Scott/Unitrade numbers:
- 2072-2074 (coils)
- 2081-2082 (booklet singles)
- BK303-BK304
(booklets)
Printer: Lowe-Martin (Ottawa, ON)
Printing method: Lithography (5 colours)
Paper: self-adhesive, Fasson
Designers: Monique Dufour, Sophie Lafortune
Postage rates (Jan 17/05 - Jan 15/06):
- 50c - domestic lettermail (0-30g)
- 85c -USA (0-30g) and domestic (30-50g)
- $1.45 - International (0-30g)
Format:
Coil Checklist
| |
Booklet
Pane of 6 |
Vert Coil
Roll of 100 |
Vert Coil
Roll of 50 |
| |
Self-adhesive |
| |
Lowe-Martin |
| |
Die cut |
8.5 horiz |
7 horiz |
8.5 horiz |
7 horiz |
| Domestic First-class rate: |
| 50c Red Calla Lily |
|
Dec 20/04 |
Feb/05 |
|
|
|
USA/International rate: |
| 85c Yellow Calla Lily |
Dec 20/04 |
|
|
Dec 20/04 |
Feb/05 |
| $1.45 Purple Dutch Iris |
Dec 20/04 |
|
|
Dec 20/04 |
Feb/05 |
The date shown is the date of issue of that specific variety. A "blank" means the item does not exist.
Coil Distribution
The coils were distributed to post offices in boxes, with 10 rolls per box.
Sometime during the year, a stamped barcode and product number was stamped on
one end of the box.
The rolls were wrapped around a thick inner core or cardboard. A clear,
self-adhesive sticker was applied on the end of the roll to keep it rolled. This
'wrapper' had a UPC barcode which would be scanned at the post office checkout.
Three different types of these wrappers exist on this series of Flower coils.
The "red" $0.50 wrapper was seen only on the "8-peak" 50c stamp.
Coil Serpentine
Die Cutting
If you take any of the original printings of these coil stamps, you
will get various die cuts, ranging from 7.9 to 8.9! (and almost
every number in between).
They were reprinted with a serpentine die cut 7 horizontal -
these started showing up in late February 2005.
If you are counting
"peaks", the original had 9 or 10 peaks, the new perf has 8 peaks.
Be warned though - counting peaks is not the same as "perfing"
the stamp.
Top: original perf 8.6
Bottom: reprint perf 7
Coil Plating
As has been hinted at above, the serpentine die cutting is variable across the
stamp. That is, it is not consistent from one stamp to another, between the top
or bottom of the same stamp, and even inconsistent across a single stamp!
Recall that there are 10 rolls printed across the printing sleeve and a gutter
every 10 stamps along a roll. Thus, the printing "plate" for these coils is 10
stamps across by 10 stamps down.
It is actually possible to place 10 rolls beside each other and watch how the
die cutting flows from one roll to another. With this layout, one can plate all
100 positions because of the uniqueness of the die cutting. Said another way,
each stamp has a unique set of die cutting that can be plated.
Click for more on "plating".
Since there were (at least) two die cutting mats used, there are 200 different
(unique) stamps for each of the three denominations of these coils. The
following image needed to be shrunk to "fit your screen", but it is in fact a
group of 10 rolls placed beside each other - a plating "sheet":
Coil Gutter Inscriptions
TWO types of inscriptions exist on the original printings of
the three Flower coil definitives (ie. the 'perf 8 1/2' version). The
difference is in the location of the paper designation and colour dots
compared to the inscription text.
A picture is worth a thousand words...
It turns out that BOTH types of inscriptions were probably around since the
stamps were first issued on Dec 20, 2004.
Notice that the "F above O" seems to have a bolder text font than the "F above
R" inscription.
Coil Inscription Error
The $1.45 Flower coil has been found where the inscription, found in the
gutter every 10 stamps, has a "0" (zero) character added to the front
of the printer's name.
| $1.45 Purple
Dutch Iris Coil |
| |
Perf 8.5 |
Perf 7 |
| "F over R" |
x |
|
| "F over O" |
x (*) |
x (*) |
| "F over O", 0Lowe |
x |
x |
* Remember the "plating" of these stamps (noted above)? Recall that there are
10 rolls of stamps across the printing sleeve. Nine of these ten rolls had the
"0LOWE" inscription while only one, the left roll, had the correct "LOWE"
inscription. As such, the items noted with the * are quite scarce.
Coil Die Cut "Ski Slope" Variety
A constant die cutting variety can be found on all three coil stamps:
- original printing (serpentine die cut 8 1/2)
- found on 1 out of 10 rolls (the leftmost roll on the plate)
- between the 3rd and 4th stamps above every gutter on the roll
- found on both "F over R" and "F over O" inscriptions
- best collected in gutter strips of 6 or 2 used singles (with variety at top or bottom)
$1.45 "Purple Line" Constant
Variety?
The $1.45 coil has been reported with what might be a constant flaw.
Click here for an enlarged
image.
We welcome your reports of confirmation of this flaw.
The 85c and $1.45 designs were issued in booklet "panels" of 6 stamps. The $1.45
appeared with the "colour dots" placed in two different positions within the
bottom inscription.
Booklet Checklist
| Booklet panes |
| |
4mm
tagging |
3mm
tagging
(notched)
F paper |
| 85c Yellow Calla Lily |
x |
|
x |
|
| |
F paper |
"C" paper |
Dots at right |
Dots at left |
| $1.45 Purple Dutch Iris |
x (*) |
x |
x |
x |
* shiny and dull tagging varieties exist
Booklet Tagging
The 85c
and $1.45 Flower booklet panes each come with TWO different widths of tagging:
- 4mm solid all around (passes over top of the design)
- 3mm that cuts around the design (notched)
The $1.45 booklet can also be found with dull and shiny tagging.
85c tagging:
$1.45 tagging:
$1.45 Booklet Inscription
The $1.45 booklet comes with the paper designation/colour dots in two different
locations:
Booklet Paper
The $1.45 booklet can also be found printed on Tullis Russell Coating paper (even
though the paper designation says "F" in the inscription).
$1.45 Booklet Constant Plate Variety
A constant variety has been found in
the inscription of the $1.45 booklet with the colour dots on the left side. It
is a break in the letter R of "Lacroix".
Booklet Missing
Colour
The 85c booklet was found with the black inscription missing or nearly missing.
Of the few panes that were discovered, only one had the black missing completely
- the rest had a "hint" of black showing on some of the stamps. All of these had
the tagging shifted, resulting in 3-bar tagging.
Perf gauge
