The soaking test is done to see if the stamp reacts to water in the same manner as genuine laid paper, including the way it curls. Re-backed stamps, made by thinning a genuine stamp and attaching it to thinned blank laid paper, either curls differently or separates when soaked. A recognized one-cent Large Queen on laid paper was used as a control to evaluate the stamp. “The submitted two-cent stamp displayed no properties of a rebacked stamp when placed in water,” the report stated. “Obviously it did not separate from any rebacking. Further it was soaked several times. It never curled in an unusual manner. It did not reject water in any area of the stamp. It dried in the same consistent manner as the genuine one-cent laid paper copy each time it was soaked.” Continue reading →
A Canada Post letter dated Dec. 5 informed business customers of upcoming postage rate increases, effective Jan. 13, 2025, prompting frustration for its timing amid an ongoing nationwide postal strike.
