Canada Post French Settlement Series - 2006

2006

Champlain Surveys The East Coast

In 1606, Samuel de Champlain explored the east coast of North America and his early maps and drawings of North America were considered accurate. The challenge for Canada Post was the fact that Champlain never had a likeness of himself. This stamp was a joint issue with the United States Postal Service. The special feature of this stamp was that the Official First Day Cover and the Souvenir Sheet featured both the Canadian domestic rate (51 cents) stamp and the American domestic rate (39 cents) stamp.

As there were no reliable portraits, Canada Post decided to use the type of vessel that would have been used during the 1606 expedition. The stamp depicts a barque, a small, two-masted sailing ship built by the French to explore coastal waters too shallow for larger ocean vessels.

The design of the ship was a reconstruction by Montreal historian and illustrator Francis Back. He had re-imagined the barque based on historical information in Champlain’s journals and records, including supply lists. He produced a detailed sketch, which was then reproduced as a line drawing suitable for intaglio printing by illustrator Martin Côté.

The Montreal design firm Fugazi was responsible for the stamp design. The stamp featured a design of bright and dull colours, while Fugazi placed a traditional, engraved image of the boast against a contemporary map of the East Coast.

The 2006 Champlain stamp was the second joint issue in the French Settlement series. The first was in 2004 with the postal service in France.