John Hay “Experimental” Essays and Proofs
by BARBARA R. MUELLER
Essay Proof Journal 1988
Proof prints of stamp-like images made by independent and/or free-lance designers and
engravers often show up on the philatelic market as “rare essays.” Such has been the case
with the varied products of H.L. Peckmore, as periodically reported in this Journal. Another
artist who has often been outside the security printing establishment is John Hay. His life
and work were described in Journal 125, Winter 1975 issue. As of this writing, Hay is still alive
but inactive due to ill health and old age. Born in 1908 in Britain, he received most of his technical
and fine arts education in Canada. He served a five-year apprenticeship with the Canadian
Bank Note Co., where he perfected his engraving skills. His bent for experimentation in graphics
processes is related to his inventive skills in engineering. Just before World War II he established
his own company for the manufacturing of optical instruments and related equipment for various
armaments and radar installations. During the war period he studied, on the side, castings and
molds, another skill he eventually used to create fine silver and gold chalices.
Because of financial dislocations after the war, he returned to Canada, where between
periods of mining quartz and fishing in the muskeg, he painted in a variety of media. In 1945, he
bought a home in Larchmont, New York, evidently transferring for some time to the American
Bank Note Co. While engraving he also worked on the development of a solenoid printing press
and a pressureless (electrostatic) printing system. In 1962, he became vice-president of the United
States Banknote Corp. in charge of research and development; he also supplied USB with engravings
for stamps and securities. Despite suffering two strokes, he continued with this work
until his retirement in 1973.
Among the stamps Hay designed and engraved are Canada nos. 247, 249, 250, 251, 260,
276, 284-288, and 320. He also engraved Costa Rica C452 through C471 and Haiti type RA9.
Hay became well known among collectors for his backward or mirror-image signature. It
seems that he was quite ambidextrous during his working years and developed the knack of signing
his name in the usual manner with his right hand as well as using his left hand to sign “backwards”
(perhaps because of stroke-related problems?). Dr. Glenn Jackson, president emeritus of
EPS, recalls being with Hay at a time when the artist was signing a great many proof impressions.
He complained that his right hand was getting tired and switched to the left. When Dr. Jackson
saw the unusual results, he advised Hay to adopt the strange signature as a sort of trademark,
which he subsequently did.
However, he must have been signing one of the prints shown here strictly for record purposes,
writing “April 6/52 J. Hay” conventionally in a top margin. These Independence Hall
designs illustrated from photocopies courtesy of J. Leonard Diamond are typical of the many different
simulations developed for use in the artist’s ongoing experiments with engraving and
intaglio printing processes. He labeled some of them “Specimen.” Perhaps a more suitable philatelic
term for his work and that of other artists engaged in similar exercises would be “experimental
essays” and “prints,” for that is what they are—personal experimental not ordered by or
submitted to any printer for use on government-ordered postage stamps. The term would also
eliminate some of the fanciful descriptions given the material by over-enthusiastic vendors and
forestall confusion over its true status.
For example, the Independence Hall experimentals have been described as “1952 essay for
unissued engraved Independence Hall, Philadelphia, design, vert, strip of 5 in light blue, single in
ultramarine, and another in ultramarine, orange and green signed by the engraver APRIL 6/52 J
Hay, mostly f-vf, some staining on the strip, scarce, est. $150.”
At a Jan. 8, 1988 Roger Koerber sale was offered the Pope Pius XII design shown here, too,
with this description: “1954 essay for unissued engraved Pius XII design, insc. SPECIMEN, vert,
strip of 4 in black, red orange and blue on india in various stages of completion, vf. est. $100.”
Although Hay’s signature does not appear on the strip, the progression of design development
and the style of lettering used for SPECIMEN are good indicators that he made these experimentals,
too. However, there is no evidence to connect them with any official Vatican City issue.
Actual examination of the Independence Hall experimentals yields these corrections and additional
information to the auctioneer’s description: The strip of five actually consists of a top
strip of three glued to a bottom strip of two. The single in ultramarine has another impression on
the back; both are the same. The multi-colored single has the additional border also seen on the
third impression from the top of the strip. A soft, mostly yellowish paper was used for all the impressions.
All individual impressions measure 25x25 mm. except for the top two of the strip,
which are 23 x 23mm.
Inspection of the various proof impressions shows a progressive development of the design
most noticeable in the details of the building and its left and right ends as well as in the degree of
completion of the trees at either side of the building. Some of the impressions are marred by blue
ink blots and rust stains, another indication of their personal, expendable nature.
Late in 1987, the Bank Note Printers’ Designers’ Engravers’ Siderographers’ Guild of New
York issued another of its souvenir cards to demonstrate and publicize their arts. This particular
one was intended to mark the recent merger of the previous Bank Note Engravers Guild of New
York and the New York Plate Printers Union. The central vignette appears to be an enlarged and
finished version of the Independence Hall design captioned “State House” in a more vertical
format, 37 x 58mm.