In the late 19th century some of the world's greatest engravers worked for the American Bank Note Company. In 1897 they did some of their finest work on postage and revenue stamps for Canada honoring the 60th year of Queen Victoria's reign. In my mind their most beautiful creation, and perhaps the most beautiful engraved stamp ever, was this relatively obscure Tobacco Revenue stamp. The stamp measures almost 4 inches on a side and the detail is incredible. This die proof was one of three sold as part of the famous American Bank Note Company auction. These three are believed to be unique except perhaps for some copies taken by the Canadian government for their National Philatelic Museum.
To view a large, 300 dpi image of this stamp click here. Be warned, it is a huge image (over 700kb) but this is the only way to see the incredible detail in this stamp.
