Last Update: November 27, 2010

"Presenting - En primeur" postal cards were introduced by Canada Post in 1991. The were used to inform collectors of new philatelic products and contained very basic information about the up-coming items, along with illustrations. They were discontinued after only three years of service and have become desirable collectibles, being official Canada Post postal cards, some with pre-paid icons. The cards can be broken down into four distribution types:

• Type 1: Cards have a postage paid indicia on the reverse and were mailed to regular customers on the National Philatelic Centre mailing list. They were addressed using two methods; first with an adhesive label used up until mid-1992, followed by ink sprayed directly onto the card, which was used until they were discontinued in late 1993. Mint examples were distributed to post offices and postal boutiques, and on some occasions they were mailed under separate cover to collectors from the National Philatelic Centre.

• Type 2: These mint cards were distributed to post offices and postal boutiques, but unlike type 2, they do not have any postage paid indicia or address label guide marks. Some were mailed under separate cover to collectors from the National Philatelic Centre.

• Type 3: Cards similar to type 1, but were distributed to members of the junior Stamp Travellers' club. The cards bear the Club logo on the front rather than the Canada Post logo found on the others, and have a different number code. These cards are the scarcest, and most are only known in used (addressed) condition.

Presenting / En Primeur Cards on eBay

All types of cards have a boxed number code on the lower right corner of the front, and it is defined by the type of product the card depicted. The first two digits indicated the year of issue, followed by a letter (or letters) indicating the type of product, and lastly, a number indicating the number of issues of that particular product. The following letters codes were used:

1. AS = Annual souvenir collection
2. D   = Definitive stamps
3. DP = Definitive stamps without Postage Paid Indicia
4. C   = Commemorative stamps
5. CP = Commemorative stamps without Postage Paid Indicia
6. ST = Stamp Travellers' Club (definitives and commemoratives)

Example: 93D04 indicates 93 for the year 1993, D for a definitive issue, and 04 for the fourth definitive card of that particular year.

The tables below are in the following categories:

1) Definitives
2) Commemoratives
3) Annual Souvenir Collections
4) Stamp Travellers' Club (definitives and commemoratives)

Click Here for Card Illustrations

1) Definitive Cards

1. 91D01 to 91D04 were mailed to collectors under separate cover.
2. 92D01 to 92D05 were mailed in a Christmas card to all customers on the Philatelic Centre mailing list.
3. Mint cards of 92D07 exist with the lower right label guide missing, while all the used cards seem to have it.
4. On 93D03 and 93DP03 the coloured advertisement covers the complete card.
   
   

2) Commemorative Cards

1. 91C04 is known with the description side inverted, with the top at the left side, in addition to the normal right side. It is not known which is the most common type.
2. 91C04 is also known with the black colour on the stamp side printed double.
3. Mint cards of 92C06 and 92C07 exist with the lower right label guide missing, while the all used cards seem to have it.
4. 92C08 was the first commemorative card to use ink spray for the address.
5. Mint copies without indicia of 91C08 and 09 do not have the "Canada 92 " logo.
6. 92C10 was the first commemorative card to be produced without the address label guides.
7. The "P" added to 92CP12, 13 and 14 was to indicate they were distributed through postal outlets. They do not have the Postage Paid indicia. This numbering system seems to have been quickly abandoned.
   

3) Souvenir Collection Cards

1. Number 92AS10 is probably a printers error, and should have been numbered with a P, as 92ASP10. It only exists unused.
   

4) Stamp Travellers' Club
Cards (Type 3)

1. Stamp Travellers' Club cards 91ST01 to 04 were not been issued.
2. Number 92ST05 was used for both the Canada 92 card and the Summer Olympics card, probably an error by the printer. The correct number for the Summer Olympics card should have been 92ST08.

Squares coloured in grey are unlikely to exist. Check marks ( ) in black are of those in my collection, while those with dots ( ) in magenta have been provided by other collectors, namely André Bisaillon and David Gronbeck-Jones.

Please report any additional varieties or corrections to Brian Cannon