Charles Verge is the author of The 1959 St. Lawrence Seaway Joint Issue and its Invert and the recipient of many philatelic recognitions and awards. He will speak at the 8th Annual Maynard Sundman Lecture on Sunday, September 19th at 1 p.m. ET in the museum's Discovery Center. Enjoy the live webcast at www.postalmuseum.si.edu/programs and submit questions for the speaker via Facebook or Twitter.
Although
they may lack physical beauty and monetary value, the 1959 St. Lawrence
Seaway Opening stamps have tales to tell. Issued in both the US and
Canada, hundreds of the Canadian versions of the stamps contained a printing error in which elements of the stamp are “inverted”
in relation to one another. In a tale of intrigue and mystery, inverts
were stolen, lost and recovered. Rumours circulated about how many, if
any, were given to Queen Elizabeth II for The Royal Philatelic
Collection. The lengths people went to in order to recover the
“Inverts” they had posted is also a fascinating facet of the story.
Notice something wrong here?
Joint issues
are defined as stamps issued by two or more countries on the basis of
the same event. Normally they have the same design and issue date;
however, that is not necessary. The important factor is that the postal
administrations of the issuing countries must cooperate in the
development of the stamps.
Officially
there have been six joint issues of stamps between Canada and the US
since the first one in 1959, the subject of the Sundman Lecture. The other five issues were the 25th anniversary of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1984; the 1976 celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution; the 50th anniversary of the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, NY, and Fort Erie, ON, in 1977; the 1992 50th anniversary of the Alaska Highway opening and the 2006 joint issue to celebrate the mapping of the Eastern seaboard of North America by Samuel de Champlain, the founder of New France.
In 1959
the idea of a commemorative joint issue was unheard of, certainly in
the Americas. However, the project of creating access to an Inland Sea,
its cost, the economic benefits, and the cooperation required
completing it, worked in favour of producing a joint issue. Since
nothing like this had been done before, the discussions were long and
laborious.
Trial watercolor and collage of the stamp--not quite the final design
Not
only did the Post Office officials have to agree on a design, they also
had to review the postal laws of each country, looking at regulations
and procedures involved for the servicing of First Day Covers. They
also had to deal with extensive lobbying about the design selected, the
site of the first day of issue and whether special albums would be
presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower
when they officially opened the Seaway together by sailing through the
St. Lambert Locks on the Royal Yacht Britannia.
In
addition to the stories behind these international negotiations, the
remarkable invert error adds interest to the story. The error was not
possible in the US issue because the US stamp was printed on a Giori
press that allowed for the printing of up to three colors at the same
time. In Canada, the sheets of stamps had to pass through the press
twice—once for each color. For years, collectors believed that 600
inverted stamps had been released to the country’s post offices—200 of
which had been recovered by Postal officials. Research now indicates
that many more are in private hands than originally believed and
thousands more were discovered in the stocks of the Canadian Bank Note
Company which were destroyed on December 22, 1959.
Sheets containing inverted stamps retrieved by post office officials
Although
the US Post Office did not produce an “error” there are some rare US
philatelic items that can be collected in this 1959 issue.
This is the only item mailed outside of Canada with an inverted stamp
