Bluenose

The Bluenose is the nickname for a 50-cent definitive postage stamp issued by the Canadian Post Office on 8 January 1929 as part of the George V of the United Kingdom King George V "Scroll Issue”. Scott number is 158 with a perforation of 12. The stamp depicts the fishing schooner Bluenose and the design, by the Canadian Bank Note Company, Ottawa, is a montage of two different images of the vessel, racing off Halifax Harbour. The stamp is considered a classic even though it was issued after 1900 and some people consider it to be the most beautiful stamp in the world, but certainly it is the favorite Canadian stamp.

Three printing plates were made; plate 1 (of 200 impressions) was never used because of defects found, but plates 2 and 3 (of 100 impressions) were used to print 1,044,900 copies of the stamp. The photographs for the handsome engraved stamp were taken by W.R. MacAskill in 1922 and the vignette was engraved by the American Bank Note Company, New York.