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BNAPS ORE - Online Resources

Newfoundland ABN Plate Proofs of the 1897 Royal Family and 1908 2¢ Map Stamps

John M. Walsh, from the collection of Ed Wener

The ABN Proofs | ½¢ King Edward VIII | 1¢ Queen Victoria | 2¢ King Edward VII | 3¢ Queen Alexandra | 4¢ Duchess of York | 5¢ Duke of York | 2¢ Map



1897-1901 Royal Family: 1¢ Queen Victoria

List of proofs
Stamp colour
& issue date
Printing
order date
Printing
order #
Quantity
ordered
Proof
image
Plate
size
Qty of proof
stamps
Date on
proof
SPECIMEN o/p
colour, size (mm)
Notes
Red
4 Dec. 1897
10 Sept. 1897 400,000 Image 1 100 300 Oct. 1897 Blue, 15.5 x 4.0 1
See above See above Image 2 100 See above N/A Blue, 15.5 x 4.0 1, 2
Yellow green
June 1898
25 Mar. 1898 1,000,000 Image 3 200 200 Apr. 1898 Red, 15.5 x 4.0 3, 4
23 Jan. 1900 1,000,000 Image 4 200 200 Feb. 1900 Red, 11.5 x 2.0 3
19 June 1901 1,000,000 Image 6 200 200 June 1901 Red, 11.5 x 2.0 3
15 Oct. 1902 1,000,000 Image 7 200 200 Oct. 1902 Red, 11.5 x 1.5 5
7 Nov. 1903 1,000,000 None None 6
28 Dec. 1903 250,000 None None 6
16 June 1904 1,000,000 None None 6
22 Aug. 1905 1,000,000 Image 9 200 200 29 Aug. 1905 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 5
27 June 1906 1,000,000 Image 10 200 200 6 July 1906 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 5
23 Aug. 1906 1,000,000 Image 11 200 200 Sept. 1906 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 5
2 Oct. 1907 1,000,000 Image 12 200 200 11 Oct. 1907 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 5
1 May 1908 500,000 Image 15 200 200 May 1908 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 5
24 Nov. 1908 F1767 1,500,000 Image 16 200 200 None Red, 14.0 x 2.0 7
23 Oct. 1909 F2230 2,000,000 Image 17 2 x 100 400 30 Oct. 1909 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 8

Notes:

  1. There was only one printing of the red stamp. The colour was changed to green to accord with UPU regulations.
  2. The first eight stamps in the bottom row are unpunched. This proof came from the Christie's ABN sale, but is not shown in Ed Wener's slides.
  3. These three proofs were printed from an unnumbered plate of 200 stamps. The margin between the stamp rows is 3.5 mm. There are vertical guide arrows between the panes in the top and bottom margins. The shade of the stamps is yellow-green.
  4. Pratt recorded the printing order date as 25 May 1898 [1]. This is evidently a typo for 25 Mar. because the ABN order book has an order entry of 1 Apr. 1898 for this printing. This is corroborated by the April 1898 date rubber-stamped on the proof. A printing of the 2¢ was ordered at the same time. Pratt records its printing order date correctly.
  5. These proofs were printed from plate 2; however the plate number was engraved in the upper right margin sometime after the plate was put in production. It first appears on the proof dated 29 Aug. 1905. All these proofs have a plate flaw on stamp 185 (that is, the stamp in row 10, column 5 of the sheet) consisting of a line through the top left 1, which proves they were printed from the same plate. The margin between the stamp rows is 3.0 mm. This is smaller than the previous three proofs, and results in sheets whose height is smaller. The shade of the stamps is blue green.
  6. There are no proofs for these three printing orders. Robert H. Pratt did not find an invoice for the 7 Nov. 1903 order, but he did find one for the other two.
  7. There is no proof corresponding to the 24 Nov. 1904 printing order date. However, there is an undated proof with a printing order number F1767 in the top margin of the left and right sides. Printing order numbers appeared only on later printings. If they were applied in sequence, then this proof would have been printed after F1642 found on the 24 July 1908 proof of the 2¢ Map stamp and before F1908 on the 15 Mar. 1909 Map stamp. The style of the SPECIMEN overprint corresponds to that first found on the 29 Aug. 1905 proof. This suggests that the undated 1¢ proof was for the printing order of 24 Nov. 1908. The blue green shade of the proof also suggests a printing after June 1901. However, this proof does not have the flaw on stamp 185. Also, the spacing between the stamp rows is 3.5 mm and there is a vertical guide arrow between the panes in the top margin like on the first three green proofs. It appears that for some reason ABN reused the first, unnumbered plate of 200 to fulfil the 24 Nov. 1908 printing order.
  8. This proof is printed from plate 3. The plate number is in the upper left margin. Unlike the other plates, plate 3 has a gutter between panes. The printing order number F2230 appears in the top margin of both panes.

References

  1. Robert H. Pratt, "Newfoundland - The Postage Stamps of 1897 A Tale of Two Secretaries The Cabot and Royal Issues", BNA Topics, Vol. 38, No. 3, May-June 1981.

Click on an image to see a larger version.

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 1: sheet of 100 stamps

1. Proof 1, sheet of 100

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 2: strip of 20 with some stamps unpunched

1. Proof 2, some stamps unpunched

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 3: pair of panes

3. Proof 3, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 4: pair of panes

4. Proof 4, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, comparison of proofs 3 and 4

5. Images 3, 4

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 5: pair of panes

6. Proof 5, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 6: pair of panes

7. Proof 6, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, comparison of proofs 5 and 6

8. Images 6, 7

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 7: pair of panes

9. Proof 7, sheet of 200

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 8: pair of panes

10. Proof 8, sheet of 200

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 9: pair of panes

11. Proof 9, sheet of 200

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 10: pair of panes

12. Proof 10, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 10 detail

13. Detail, image 12

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, comparison of proofs 7, 8, 9, and 10

14. Images 9, 10, 11, 12

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 11: pair of panes

15. Proof 11, sheet of 200

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 12: pair of panes

16. Proof 12, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, proof 13: pair of panes

17. Proof 13, pair of panes

1897 Royal Family, 1 cent, comparison of proofs 11, 12, and 13

18. Images 15, 16, 17



The ABN Proofs | ½¢ King Edward VIII | 1¢ Queen Victoria | 2¢ King Edward VII | 3¢ Queen Alexandra | 4¢ Duchess of York | 5¢ Duke of York | 2¢ Map

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This page was last modified on 2015-02-12