1994 Court House in Yorkton, Saskatchewan $1 Canada

Court House in Yorkton, Saskatchewan Canada  $1 1994

1994 Court House in Yorkton, Saskatchewan $1 Canada

Text:           1$ Canada Post  

Condition:    Ø = used/cancelled

Title:   Court House, Yorkton 

Face value:     1

Stamp Currency:         $

Country/area:                     Canada

Year:   1994-02-21

Set:     1994  Architecture

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:      Multicolour

Exact colour:      

Usage:                           Definitive

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Architecture

Stamp subject:   Architecture

NVPH number:                     

Michel number:         CA 1403

Yvert number:                         1354

Scott number:                         1375

Stanley Gibbons number:    1161

Printing office:          

Perforation:    14 x 14½

Size:               

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:            

Buy Now:        Bid Now:

February 21, 1994 saw the release of two high-value Architecture stamps: a $1 Court House and $2 Provincial Normal School.

What was special about these two stamps? They were printed by Leigh-Mardon Pty Limited ... of Australia!

Both values were reissued a year later, on February 20, 1995. This time the printer was the Canadian Bank Note Company.

The above would imply that there were only two printings of each stamp. Wrong! As we will see, there were three printings of the $1 value and four printings of the $2 value.

By studying these stamps with the aid of an ultraviolet light, different "glows" of the front of the building can be seen, which proves that multiple printings were made.

$1 Court House

The $1 value pictures the Court House in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The central portion of the front of the building is a brown colour while the left and right ends are grey-coloured.

By "lamping" (studying stamps under an ultraviolet light in a dark room) the Leigh-Mardon printing of this stamp, two different "glows" can be seen on the central portion of the building, as listed here:

Printer	Perf	Glow	Estimate
LM	14.6 x 14	glows orangy	67%
LM	14.6 x 14	glows copper	7%
CBN	13.3 x 13	-	26%

This shows that three different printings exist, two by LM and the one by CBN. Also notice that the second printing by LM is relatively scarce.

Court House in Yorkton, Saskatchewan Canada

Many of Saskatchewan’s most impressive public buildings were designed by its second Provincial Architect, Maurice William Sharon. Sharon was born in St. Thomas, Ontario on November 1, 1875. He graduated from the School of Practical Science (now the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering), and then apprenticed six years in architects’ offices. Arriving in Regina in 1906, he was first employed by the province as a cartographer and has been credited with drawing the first official map of the new province. He subsequently went into an architectural partnership with a former employer, Neil R. Darrach. Sharon and Darrach’s Regina works include Westminster United Church, the Donahue Block, and the Guaranty/Western Trust Building.

Sharon’s tenure as Provincial Architect from 1916 to 1930 coincided with the province’s boom years. Among his works are the Saskatchewan Hospital at Weyburn, the Provincial NORMAL SCHOOL at Saskatoon, and the 1928 ballroom addition to GOVERNMENT HOUSE, Regina. However, his most distinctive and prominent designs are several elegant court houses. Yorkton Court House, a Provincial Heritage Property, is an example of the Beaux Arts style; it was featured on the $1 stamp of Canada Post’s Canadian Architectural Heritage series. Estevan Court House (also a Provincial Heritage Property) is considered Saskatchewan’s finest example of the Colonial style, exhibiting a symmetric design and fine detailing in stone and brick. Sharon’s other Colonial courthouse designs are Assiniboia and Weyburn (both Provincial Heritage Properties), Gravelbourg, Kerrobert, Melfort, Prince Albert, Shaunavon, and Wynyard.

Sharon was active in the formation of the Saskatchewan Association of Architects in 1912 and served two terms as its president. A Liberal supporter, Sharon lost his position as Provincial Architect following the election of the Conservative government in 1929. He spent his remaining years in BC, where his few subsequent works have all since been demolished. The excellence of his architectural capabilities is perhaps best attested to by the fact that many of Maurice Sharon’s buildings are still standing almost a century later, and over a dozen of them have been formally designated as Municipal or Provincial Heritage Properties. Maurice Sharon died September 8, 1940.