Index: jackrabbit-spi-commons/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/spi/commons/value/AbstractQValue.java
===================================================================
--- jackrabbit-spi-commons/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/spi/commons/value/AbstractQValue.java	(revision 915825)
+++ jackrabbit-spi-commons/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/spi/commons/value/AbstractQValue.java	(revision )
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@
      * is <code>null</code>.
      */
     protected AbstractQValue(Calendar value) {
-        this(value, PropertyType.DATE);
+        val = ISO8601.format(value);
+        type = PropertyType.DATE;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@
      */
     public Calendar getCalendar() throws RepositoryException {
         if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return (Calendar) ((Calendar) val).clone();
+            return ISO8601.parse(getString());
         } else if (type == PropertyType.DOUBLE) {
             Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance(TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT+00:00"));
             cal.setTimeInMillis(((Double) val).longValue());
@@ -272,7 +273,7 @@
         } else if (type == PropertyType.LONG) {
             return ((Long) val).doubleValue();
         } else if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return ((Calendar) val).getTimeInMillis();
+            return getCalendar().getTimeInMillis();
         } else if (type == PropertyType.DECIMAL) {
             return ((BigDecimal) val).doubleValue();
         } else {
@@ -295,7 +296,7 @@
         } else if (type == PropertyType.DECIMAL) {
             return ((BigDecimal) val).longValue();
         } else if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return ((Calendar) val).getTimeInMillis();
+            return getCalendar().getTimeInMillis();
         } else {
             try {
                 return Long.parseLong(getString());
@@ -346,7 +347,7 @@
                 IOUtils.closeQuietly(stream);
             }
         } else if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return ISO8601.format(((Calendar) val));
+            return (String) val;
         } else {
             return val.toString();
         }
@@ -407,7 +408,7 @@
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return ISO8601.format((Calendar) val);
+            return (String) val;
         } else {
             return val.toString();
         }
@@ -430,12 +431,8 @@
             if (type != other.type) {
                 return false;
             }
-            if (PropertyType.DATE == type) {
-                return ISO8601.format((Calendar) val).equals(ISO8601.format((Calendar) other.val));
-            } else {
-                return val.equals(other.val);
-            }
+            return val.equals(other.val);
+        }
-        }
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -448,10 +445,6 @@
      */
     @Override
     public int hashCode() {
-        if (PropertyType.DATE == type) {
-            return ISO8601.format((Calendar) val).hashCode();
-        } else {
-            return val.hashCode();
-        }
-    }
+        return val.hashCode();
+    }
+}
-}
Index: jackrabbit-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/value/InternalValue.java
===================================================================
--- jackrabbit-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/value/InternalValue.java	(revision 816343)
+++ jackrabbit-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/value/InternalValue.java	(revision )
@@ -442,8 +442,13 @@
 
     public Calendar getDate() {
         assert val != null && type == PropertyType.DATE;
-        return (Calendar) val;
+        try {
+            return getCalendar();
+        } catch (RepositoryException ignore) {
+            assert false;
+            return null;
-    }
+        }
+    }
 
     /**
      * Create a copy of this object. Immutable values will return itself,
@@ -509,21 +514,6 @@
         }
     }
 
-    //-------------------------------------------< java.lang.Object overrides >
-    /**
-     * Returns the string representation of this internal value.
-     *
-     * @return string representation of this internal value
-     */
-    public String toString() {
-        if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return ISO8601.format((Calendar) val);
-        } else {
-            return val.toString();
-        }
-    }
-
-
     //-------------------------------------------------------< implementation >
     private InternalValue(String value) {
         super(value, PropertyType.STRING);
@@ -542,7 +532,7 @@
     }
 
     private InternalValue(Calendar value) {
-        super(value, PropertyType.DATE);
+        super(value);
     }
 
     private InternalValue(boolean value) {
@@ -659,26 +649,6 @@
     }
 
     /**
-     * @see org.apache.jackrabbit.spi.QValue#getString()
-     */
-    public String getString() throws RepositoryException {
-        if (type == PropertyType.BINARY) {
-            InputStream stream = getStream();
-            try {
-                return IOUtils.toString(stream, "UTF-8");
-            } catch (IOException e) {
-                throw new RepositoryException("conversion from stream to string failed", e);
-            } finally {
-                IOUtils.closeQuietly(stream);
-            }
-        } else if (type == PropertyType.DATE) {
-            return ISO8601.format(((Calendar) val));
-        } else {
-            return toString();
-        }
-    }
-
-    /**
      * @see org.apache.jackrabbit.spi.QValue#getStream()
      */
     public InputStream getStream() throws RepositoryException {
Index: jackrabbit-spi-commons/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/spi/commons/value/AbstractQValueFactory.java
===================================================================
--- jackrabbit-spi-commons/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/spi/commons/value/AbstractQValueFactory.java	(revision 802695)
+++ jackrabbit-spi-commons/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/spi/commons/value/AbstractQValueFactory.java	(revision )
@@ -129,8 +129,7 @@
         if (value == null) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot create QValue from null value.");
         }
-        // Calendar is not constant, must create a clone
-        return new DefaultQValue((Calendar) value.clone());
+        return new DefaultQValue(value);
     }
 
     /**