Category Archives: Top Story

The Canadian Stamp Dealers Association (CSDA) has unveiled its new board for the upcoming term that begins on Dec. 1. Long-time CSDA president Rick Day, of Burlington, Ont., has stepped down from the helm after nearly two decades. He’s set to assume the vice-president’s role previously filled by incoming President Angelo Komatsoulis, of Montréal, Qué.... Continue reading →

After being certified as genuine by a U.S. expertization service, a 94-year-old block of four “Admiral” provisional stamps with an unlisted inverted surcharge has been deemed fake by the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation. The mint block of four 1926 two-cent-on-three-cent carmine “Admiral” provisional stamps (Scott #139) was apparently first discussed in 1978, when... Continue reading →

At the helm of Toronto’s post office during its incorporation and subsequent population boom, James Scott Howard oversaw mail delivery from July 1828 until his dismissal nearly 10 years later. About a decade after the city incorporated in 1834, its population more than doubled to 21,000. While an excellent postal service was necessary, mail delivery... Continue reading →

James Scott Howard became York’s fourth postmaster in 1828, about a decade after arriving in the bustling capital of Upper Canada from Fredericton, N.B. Six years after Howard came to the helm of York’s postal service – a role that also pegged him, albeit unofficially, as Upper Canada’s deputy postmaster general – the capital incorporated as... Continue reading →

Now derided by some Canadians as the sarcastic “centre of the universe,” present-day Toronto served as the heart of the fledgeling Province of Upper Canada soon after its establishment in 1791. Two years later, with Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) still serving as the British colony’s first capital, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe made his first visit to the... Continue reading →

After nearly four months with no new issues, Canada Post released its five-stamp “Medical Groundbreakers” set honouring medical physicians and researchers on Sept. 10. Available in 10-stamp booklets with two of each design, the set is Canada Post’s first issue since May 20, when it released a pair of stamps marking 100 years of radio... Continue reading →

After a brief trial of computerized stamp dispensers three years earlier, Canada Post revived its kiosk stamp program at the end of 2012. It was philatelists, rather than mail senders, driving the sales of these stamps, according to collector Dave Bartlet, a member of the Calgary Philatelic Society and Canadian Aerophilatelic Society. Printed using special... Continue reading →

With a spotlight on British North America (BNA), including a strong section of decimal-era Newfoundland stamps and postal history, more than 400 lots will cross the block in the first session of Eastern Auctions’ next public sale. The first of three sessions – offering Lots 1-416 – will kick off on Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m., with... Continue reading →

In the time of COVID-19, disinfected mail is perhaps one of the most intriguing and relevant areas of postal history for collectors to explore. It’s an aspect of postal history similar to disaster mail, which refers to mail disrupted by natural or human-made events such as fires, floods, shipwrecks and plane crashes. Arising from seemingly... Continue reading →

When it comes to the sometimes muddy waters of judging, there is perhaps no criteria more perplexing than philatelic and subject importance. It’s true for both exhibitors and judges: the former frets over how to justify their exhibit’s importance while the latter is burdened with determining “the challenge in creating the exhibit,” as it’s explained... Continue reading →