We specialize only in the stamps of Canada and the stamps of the Canadian Provinces (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) before they joined Confederation (referred to as "BNA"). In fact, in the area of Canada, we only buy/sell the early classic stamps and significant modern errors and varieties. We simply do not handle the "common" Canadian material (under $50 retail).

If you have Canada and BNA stamps for sale (over $100 catalogue) or significant varieties and errors or have a question related to these then please read on. If your request is of a "general" nature or the stamps you have for sale are not Canadian or the former provinces, then we must regretfully suggest you contact other dealers who do handle foreign stamps.

First, we only handle choice, Canadian/BNA classic, Plate and Die Proofs, Imperforates, Essays modern errors/varieties. We only price material that has a retail value of over $50. We do not handle any other countries or the "normal" modern Canada such as the low value "Canada block of 45c birds issued in 1997", as an example.

Second, we are NOT interested in any (individual) items that have a catalogue or retail value under $100 (one hundred dollars). We are always looking for choice material of high catalogue value!

Third, we can only respond to your request if you quote us a Scott/Darnell/Stanley Gibbons number, the grade/condition, and the current catalogue value for individual items of over $100. For most things, we want to see a photo before a price is given. Sorry, but we do not handle the less expensive material (there are many other stamp dealers who do a good job of this).

Fourth, for "basic questions" please check your library, local dealer, or other web sites for answers. A couple of good internet web sites for asking stamp collecting questions include: AskPhil and BNAPS.

Fifth, if the material you have for sale passes all of the above criteria, then please contact us BEFORE you send us a scan or photocopy. Do NOT send any original stamps until we have responded to your initial request. [ We have actually received "collections" via Federal Express that are in reality "stamps good for postage only" valued at less than $5! ]

Scanning Tips

We regularly receive requests for individual stamp appraisals. These are supplied by mail, fax, and by e-mail as attachments of scanned images.

If you are sending us material for appraisal, please follow these "rules":

Mail/Fax options:

• call, write, or e-mail first! BEFORE sending us any stamps, please call or write with the request. We may not be interested in a certain item at this time. Remember, we only deal in the stamps of Canada and it's provinces. We do charge a nominal amount for stamp appraisals (this fee is waived if we purchase the stamps you are selling).

• photocopies of stamp(s) should always be done with a black background. This shows off the perforations (if any) in relationship to the stamp design. Copies on a white background will not show us the information needed.

E-mail attachments of scanned images:

• file format: JPG is desired.

• stamp size: 100%.

• resolution: 300dpi is best but 150dpi is adequate if showing off centring.

• sharpening: if you are a seasoned veteran of scanning, "sharpening" the image is allowed. This is not required as our software enables us to do this after we have the image from you.

• colour contrast/brightness: same as above; sometimes it is best to simply send the first scan you create. We will use our software to apply image editing.

• background: scan with a black background.

• do NOT:
  • do not add any text and/or arrows to the stamp image to point out a variety on the stamp - this distracts from the stamp.

  • do not scan the stamp as a larger image of itself, unless you are highlighting a small portion of the stamp's detail to show off a constant plate variety.

• if you have a web site, a link to your site where you have stored your image(s) is satisfactory.

We use Windows-based computers. Documents in a Macintosh format are a little harder for us to handle.