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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: 2¢ King Edward VII

All the proof sheets, including the orange printing, have a small scratch at the bottom right of stamp 34 (row 4, column 4) just to the right of "CO-NY". This proves that only one plate (unnumbered) was used for all printings.

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
Orange
4 Dec. 1897		 10 Sept. 1897 400,000 Image 1 100 100 Oct. 1897 Blue, 15.5 x 4.0 1
Vermilion
June 1898		 25 Mar. 1898 500,000 Image 2 100 98 Apr. 1898 Blue, 15.5 x 4.0 2
12 Oct. 1899 1,000,000 Image 4 100 100 Oct. 1899 Red, 17.5 x 2.0 3
19 June 1901 1,000,000 Image 5 100 100 June 1901 Blue, 11.5 x 1.5 4
No record N/A Image 6 100 100 Mar. 1903 Blue, 14.0 x 1.5 5
18 July 1904 1,000,000 Image 8 100 100 July 1904 Blue, 13.5 x 1.5
2 Dec. 1905 1,000,000 Image 9 100 100 11 Dec. 1905 Red, 23.0 x 4.5 6
3 Feb. 1906 1,000,000 None None 7
26 Aug. 1906 1,000,000 Image 11 100 100 5 Sept. 1906 Blue, 14.0 x 2.0 8
18 Feb. 1907 F1495 2,000,000 Image 12 100 200 20 May 1907 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 9
18 Jan. 1908 2,000,000 Image 15 100 300 27 Jan. 1908 Red, 14.0 x 2.0 10
23 May 1908 1,000,000 None None 11
6 Nov. 1908 990,000 None None 11

Notes:

  1. There was only one printing of the orange stamp. The colour was changed to red (vermilion) to accord with UPU regulations.
  2. Stamp shade - bright or dark vermilion. Paper - white. Gum - creamy.
  3. Paper - as above. Gum - yellower.
  4. Stamp shade - paler than previously.
  5. Stamp shade - salmon. Judging from the early orders, the Post Office required approximately a million stamps every 18 months. It would thus have placed an order around March 1903 (hence the proof) although Pratt did not find such an order in the records.
  6. Stamp shade - orange vermilion. Paper - very thin, yellow, poor quality.
  7. This printing order was cancelled. In 1906, the inland letter rate was reduced from 3 cents to 2 cents. This explains why the last order for 3¢ stamps was in Nov. 1905, and may explain this order of 3 Feb. 1906. Perhaps the order was placed because of anticipated increased demand but was cancelled when 2 Dec. 1905 order became available.
  8. Stamp shade - salmon.
  9. Stamp shade - bright or dark vermilion. With this order, the Post Office increased the quantity to 2 million, about a year's supply. The printing order number F1495 appears in the top margin.
  10. Stamp shade - bright or dark vermilion. The 18 Jan. 1908 printing order for 2 million stamps was shipped from New York on the S.S. Sylvia along with 500,000 of the 5¢ value. The ship was wrecked en route, and the stamps were washed ashore on the Island of Cuttyhunk, Maine. When the Newfoundland Colonial Secretary heard of this loss, he decided to change the design to the 2¢ Map stamp because sheets had been salvaged by the local population. In the end, most of the sheets were recovered by the American Bank Note Co. and burned. As a result, the only mint 2¢ and 5¢ stamps from this 1908 printing are the SPECIMEN proof sheets in the ABN archives.
  11. There were no proofs in the ABN archives for the 23 May and 6 Nov. 1908 printings, if indeed they were fulfilled.

Click on an image to see a larger version.

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, first proof of 100 stamps, only orange proof

1. Proof 1 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, second proof of 100 stamps, first vermilion proof

2. Proof 2 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, comparison of first and second proofs

3. Images 1, 2

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, third proof of 100 stamps

4. Proof 3 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, fourth proof of 100 stamps

5. Proof 4 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, fifth proof of 100 stamps

6. Proof 5 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, comparison of third, fourth, and fifth proofs

7. Images 4, 5, 6

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, sixth proof of 100 stamps

8. Proof 6 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, seventh proof of 100 stamps

9. Proof 7 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, comparison of seventh (top) and sixth (bottom) proofs

10. Images 9 (top), 8

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, eighth proof of 100 stamps

11. Proof 8 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, ninth proof of 100 stamps

12. Proof 9 of 100

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, detail of ninth proof

13. Detail, Image 12

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, comparison of eighth and ninth proofs

14. Images 11, 12

1897 Royal Family, 2 cent, tenth proof of 100 stamps

15. Proof 10 of 100


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

Copyright © 2013, 2015 John M. Walsh.
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This page was last modified on 2015-02-12