2018

Sean Weatherup is the new Secretary-Treasurer of Railway Post Offices (RPO) Study Group.

He replaces Chris Anstead who ably served as Secretary-Treasurer of the RPO Study Group since January 2001.

See the Study Groups page for contact info

The meeting report for the Golden Horseshoe Regional Group are posted on the Regional webpages for meetings from 27 October and December 1, 2018.

GHRG Meeting Reports

Multiple sections of the online Perfin Handbook have been updated. The new entries can be identified by the date: 2018 12 01.

Il y a une mise à jour de plusieurs sections du Manuel des perfins qui est disponible en ligne. Ces sections sont identifiées par la date : 2018 12 01.

Perfins Handbook

The reports of BNAPS officials tabled at the Board of Directors meeting at BNAPEX 2018 in Quebec are online. The approved minutes of the Board of Directors meeting and Annual General Meeting at BNAPEX 2017 in Calgary, AB, have also been posted.

The Treasurer's Report for fiscal year 2017 includes the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement that were published in BNA Topics in previous years.

Several reports are about recently created positions and/or submitted by newly appointed officials:

â–º  Reporting Secretary - Robert Lemire
â–º  Social Media Officer - Hugo Deshaye
â–º  Awards Coordinator - Dave Freeman

Access to these reports and minutes is restricted to BNAPS members. You must log in to view them.

Reports of BNAPS officials

A new issue of the Pence-Cents Era Study Group newsletter, dated November 2018, is available. Among the articles, you will find:

â–º  California Gold Rush Letters to Canada via Nicaragua by Luc Frève
â–º  An extensive report on BNAPEX 2018 Québec by Jim Jung
â–º  Part of the BNAPEX 2018 presentation by Michael D. Smith on plate varieties found on the 1851 Pence Issue ½d

Newsletters of the Pence-Cents Era Study Group

Wayne Smith's newest census lists covers with 1859 Cents Issue stamps mailed after April 1, 1868, when the Large Queens were issued. The census is broken down by domestic mail and registered domestic mail and by foreign destination (U.S., Great Britain, and other destinations). Up to November 2018, 160 covers were recorded.

This is the third census of early covers Wayne Smith has posted this month.

What's new in the Online Resources & Exhibits area - Nov. 2018

Library and Archives Canada Private Philatelic Fonds/Collections and Accruals lists recent fonds/collections and accruals available for consultation at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). The list was provided by James Bone, Archivist, LAC.

It also describes how to conduct online searches of the private fonds at LAC, and how to request material for on-site consultation.

What's new in the Online Resources & Exhibits area - Nov. 2018

Philately at LAC / La philatélie à BAC is a presentation made by James Bone, Archivist, Archives Branch, Library and Archives Canada at BNAPEX 2018 Québec.

The presentation describes the philatelic and postal history collections at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), the access and research tools LAC offers to the philatelic community, and how to cite LAC items in documents and articles. It also provides links to Canadian Postal Archives (CPA) research material such as the database of post offices and postmasters.

What's new in the Online Resources & Exhibits area - Nov. 2018

In his ORE article, "Canada’s Provisional War Tax Revenue Stamps", Christopher D. Ryan describes the events behind the issue of the Admiral 5¢, 20¢, and 50¢ stamps overprinted War Tax and Inland Revenue War Tax, including the 5¢ reprint from plates 9 and 10.

The article points out that the stamps were ordered and issued by the Inland Revenue Dept., not the Post Office.

Canada’s Provisional War Tax Revenue Stamps

The Manitoba NW Ontario Group held their Fall meeting on 6 October 2018. The meeting report can be viewed.

View The Manitoba NW Ontario Webpage

The St Lawrence Seaway Group held their Fall meeting on 13 October 2018. The meeting report can be viewed.

Visit St Lawrence Seaway Regional Pages

Wayne Smith compiled a list of 1868 Large Queen covers over many years. His census of over 7,000 covers, now available in the Online Resources and Exhibits (ORE) area of the website, is sorted by postal rate and destination.

The census begins with domestic mail (4,600 plus covers), and then lists foreign mail to Newfoundland (just over 40 covers), United States (1,400 covers), Great Britain (almost 1,000 covers), and other foreign destinations broken down by country (over 200 covers).

Census of Large Queen Covers

A new article written by Wayne Smith is available in the Online Resources and Exhibits (ORE) area: "Early Use of Two-ring Numeral Cancels on the Large Queen Issue".

The article lists the earliest recorded use of each of the 60 two-ring numeral cancels. The first strikes appeared in March 1869 during the Large Queen period.

New ORE postings

The exhibit awards won by BNAPS members for BNA exhibits between July and September have been posted. Thanks to Adri Veenstra for compiling the listing.

View the 2018 BNA exhibit awards

Brian T. Stalker has provided an update to the second edition of Travelling Post Office Postmarks of Newfoundland & Labrador. The update is based on reports he received since BNAPS published the book in December 2016.

BNAPS book updates

BNAPS member Darlene Burt has created a website to list Picture Postage^TM stamps. Follow the link to see what there is in the world of Picture Postage^TM.

More examples are welcome, and she can be contacted through the website if you have more information.

The link to the website is given in the Online Resources and Exhibits (ORE) area.

Visit the Picture Postage website

The meeting report for the Prairie Beavers Meeting on 20 October can be viewed.

View Prairie Beavers Regional webpage

The BNAPEX 2018 Quebec palmares was updated.

The E. R. (Ritch) Toop award for best Canadian military mail article or book published anywhere in 2017 was won by J. Michael Powell for Canadian Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees in Europe during the Great War.

BNAPEX 2018 Palmares

The presentation given by Leopold Beaudet at the Admiral Study Group meeting at BNAPEX 2018 Quebec has been posted.

The presentation covers the following topics: imprint in type B lathework on 1¢ green, type A and B lathework doubled, major retouch on 7¢ bistre, 5¢ blue with stitch watermark, 1¢ green and 5¢ blue re-entries, and booklet covers with guidelines.

Admiral Study Group online resources

Co-chairs Grégoire Teyssier and Jacques Poitras express their thanks to all for the success of the BNAPEX 2018 Quebec convention.

Thanks from the Co-chairs

The Prairie Beaver Regional Group has published the Oct. 2018 issue of its newsletter, Beaver Chatter.

Besides the agenda for the Regional Group's 20 Oct. meeting, the newsletter features a report on BNAPEX 2018 Quebec, a note of congratulations to Denise Stotts for receiving the 2018 Luff Award from the American Philatelic Society for her meritorious contributions to philately, and a short article by Vic Willson on "Multiple Weight Letters in the Late 19th Century".

See Beaver Chatter on the Prairie Beaver Regional Group web page

Michael D. Smith, the editor of the Re-entries & Constant Plate Varieties Study Group newsletter, provided two presentations on the 1851 Pence Issue and one on the 1859 First Cents Issue:

► Canada’s ½d Plate Varieties
Re-entries and plate flaws with clear illustrations taken from the plate proof. References the plate of 120 for the imperforate stamp and the cut-down plate of 100 for the perforated stamp.

â–º Three Pence Beaver Selected Re-entries and Plate Varieties
Description, including plate position, of selected re-entries and plate flaws with detailed illustrations to aid identification.

► Whitworth’s Plate Flaws on the One Cent Decimal Issue
Close-up illustrations from an early plate proof and issued stamps with detailed annotation of plate flaws reported by Geoffrey Whitworth in the 1960s.

Re-entries & Constant Plate Varieties Study Group newsletters and other resources

At the Board of Directors meeting at BNAPEX 2018 Quebec, it was decided to move Maryland from the Northeastern Regional Group to the Mid-Atlantic RG.

Note that BNAPS members are welcome to attend any Regional Group meeting irrespective of where they live.

Regional Groups page

The results of the 2018 election were announced at the Annual General Meeting at BNAPEX 2018 Quebec on Sunday, 23 September.

View the election resilts

The palmares for BNAPEX 2018 Quebec is available.

There were 24 Gold, 9 Vermeil, 12 Silver, and 1 Silver-bronze medals awarded.

View the Palmares

Souvenir covers and personalized Picture Postage^TM stamps created by François Brisse will be available at BNAPEX 2018 in Quebec City, 21-23 September.

The covers and stamps commemorate the following events:

â–º The 100th Anniversary of the 1918 Armistice
â–º The 100th Anniversary of Canada's first official postal flight
â–º The 100th anniversary of the enactment of The Act to Confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women (S.C. 1918, c. 20) that gave Canadian women the right to vote in federal elections

BNAPEX souvenirs

Multiple sections of the online Perfin Handbook have been updated. The new entries can be identified by the date: 2018 09 01.

Il y a une mise à jour de plusieurs sections du Manuel des perfins qui est disponible en ligne. Ces sections sont identifiées par la date : 2018 09 01.

New ORE Posting

BNAPS has published four new books just in time for BNAPEX 2018 in Quebec City.

► The Herb McNaught Single Frame Award Exhibits 2009 – 2017
Features the winning exhibits from each of the 2009 to 2017 BNAPEX conventions plus two that won awards before the McNaught Award was created: Jonathan Johnson’s Canadian Military Hospitals at Sea and Herb McNaught’s own The Half-Cent Small Queen Issue of 1882-1897.

â–º Fancy Cancels on Canadian Stamps 1855 to 1950, third edition - David Lacelle
The third edition features more than 350 additions, revisions and updates and three new appendices relating to a series of fake cancels, the removal of previously ‘unconfirmed’ cancels, and ‘joke’ markings.

â–º First Day Covers of the H&E Stamp Company - Gary Dickinson
A definitive study of the more than 300 First Day Cover cachets produced between 1954 and 1978 by two men operating from a basement print shop.

â–º The Caneco Connection - A Study of the First Day Covers of the Canada Envelope Company - Robert D. Vogel
For more than 20 years, Caneco, a Canadian envelope manufacturer, used its own products to celebrate Canada by sending beautifully cacheted complimentary First Day Covers to its customers and friends.

New BNAPS books

The Admiral Study Group has created a page listing content related to the Admiral issue that is available online. It includes presentations made at the last three Admiral Study Group meetings at BNAPEX and a census of Admiral plate material compiled by Glen Lundeen.

The Study Group has also provided a cumulative table of contents of its newsletter, The Admiral's Log, and an index to the newsletter compiled by Randall W. Van Someren.

Admiral Study Group web pages

The latest issue of the Pence-Cents Era Study Group newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 3, August 2018, features articles for both stamp and postal history fans:

â–º Plating positions of the 10 cent Prince Consort next to the printer's imprint

â–º Extensive census of covers with 1859 Decimal Issue stamps after they were replaced by the Large Queens on 1 April 1868.

Newsletter of the Pence-Cents Era Study Group

The August 2018 newsletter for the Pacific Northwest Regional Group has been posted on the PNWRG webpages which can be accessed from the link below. Additional information in the newsletter regarding the Regional meeting in Victoria on 4-5 October (in conjunction with VICPEX) can be found in it.

Click to view the Newsletter and the PNWRG regional pages.

The Dixie Beavers held a Regional meeting on 28 July 2018 in Charlotte, NC. Click the link below to see the report.

Click to see Dixie Beavers Regional pages and report.

Updates to the Circuit pages have been made. New pages under Queen elizabeth, Admirals, Precancels and more. Look for sheets marked Aug18 for new sheets or with Rpl Aug18 for revised sheets

Circuit Pages

The synopsis and/or title page has been posted for every BNAPEX exhibit. The most recently posted are listed on the BNAPEX News page.

Maximize your exhibit viewing time at the convention by reading the synopses and title pages beforehand.

Exhibit synopses & title pages

The BNAPS 2018 election of Officers and Directors is approaching. Members will receive a ballot and candidate biographies by mail shortly.

This year, members can vote online or by mail. Online voting takes place between 14 August and 4 September. Click on the link below for details, candidate biographies, and an online ballot. You will be asked to log in first if you aren't already.

BNAPS Election 2018

A special cancel promoting BNAPEX 2018 will be used exclusively at the Old Quebec post office:
5 Rue du Fort, Quebec, QC G1R 2J0.

The commemorative cancel was designed by François Brisse.

BNAPEX 2018 special postmark

The exhibit awards won by BNAPS members for BNA exhibits between April and June have been posted. Thanks to Adri Veenstra for compiling the listing.

View the 2018 BNA exhibit awards

The Re-entries and Constant Plate Varieties Study Group has published a special edition of its newsletter dealing with fake proofs of the 1865 Second Bill Issue revenue stamps.

The newsletter provides a detailed description of the fakes and compares them with genuine proofs. The proofs were offered on eBay.

This is a "must read" if you are interested in the Second Bill Issue or plate proofs.

View the Special Edition of the newsletter

BNAPS has released the 100th book in its Exhibits series:

â–º Foreign Exchange Control in Canada / The Role of Canada Post 1939-1951 by Eldon Godfrey.
Illustrates the role played by the Post Office in helping the Foreign Exchange Control Board control foreign exchange transactions in order to make sure that Canada would have enough currency to meet the financial obligations of fighting a major war.

For more information and to order

Gary W. Steele's exhibit, "Dead Letter Office Wax Seals & Boxed Registration Handstamps", has just been posted in the Online Resources & Exhibits area. It complements his "Ottawa Dead Letter Office Handstamps 1872 to 1950", which was posted last month.

The newly posted exhibit studies the DLO Wax Seals and Boxed Registration handstamps used only on registered Canadian DLO return envelopes. It includes several previously unknown, unreported, earliest and latest reported dates.

The exhibit won Gold at BNAPEX 2015, Niagara Falls, ON.

New ORE postings

Brian C. Plain's one-frame exhibit, "The Victoria Post Office and Undeliverable Mail 1874 - 1925", can be viewed in the Online Resources & Exhibits area.

The exhibit shows the handling of undelivered mail by the Victoria post office from 1874 to the discontinuance of the service in the mid-1920s. A variety of posted items, date stamps and regulatory markings illustrate the activity of this office.

The exhibit won Vermeil at BNAPEX 2012, Calgary, AB.

New ORE postings

The distributor of BNAPS books, Sparks Auctions, is moving on Monday, 18 June. The new address is:

Sparks Auctions
1770 Woodward Drive, Suite 101
OTTAWA, ON K2P 0C8
CANADA

The telephone number, FAX number, and email address are unchanged:

Tel: 613-567-3336
FAX: 613-567-2972
Email: bnaps@sparks-auctions.com

BNAPS books distributor

The report for the 16 May 2018 meeting of the Atlantic Regional Group is now posted to the Regional web pages.

Visit Atlantic Regional Group pages

The November 1976 newsletter of the RPO Study Group (Vol. 4, No. 3) is now available on the website.

Thanks to the Cataloguing Librarian, Harry Sutherland Library, Vincent G. Greene Philatelic Research Foundation, and Ross Gray, current editor of the newsletter, for providing this issue.

RPO Study Group newsletters

The BNAPEX 2018 exhibits are listed on the Exhibits page.

BNAPEX 2018 Exhibits page

A preliminary schedule of BNAPEX 2018 meetings & seminars has been posted. Besides the meetings of the BNAPS study groups, there are several organized by other philatelic organizations that will be of interest to Convention attendees.

Check the Seminars page periodically for updates.

BNAPEX 2018 Study Group Meeting & Seminar Schedule

The exhibit awards won by BNAPS members for BNA exhibits between January and March have been posted. Thanks to Adri Veenstra for compiling the listing.

2018 Jan.-Mar. exhibit awards

Relatively few Newfoundland stamps have plate imprints in the pane margin and some of those were undocumented. John M. Walsh's "Newfoundland Plate Numbers 1897-1947" shows all the stamps with plate numbers including some first discovered by the exhibitor.

This exhibit has been in the ORE for some time, but the presentation has just been extensively reformatted.

New ORE postings

During the countdown to the BNAPEX 2018 Québec convention, the synopsis and/or title page of selected exhibits will be posted on the Exhibits page. The first two are now available.

Check the Exhibits page periodically for future postings.

The BNAPEX 2018 exhibit space is now fully subscribed. All 160 frames are booked.

A waiting list is being compiled in the event that an exhibitor cancels. If you would like to be put on the list, contact the Exhibits Coordinator, Grégoire Teyssier, with details of your exhibit.

BNAPEX 2018 Exhibits

The Dead Letter Office processed mail matter that could not be forwarded to its final destination. This included domestic mail, mail from foreign countries, and mail to foreign countries that was returned because of insufficient forwarding information.

Gary W. Steele's five-frame exhibit, "Ottawa Dead Letter Office Handstamps 1872 to 1950", shows the evolution of the handstamps - small and large circular, oval, and rectangular - used by the Ottawa Dead Letter Office from 1872 to 1950.

The exhibit was most recently shown at BNAPEX 2016, Fredericton, NB, where it won Gold and the Ed and Mickey Richardson Award.

New ORE postings

145 of the 160 exhibit frames have now been taken. Only 15 are still available. To ensure your exhibit is accepted, send your Exhibit Entry Form soon.

BNAPEX exhibits page

The May 2018 issue of the Pence-Cents Era Study Group newsletter (Vol. VII, No. 2) is available.

It features an article by Vic Willson on the Berri duplex cancels, including a comprehensive census of earliest and latest recorded dates, an explanation of stitch watermarks by Jim Jung, and an exposé on turned covers of the Decimal period by Ronald E. Majors. What's a turned cover? The answer is just two clicks away.

Pence-Cents Era Study Group newsletters

The meeting report for the Prairie Beavers Meeting on 7 April can be viewed. 14 people attended the meeting

View Prairie Beavers Regional webpage

The Initial Acceptance Period for submission of BNAPEX 2018 Quebec exhibits ended on 14 April. Of the 160 frames for the exhibition, only 60 were still available as of mid April.

To ensure your exhibit is accepted, send your Exhibit Entry Form soon. Note that Entry Forms MUST be received by 30 June.

For more information, go to the BNAPEX Exhibits page

The Timothy Eaton Company was in operation for 138 years, from 1861 to 1999. During its heyday, it had department stores in over 100 cities and a highly developed mail order business.

In his monograph, Timothy Eaton Company: Philatelic Notes, Clayton Rubec explores the philatelic aspects of Eaton's operations. He examines the company's use of postage stamps, perfins, precancels, postal stationery, postage meter machines, Christmas letters and envelopes, catalogue mailing permits, bulk mail, and revenue stamps.

New ORE postings

The circuit book pages have been updated with new pages.

Visit the Exchange Circuit

A report for the meeting of the Golden Horseshoe Regional Group from 24 March 2018 has been posted to the GHRG regional pages.

Visit the GHRG Regional Pages

Joel Weiner's seven-frame exhibit, "The Centennial Booklets of Canada 1967 - 1973", can be viewed in the Online Resources and Exhibits area. It was shown at BNAPEX 2017 Calgary where it won a Gold, the John D. Arn White Queen Award, and the APS Medal of Excellence (1940-1980).

The exhibit presents a detailed study of the printing, paper, gum, perforation, and tagging varieties and plate flaws on the Centennial booklets. It includes all the key items and many previously unrecorded varieties.

New ORE postings

New editor David Marasco has just published the March 2018 issue of the Precancel Study Group newsletter, No. 8. The entire issue features precancel stamp usage on cover.

View the newsletter

The April 2018 issue of Beaver Chatter, the newsletter of the Prairie Beaver Regional Group, is available.

It has the full schedule for the Group's next meeting on Saturday, 7 April, and features write-ups on several noteworthy covers covering the Pence to Admiral periods.

View the newsletter

Kevin O'Reilly's four-frame exhibit, "Sovereignty, Substances, Small Centres and Subs: Closed Post Offices of the Northwest Territories", has been posted to the Online Resources and Exhibits area.

The exhibit shows all the closed post offices in the Northwest Territories operated by Canada, the U.S., and Great Britain. It includes many scarce to unique postal markings.

New ORE postings

Adri Veenstra has compiled the list of awards won by BNAPS members for BNA exhibits between October and December 2017. Included with the list are summary comments covering the year just past.

View the 2017 BNA exhibit awards

BNAPS published three books in its Exhibits series in February:

â–º Booklets and Coils of Canada The Canadian Postal System Enters the Machine Age by Gordon W. Turnbull (Exhibit series # 97)
Studies the production of booklets and coils, which provided stamps to customers in a convenient format, from 1900 to 1935.

â–º Steamship Mail in the Early Decimal Period of Newfoundland 1865-1910 by David Piercey (Exhibit series # 98)
A major study of the coastal communications of Newfoundland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

â–º Saskatchewan Territorial Mail: 1846 to 1905 by Harold Kellett (Exhibit series # 99)
The development of postal services in the region that emerged from the Northwest Territories as the Territory and subsequently the Province of Saskatchewan.

For more information and to order

Kathy Hartley, librarian of the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation, provided a copy of Illustrated Mail Vol. 2, No. 1, Feb. 2014, which had been missing from the BNAPS website. She also pointed out that Vol. 1, No.2, had been misnumbered Vol. 2, No.1.

Illustrated Mail Study Group newsletters

Issue No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 1998, of The Slogan Box, the newsletter of the Slogan Study Group, was missing from the website. Thanks to Kathy Hartley, librarian of the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation, it is now available.

Slogan Study Group newsletters

The Dixie Beavers held a Regional meeting on 27 January 2018 in Atlanta GA.

Click to see the report on the Dixie Regional pages

A report of the Golden Horseshoe Regional Group meeting of 27 January 2018 has been posted to the Regional Group pages for the Group.

Visit GHRG Regional Page

Updates to the Circuit pages have been made. New pages under Edwards, Small Queens and more)

Visit Circuit Pages

The BNAPEX 2018 Ville de Québec - Quebec City Exhibit Entry Form is now available online.

You can pay for the exhibit frame fees online.

Full details on the BNAPEX 2018 Exhibits page

The BNAPEX 1976 San Francisco program was missing from the BNAPEX website. Thanks to Stuart Keeley, Chairman of BNAPEX 2015 Niagara Falls, for providing a copy.

Click and scroll down to 1976 to view the program

Updates to the Circuit pages have been made. New pages under Queen Elizabeth.

Visit Exchange pages

Multiple sections of the online Perfin Handbook have been updated. The new entries can be identified by the date: 2018 01 01.

Il y a une mise à jour de plusieurs sections du Manuel des perfins qui est disponible en ligne. Ces sections sont identifiées par la date : 2018 01 01.

New ORE Posting

New newsletters from ten Study Groups have been posted. The year of publication, Study Group, and number of issues are listed below:

â–º 2012 British Columbia Postal History - 4 issues
â–º 2015 King George VI - 1 issue
â–º 2012 Large and Small Queens - 4 issues
â–º 2012 Military Mail - 5 issues
â–º 2012 Newfoundland - 4 issues
â–º 2012 Perfin - 3 issues
â–º 2012 Postal Stationery - 4 issues
â–º 2016 Re-entries and Constant Plate Varieties - 5 issues
â–º 2012 Revenue - 4 issues
â–º 2013 RPO - 6 issues (posted two weeks ago)

In addition, Stephen Friedenthal provided more complete copies of two newsletters of the Slogan Cancel Study Group, issue Nos 8 and 38.

View the newsletters

The Pence-Cents Era Study Group has published its first newsletter of 2017, Vol. VII, No. 1.

The newsletter features two articles on the postal history of the era. The first deals with postal usage during the Cents period, and the other discusses trans-Atlantic mail.

View the newsletter

The Officers' reports for 2017, tabled at the Board of Directors meeting at BNAPEX 2017 in Calgary, AB, have been posted on the website. The approved minutes of the BOD meeting and AGM at BNAPEX 2016 in Fredericton, NB, have also been posted.

Access to these reports and minutes is restricted to BNAPS members. You must log in to view them.

View the reports and minutes

A report of the Golden Horseshoe Regional Group meeting of 25 November 2017 has been posted to the Regional Group pages for the Group.

See the Meeting Report