At the recent National Postage Stamp and Coin Show, Canada Post representatives discussed uncut press sheets, which the Crown corporation began issuing in 1996 for the first four stamps of the 1996-2001 “Birds of Canada” series.
They’ve also been issued in the U.S., which was the first country whose postal service released uncut press sheets to the public, since 1907.
“We’re always having a debate on uncut press sheets,” says Canada Post Stamp Design Manager Susan Gilson. “The thing that I like is it’s a really nice opportunity to do a different configuration of the stamps. We kind of see those taking off now and being sold as well.”
For example, the recent four-stamp “Bears” set, which was issued this July, included a so-called uncut press sheet (although Gilson admits it’s “more of a pane”).
Regardless, the configuration on the “press sheet” is something “you won’t find on any other product,” Gilson adds, referencing the item’s four rows of six-stamp strips, each including only one of the four stamp designs.
What’s left is a distinct strip of six stamps – all featuring the same bear design – unavailable elsewhere in the set’s other items.
“To me, I think that’s interesting,” adds Gilson.
1 Comment
The problem is that these “uncut press sheets” aren’t press sheets of the actually stamp issue; either the booklets or the souvenir sheets. Instead, they are an oversized souvenir sheet in an additional format, that is difficult to display and store. If Canada Post wants to issue genuine uncut press sheets of the regular stamps for the collectors who love gutter pairs and blocks, or those that like to frame the large format sheets, that’s fine. But I’d personally prefer if they stopped issuing these souvenir sheets on steroids.