Canada 1998 "Scenic Highways"

Issue Date	28.07.1998
ID	Michel: 1693-1696, Scott: 1739-1742, Stanley Gibbons: 1810-1813, Yvert et Tellier: 1585-1588, Category: pF
Design	Designed by Lou Cable Based on a photograph by Peter Timmermans, Brian Milne, Thaddeus Holownia, Mike Little, Chris Reardon, Don Robinson
Stamps in set	4
Value	45 - Blue Heron Scenic Route, Prince Edward Island 45 - River Valley Scenic Drive, New Brunswick 45 - Dinosaur Trail, Alberta 45 - Dempster Highway, Yukon
Emission/Type	commemorative
Places of issue	Ottawa, Ontario
Size (width x height)	56mm x 28mm
Layout	Sheet of 20 stamps
Products	FDC x1
Paper	Tullis Russell Coatings (TRC) with fluorescent frame (GT4), gum: PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol)
Perforation	12.5 x 13
Print Technique	Offset lithography
Printed by	Ashton-Potter Canada Limited
Quantity	2 000 000 each
Issuing Authority	Canadian Post

On July 28^th 1998, Canadian Post issued the stamps set "Scenic Highways II" (the first of 3 sets was issued in 1997). One of the stamps shows the skeleton of an Albertosaurus.

People who have driven across Canada appreciate the diversity of the landscape and the multiplicity of settings. These stamps capture four different Canadian panoramic scenes from four of our picturesque provinces and territories: Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Alberta and Yukon.
The 1998 Scenic Highways stamp series offers a dynamic blend of photography and illustration. "Acquiring the panoramic images was the most challenging part of the project", said the stamp designer Lou Cable. "After sending photographers across vast distances at the mercy of Mother Nature, we certainly appreciate the massive size, geological contrast and climatic range of our country.""

Albertosaurus skeleton on stamp of Canada 1998 MiNr.: 1694, Scott: 1740.

A bizarre world of eroded sandstone and textured clay awaits on the Dinosaur Trail, named for prolific fossil beds found in this part of Alberta badlands. A 48-kilometre loop around the Red Deer River west of Drumheller, Alberta's Dinosaur Trail takes motorists on a fascinating trip through the fossil-rich badlands of the Valley of the Dinosaurs, a vast prehistoric graveyard.
Dr. J.B. Tyrrell of the Geological Survey of Canada first uncovered the dinosaur beds near Drumheller. His 1884 discovery of a petrified dinosaur skull sparked a fossil search since dubbed the great Canadian dinosaur rush of 1909-1917. The Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Canada's only institute exclusively devoted to exhibitions and study of prehistoric life, was established in this area in 1985.

Albertosaurus skull on "Exploration of Canada" stamp of Canada 1989, MiNr.: 1130, Scott: 1235.	Albertosaurus on "The Age of Dinosaurs" stamp of Canada 1993, MiNr.: 1389, Scott: 1497.	Albertosaurus skull on "Drumheller: Dinosaur capital of the world" postmarks of Canada 2001 and 2015.

Products and associated philatelic items

FDC	Stamps Sheet	Example of circulated covers
The reverse side is here

References

• Technical details and description of the stamps:
  The Postage Stamp Press Release of Canada Post Corporation, reverse side of an FDC, colnect.
• Alberta's Dinosaur Trail: Wikipedia
• Dr. J.B. Tyrrell: Wikipedia
• Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology: official website

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice, PhD Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, USA, for review of a draft of this article.