On today’s date in 1928, Canada’s Post Office Department (now Canada Post) released an eight-cent stamp (Scott #154) as part of its King George V “Scroll” issue.
The stamp’s frame was engraved by Silas Robert Allen while the portrait was engraved by Robert Savage based on a photograph of King George V by Lafayette Portrait Studios.
Originally engraved for the Dominion of Canada $1 note, the portrait was re-engraved in a smaller size for the new issue of postage stamps.
THE SCROLL SERIES
The entire Scroll series (SC #149-159) was designed by Herman Herbert Schwartz and printed by the Canadian Bank Note Co.
It saw its first issue in October 1928 and depicts scroll work as part of its design. The series replaced the Admiral series of earlier years.
Because Canada’s regular-issue stamp designs went unchanged for 16 years, the department issued the new series of definitives featuring a contemporary portrait of King George V. As noted above, scrollwork replaced the crowns on the design, and the stamps were bilingual (with the words “postes” and “post”).