stamp printers by country
CANADA
= Understood to be a current stamp printer.
First postage stamp issued: 1851.
American
Bank Note Company, Ottawa. Abbreviation
known by: ABN.
First
stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1859 for the
Colony of Canada
The Canadian operation of
ABN needs researching; however, in 1923
ABN in Canada became the Canadian Bank Note Company, Ottawa In
1939, C E Ashton founded the company. It
was not initially a security printer, producing
packaging, labels, school books, direct
mail and greetings cards until 1969 when
Canada Post gave them its first stamp production
job.
Following
bankruptcy [when?], the company became known
as Ashton Potter (Canada)
Limited.
Ashton
Potter (Canada) Limited, Mississauga. Reformed:
1993.
First
stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1993. Main
printing process(es): Litho, self-adhesive
In 1939, C E Ashton founded
the company. It was not initially a security
printer, producing packaging, labels, school
books, direct mail and greetings cards until
1969 when Canada Post gave them its first
stamp production job.
Ashton Potter went into bankruptcy
in 1993, and so the MDC Corporation took
them over and moved all assets to Ashton
Potter USA until it could re-open a facility
back in Canada. That day happened when a
lucrative contract worth $24.1 million dollars
over five years was awarded to them by Canada
Post Corporation. A new facility was built
at Mississauga comprising 60,000 square
feet to cope with this and many other contracts
that soon followed for Hong Kong (its first
overseas contract, placed through the Crown
Agents), Thailand and Vatican City, among
others.
Ashton Potter Canada is capable
of printing stamps by all of the accepted
methods on self-adhesive and water-activated
papers, describing itself as "an industry
leader with a heritage of high quality stamp
production".
Ashton-Potter
remains part of MDC's Secure Transaction
Division and has significant long-term relationships
and contracts with a number of the world's
largest postal authorities, including the
USPS and Canada Post Corporation. Ashton
Potter specializes in the production of
postage stamp products, including definitive
stamps - coils, booklets and sheets, and
commemorative stamps. Ashton Potter's security
print capabilities, both offset and intaglio,
combined with its pre-press and finishing
capabilities are suitable to a wide variety
of additional niche marketplaces.
British
American Bank Note Company, Montreal
and
Ottawa.
Abbreviation known by: BABNC. Now
trading as
BA
Banknote, Ottawa. Founded: 1866. First
stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1888 for Canada. Main
printing process(es): Litho, gravure, recess.
BABNC
was established by printers and engravers
following the merger of two separate groups
led by Messrs. Burland and Smillie. Initially
in Ottawa, the plant subsequently moved
to Montreal and then back to Ottawa.
In 1881, William Smillie
left the company to form the Canadian Bank Note Company, which
was later purchased by BABNC in 1891 following
several years of mixed fortunes.
For more than 130 years,
BABNC has supplied security printing to
governments across Canada and throughout
the world. Production incorporates currency,
travellers cheques, securities, passports,
stocks, bonds and postage stamps.
In the autumn of 1997, an
announcement appeared that the auction house
Spinks of America would sell the archives
of the BABNC. Unfortunately for collectors,
most lots were withdrawn from sale and were
claimed by the Canadian government a couple
of days before the auction. Consequently,
most items ended-up in the Canadian Postal
Museum and collectors were deprived of the
wealth of material that had been scheduled
for sale.
BA Banknote was, until late
1999, a part of the large Quebecor Printing
Incorporated group of companies. However
the following press release reveals:
Munich, 21 October 1999 -
Munich-based Giesecke & Devrient GmbH
(G&D) has acquired the world's fourth
largest commercial banknote printing works,
BA Banknote of Ottawa, Canada. The parties
have agreed not to reveal the purchase price.
This move reinforces G&D's ranking as
no. 2 in the global market. "Through
the purchase of BA Banknote we now have
a banknote production facility overseas,
positioning G&D in the North American
dollar zone", commented Manfred Beck
of Giesecke & Devrient's management
board. Beck emphasized that the acquisition
represents a strategic expansion and will
not affect jobs at G&D's plant in Germany
Canadian
Bank Note Company Limited, Ottawa. Abbreviation known
by: CBN or CBNC.
Founded:
1897.
Reformed:
1923.
First
stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1897 for Canada
when it was known as ABN. Main
printing process(es): Litho, die-cut, recess Graham
& Whiteside's Business Description:
CANADIAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, LTD. designs
and produces innovative security systems
for personal identification, lotteries and
gaming and payment industries. In addition
to turnkey systems, the company provides
related products including authentication
and border control devices, lottery terminals
and printed product such as passports, visas,
drivers' licenses, bank notes and postage
stamps.
William
Smillie was responsible for establishing
the company, having left BABNC in
1881 to set-up this competitor to his old
firm. However, in due course CBNC was acquired
by BABNC following several poor years. Until
1923, CBN was a branch of the American Bank
Note Company.
CBN is currently a member
of the Canadian Bank Note Group. It was
awarded the contract for printing the 1897
Victoria Jubilee commemorative issue for
the then government of Canada (under the
old ABN brand). It has continued to print
Canadian postage stamps to the present time
with volumes around 650 million per annum
(as of 1990).
A 2004 new contractual agreement
will provide for the continuation of the
provision of definitive stamps with CBN
for Canada Post.
Colour
Innovations Inc., Toronto.
Founded: 1988.
First CPC stamp printed:
2003.
First stamps produced for Barbados,
2007.
Main printing process(es):
Litho.
Known for its proprietary 750-1,000-line
screen capability and unique postage stamp processes and techniques, Colour
Innovations' stamps exhibit exceptional clarity and colour fidelity and stand
out in a crowded field.
A direct supplier of pre-press services
to Canada Post (CPC) from its fully-secure plant in Toronto, Colour Innovations
has also printed a wide range of both definitive and commemorative postage
stamps as a subcontractor to one of Canada Post's main suppliers.
More recently, in November 2007, Colour
Innovations completed its first full-service postage stamp project for the
Barbados Postal Service providing design, pre-press, printing, and
finishing for a set of four turtle stamps.
Lowe-Martin, Ottawa. First
stamp(s) traced by compiler: 2002 for Canada. Main printing process(es):
Litho, die-cut. Lowe-Martin has
been manufacturing commemorative stamps
for Canada Post since 2002. In 2004, a new
definitive stamp agreement will represent
a new segment of business for Lowe-Martin.
McAra
Printing, Alberta, Calgary. First stamp(s) traced
by compiler: [when?].
McAra Printing is a division
of the Canadian Bank Note group,
which specialises in high security printing,
quality design and related services. This
group offers the specialised expertise and
equipment required for printing all government,
financial and lottery related documents
such as banknotes, bonds, stamps and lottery
tickets. It is expected that McAra
will one day print stamps under its own
brand name.
MDC
(Multi-Disciplined
Communications) Corporation, Toronto. Abbreviation
known by: MDC.
Holding company for stamp
printers Ashton Potter USA, Ashton Potter Canada and
(once had) The House of House of Questa
in the United Kingdom. It is not a stamp
printer in its own right.
In a short time MDCs Security
and Speciality Printing division has become
one of the world's leading providers of
security printed documents. MDC launched
with US$500 borrowed on the founders' Visa
card in 1982. By 1999, they had established
the MDC Stamp Group as
a wholly owned subsidiary of MDC Corporation.
MDC
is a publicly traded international business
services organization with operating units
in Canada, the United States, (no longer
in the) United Kingdom and Australia. MDC
provides marketing communication services,
through Maxxcom, and offers security sensitive
transaction products and services in four
primary areas: personalized transaction
products such as personal and business cheques;
electronic transaction products such as
credit, debit, telephone & smart cards;
secure ticketing products, such as airline,
transit and event tickets; and stamps, both
postal and excise. MDC shares are traded
on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the
symbol MDZ.A and on NASDAQ National Market
under the symbol MDCA.
MDC (Multi-Disciplined Communications) Stamp Group, Toronto. Whilst not a stamp printer
in its own right, the MDC Stamp Group oversees
the stamp printing operations of Ashton
Potter USA, Ashton Potter Canada and
(once had) The House of House of Questa
in the United Kingdom.
Robinson & Co. Ltd.,
at
the offices of The
Daily News, St.
John's, Newfoundland.
Royal Gazette, St.
John's, Newfoundland. Clandestine forgeries
of the brown-grey printing of 1897 exist.
These were produced by one of the printers
at the Royal Gazette.
Saults and Pollard Ltd., Winnipeg. First
stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1972 for Canada.
Stamp catalogues imply that
BABN shared
production of this issue. Main
printing process(es): Litho.
D. R. Thistle, St
John's, Newfoundland.

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