3:00 PM 10/11/97
The Admiral Stamps of Canada
The Admiral Stamps of Canada
Five Cents Violet
Date of Issue: 22 February 1922
Quantity: 184,650,000
Method of Printing: Wet an Dry processes
Introduction
As with many of the Admiral stamps, the change in colour, in this case from blue to violet, stemmed from the changes in postal rates ocurring on 1 Ocober 1921 and the need to conform with the standards set by the Universal Postal Union with regards to the colours to be used for different rates. The colour blue had been taken by the ten-cents stamp for the new foreign rate.
New plates were laid down for the five-cents violet issue. See Summary for details.
The same experimental thin vertical wove paper used with the two-cents green was also used with this issue, and stamps thus printed were printed from Plates 21 and 22, but formed only a part of the total printings of these plates, the majority being on normal wove paper.
Variations
Only one master die was used in the making of the plates for the five-cents violet value, but it was
re-engraved after Plate 22, and three more plates were produced from it.
- Type 1 - broken outside vertical line in left numeral box and faint vertical lines in the upper spandrels (Plates 15 and 16).
- Type 2 - inside vertical lines of both numeral boxes are broken in several places and faint vertical lines in the upper spandrels (Plates 17 to 18).
- Type 3 - broken inner vertical line of left numeral box, strong retouched vertical line in upper right spandrel (Plates 19 and 20).
- Type 4 - unbroken vertical lines in the numeral boxes, except that the inner vertical line of the right numeral box shows some weak spots, and the vertical lines in the upper spandrels are not present (Plates 21 and 22).
- Type 5 - impressions made from a retouched master die, which not only correct the known weaknesses in the earlier impressions, but also are printed from the Dry method (Plates 23 to 25). A clear vertical line is present in the spandrels of this printing, which clearly distinguishes the last three plates from earlier printings. This is not to say, however, that the Dry process was not used with any other type, as the authors have found at least one example of an a five-cents violet stamp that was obviously dry printed but does not exhibit the retouched vertical line in the upper right spandrel.
Original Die |
Retouched Die |
Shades
The deepest shade of this issue stems from the first printings from Plates 15 and 16. Printings from Plates 17 and 18 are a bright grey violet shade, but are somewhat duller from Plates 19 and 20, perhaps as a result of underinking. (The brighter shade is rare.) Printings from the later plates have a reddish hue and are classified as rose violet.
Violet |
Grey Violet |
Rose Violet |
Retouches and Re-entries
There are no re-entries.
Retouches are explained under the section on variations.
Lathework
Type D. (See Lathework.)
Updated: 5 Oct 97