1935 Canada

In 1935, the Canadian Bank Note Company regained the contract to produce Canada's postage stamps, releasing this new definitive series on June 1 of that year. The lower denominations featured a portrait of King George V based on a photograph by Lafayette Portrait Studios, engraved by Edwin Gunn. Collectors came to know this series as the Dated Die Issue, since it marked the first time the printing dies for Canadian stamps carried a date indicating the year each design was manufactured, visible on the lower values in the oval frame near the maple leaf on the left side, and worked more subtly into the outer borders, lower corners, and scrollwork on the higher pictorial values.

The set paired six lower denominations bearing the King's portrait, running from one cent through eight cents, with a striking group of higher value pictorial stamps depicting scenes from across the country. The ten cent stamp featured a mounted officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, while other values pictured the Confederation Conference held in Charlottetown in 1864, the roaring waters of Niagara Falls, the Parliament Buildings in Victoria, British Columbia, and the Champlain Monument overlooking the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec City. The RCMP and Niagara Falls designs in particular have long been regarded among the most memorable pictorial stamps Canada produced during this era, admired for both their detailed engraving and their sweeping depiction of Canadian landmarks.

The series remained in production only into 1937, cut short by the death of King George V in January 1936 and the accession of his son Edward VIII, which soon led to a new set of definitive stamps bearing the new monarch's likeness. Despite its relatively brief run, the Dated Die Issue remains one of the most celebrated definitive sets in Canadian philately, prized for pairing a dignified royal portrait with some of the most visually striking pictorial stamp designs the country had produced up to that point.