Canada's $10 Blue Whale

Canada's Telegraph-Journal reports the country's new $10 blue whale stamp is the biggest in value and size of any stamp ever issued by Canada Post.

According to the article by columnist David Williams, "The stamp is the latest in a series of high-value definitive stamps that began in 1997 with the release of the $8 issue showing a grizzly bear. For 13 years, that stamp had held the record as the country's highest value postage. The $10 blue whale, double the length of the grizzly bear stamp, has taken the title from it, both in value and size."

Williams goes on to say, "Like the grizzly bear and other definitives that preceded it, the blue whale stamp was produced using a combination of printing techniques. They include intaglio and silkscreen for the whale and offset lithography for the colours in the background."

Alain Leduc, manager of stamp design and production at Canada Post, is quoted as saying, ""The intaglio process was recently reinvented using a new, state-of-the-art laser engraving technology,"

Master engraver Jorge Peral, who engraved many of the wildlife definitives issued earlier, including the moose, loon and white-tailed deer, did the image of the whale.

To read the entire article, click here.