New Canada Magi, Shiny and Bright Christmas stamps debut Nov. 4

By Charles Snee

On Nov. 4 Canada Post will issue a quartet of stamps to welcome the Christmas holiday season.

A single religious-themed permanent-rate (currently 90¢) Christmas stamp features gold silhouettes of the three Magi, or wisemen, riding camels while following the star that heralded the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

The star appears in the top right corner of the stamp, and the entire scene is shown against a dark blue background.

Canada Post’s first-day cover for the Magi stamp depicts similar gold images of two shepherds and two sheep. An angel sounding a trumpet is incorporated in the pictorial postmark design from King City, Ontario.

In the well-known Biblical story, the Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus on Epiphany, which is celebrated Jan. 6.

A reindeer, a trio of dancers and a partridge in a pear tree are the subjects of Canada Post’s secular Shiny and Bright Christmas stamps.

The stylized Shiny and Bright stamps “strike a nostalgic note and conjure up vivid memories of all things shiny and bright during the festive season,” according to Canada Post.

A single reindeer with a slender gold ribbon wrapped around its neck is set against a striped red background on the permanent-rate stamp.

Three dancers in shimmery blue dresses strike a pose on the $1.27 stamp for letters mailed to the United States.

The design of the $2.65 stamp for letters to other international destinations shows a golden partridge nestled among the branches of a pear tree. Five golden pears surround the decorative bird.

Various snowflake and other geometrical shapes are seen inside the reindeer, dancers and partridge.

All three Shiny and Bright stamps appear se-tenant (side-by-side) on a souvenir sheet with water-activated adhesive. The sheet’s green and red striped background shows snowflakes of different sizes.

Canada Post’s FDC for the Shiny and Bright set is franked with the souvenir sheet and depicts a winter scene of pine trees and four people ice skating on a pond. The FDC is postmarked with a circular arrangement of snowflakes from Val-Brilliant, Quebec.

Subplot Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, designed the Magi stamp from an illustration by Michael Little. Lowe-Martin printed the stamp using three-color lithography. The self-adhesive stamp is 30 millimeters by 24mm and was printed in booklets of 12.

Andrew Lewis Design of London, Ontario, designed and illustrated the Shiny and Bright stamps and souvenir sheet, and the Canadian Bank Note Co. printed them using four-color lithography.

The permanent-rate Reindeer stamp was printed in self-stick booklets of 12, while the $1.27 Dancers and $2.65 Partridge were each printed in self-adhesive booklets of six.

The quantities printed were 500,000 permanent-rate Magi stamps; 800,000 permanent-rate Reindeer stamps; 300,000 $1.27 Dancers stamps; 310,000 Partridge stamps; and 70,000 Shiny and Bright souvenir sheets.

Canada Post’s ordering numbers for the stamp booklets, souvenir sheet and FDCs are 114121 (Magi booklet), 414121131 (Magi FDC), 114122 (Reindeer booklet), 114123 (Dancers booklet), 114124 (Partridge booklet), 404122145 (Shiny and Bright souvenir sheet), and 404122144 (Shiny and Bright FDC).

The new Magi and Shiny and Bright stamps and related items are available from Canada Post’s online shop. Stamps and FDCs are available by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

Canada’s stamps and stamp products also are available from many new-issue stamp dealers, and from Canada Post’s agent in the United States: Interpost, Box 400, Hewlett, NY 11557.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter
    Like us on Facebook
    Follow us on Twitter