidewise coil stamps are in doubt.

No major variety of the coil issues is recorded, and all were printed by the Wet method.

Lathework

Updated: 5 Oct 97