On a January day in 1929, and we’re not 100% certain exactly which day it was, Canada released this 50 cent stamp depicting the schooner Bluenose.
When the stamp was placed on sale, either on January 6 or January 8th, it was immediately acknowledged as extraordinary.
It is not hard to find a stamp collector who considers this the most beautiful stamp any nation has ever produced.
A story surrounds this stunning stamp that may or may not be true… I have not been able to verify it.
Look closely at the schooner to the left. It may not be a different vessel. It may actually be Bluenose. The design of the stamp could be a composite of two images taken by the Nova Scotian photographer W.R. MacAskill.
Another noteworthy piece of information… The first plate produced for printing Bluenose was flawed. Just 200 copies of the stamp were printed from this plate. The stamps were apparently destroyed, as was the plate.
Plates two and three produced 1.04 million copies of the stamp. Engraving was done by the American Bank Note Company in New York and printing by the Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa.
Imperfs also of this King George V scroll issue classic also exist.
The working Grand Banks schooner itself remains a revered icon of Canada. No American schooner could beat it other than Gertrude Thibault, which captured the Sir Thomas Lipton International Fishing Challenge Cup in 1930.
After that, Bluenose never lost a race. Under 10,000 square feet of sail she hit speeds of 17 knots.
When she was at work fishing, she set records. Twice she brought in the season’s largest catch to her home port of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Often derided by competitors as a vessel built purely for racing, she more than earned her stripes as a working schooner.
Launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1921, Bluenose foundered on a reef off Haiti and was lost in January, 1946.
