Secret dates on Canadian stamps

Canadian stamp collectors have had a new hobby since 1935: searching for the secret dates in the designs of stamps issued since then. Almost all of these stamps have the year of issue hidden somewhere. Or a few letters. Sometimes they are quite prominent, but often you need a strong magnifying glass to discover them! A little prank by the Canadian Post? After all, a clearly legible year makes it easier for the collector to find a stamp in an album or catalogue. Or were those small years intended to mislead counterfeiters? On the 10-cent stamp from 1935, the letters RCMP are clearly distinguishable. These stand for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Not so difficult. But the year 1935? In the bottom right. The 6-cent airmail stamp, also from 1935 featuring an image of Icarus, also bore the year 1935. Even smaller than on the previous stamp. The 4-cent stamp from 1949 featuring an image of Cabot's sailing ship 'Matthew' is also not too difficult: the year 1949 is clearly visible. But it gets much harder with the 7-cent stamp featuring an image of a Canada goose. Here, the year 1952 is depicted very small indeed! It can be found in the water beneath the number 7. Not only years, but also letters can be found. Such as on the 4-cent stamp featuring an image of Queen Elizabeth II. Here, designer Hahn has incorporated his initial, the letter H, into the design. The 5-cent stamp featuring two cranes leaves little doubt as to where the hidden year 1955 is located, even though it is barely recognizable except under strong magnification. It is situated at the bottom edge, between 5C and the wing of the first crane. With the 5-cent stamp depicting a skier, it becomes a bit more difficult to spot the year 1956: in the bottom right of the image. Strong magnification is really necessary here! And from the same series of four, the stamp with the swimmer. Here, both the year 1956 and the letters LH can be found. Incidentally, the letters LH are also incorporated into the previous stamps, in the lower left corner of the design. The initials of designer Lawrence Hyde. He certainly lives up to his name… But where do you place a year without it standing out too much, yet in a spot where it actually makes perfect sense? Naturally, as a truck license plate centered on a permanent postage stamp from 1967. We could continue like this until 1972, when the hidden dates were suddenly no longer used. Why not? Nobody knows! But in 1974 it started again, now with a hidden © symbol alongside the year. As an example, a stamp from the 1976 Olympic Games series, issued in 1975. Here, therefore, two years are mentioned: 1975 and 1976 in the text. The 25-cent stamp with the maple leaves issued in 1977 is a real 'find the © symbol and the year 1977' puzzle. Did you expect that in the leaf stalk? And the modern stamps? Yes, it still happens. As the second-to-last example, I will show the hologram stamp from 1999. From a certain angle, you see the year 1999, but from another angle, the year 2000 appears. And here too, the © symbol and the year 2000 are hidden at the bottom, barely visible. The color differences are deceptive, because to the naked eye the stamp appears silver-colored, and the colors were created by a specific refraction during scanning. It is therefore one and the same stamp. As a final example, one of the Christmas stamps from 1999, with the year and © symbol. Stamp collecting is more than just filling boxes. Or so many collectors of Canadian stamps think. It is a sport to find the 'secret' dates on the stamps issued from 1935 onwards. Consequently, only a small number of stamps do not carry these markings. Which ones are they? I would say: go investigate for yourself! Then you will see the stamps from a different perspective. I wish you good luck!!