Part 2 (2/2)
called for numerous rates of 1/2d and 1d as well as 7-1/2d so that it certainly seems strange that no provision was made for stamps by means of which such rates could be prepaid.
The beaver is typical of Canada, for the prosperity of the Colony is largely founded on this animal, whose skin has been a valuable article of commerce since the days of the early trappers in the land of the maple tree. The choice of a beaver as the central theme of the design of Canada's first stamp--the 3d value--is, therefore, particularly appropriate. The stamp is rectangular in shape and the centrepiece is enclosed within a transverse oval band inscribed ”CANADA POSTAGE” at the top, and ”THREE PENCE” below. Above the beaver is an Imperial crown which breaks into the oval band and divides the words ”CANADA” and ”POSTAGE.” This crown rests on a rose, shamrock, and thistle (emblematic of the United Kingdom) and on either side are the letters ”V R”
(_Victoria Regina_, i.e. Queen Victoria). In each of the angles is a large uncolored numeral ”3”. Mr. Howes tells us that this stamp was designed by Sir Stanford Fleming, a civil engineer and draughtsman.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
The beaver, depicted on this stamp, rejoices in the scientific name of _Castor fiber_. It is a rodent of social habits and was at one time widely distributed over Europe and North America. It is now practically extinct except in Canada and even there it is said to be in great danger of extermination. Full-grown animals vary in length from thirty to thirty-six inches. They are covered with short, thick fur, which is of considerable value and their structural peculiarities are well worth noting. The beaver is furnished with powerful incisor teeth, with which it is able to bite through fairly large trees, and its fore paws are very strong. Its hind feet are webbed, so that it is a powerful swimmer, and its tail is flattened, and serves as an excellent rudder. Its ears are small and when laid back prevent any water entering them. Beavers generally live in colonies, and show remarkable intelligence and ingenuity in the construction of their homes or ”lodges” and in the building of dams, where water in the vicinity of their dwellings has become too shallow to suit their tastes. These dwellings are often constructed on the banks of rivers, but the Canadian beaver is particularly fond of building lodges in the centre of large expanses of fairly shallow water. These are made of turf, tree-trunks, and other materials, and are often used as store houses for food reserves, as well as for living in.
The 6d stamp follows the usual upright rectangular form and its central design consists of the portrait of Prince Albert, the Royal Consort. The portrait is enclosed within an upright oval inscribed in a similar manner to the 3d but with, of course, ”SIXPENCE” on its lower portion.
The numeral ”6” is shown in each of the four angles. Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emanuel the younger of the two sons of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was born in 1819. He was carefully educated at Brussels and Bonn (1836-8), where he showed himself an ardent student, acquired many accomplishments, and developed a taste for music and the fine arts. King Leopold and Baron Stockmar had long contemplated an alliance between Prince Albert and Princess Victoria, and the pair were brought together in 1836. When the succession of Victoria was a.s.sured the betrothal took place, and on February 19th, 1840, the marriage, which was one of real affection on both sides, was solemnized in the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace. The Prince Consort's position as the husband of a const.i.tutional sovereign was difficult, and in the early years of his married life his interference in matters of state was resented. Ultimately he became ”a sort of minister, without portfolio, of art and education”, and in this capacity won much esteem and popularity. He also interested himself in agriculture and in social and industrial reform. To him was due the Great Exhibition of 1851, which resulted in a balance of a million dollars available for the encouragement of science and art. His personal character was very high, and he exercised great influence on his children. He was an ideal consort, and entirely worthy of the t.i.tle ”Albert, the Good”. On December 14th, 1861, he succ.u.mbed to an attack of fever, and was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. His remains were afterwards removed to the mausoleum at Frogmore.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
The 12d stamp is very similar in design to the 6d denomination but bears the portrait of Queen Victoria. The life and reign of Queen Victoria are matters of such general knowledge that biographical details are hardly necessary. A few words, however, regarding the source of this handsome portrait, which was used to adorn so many of the earlier British Colonial stamps, will not be amiss. Mr. Howes tells us that this portrait ”was taken from the full length painting by Alfred Edward Chalon, R. A., which was ordered by the Queen for her mother, the d.u.c.h.ess of Kent, as a souvenir of Her Majesty's first visit to the House of Lords. The occasion was the prorogation of Parliament, on July 17th, 1837, and the Queen is portrayed in her robes of state, because of which fact the painting is sometimes described as 'in Coronation Robes', but this is erroneous.”
The 12d requires a few words in explanation of the manner in which the value was expressed for ”One s.h.i.+lling” would appear to be a more natural form for this amount rather than ”Twelve Pence”. Mr. Donald A. King says:--”This was undoubtedly done intentionally, as though it was intended for a one s.h.i.+lling stamp, yet it could not be called that, as there were a number of _s.h.i.+llings_ of different values in circulation in the Colony. If the stamp had been lettered 'One s.h.i.+lling', the Post Office was liable to have tendered for it 6-1/2d, 7-1/2d, 10d or 12d, according to locality”.
Mr. Howes gives a fuller explanation which we cannot do better than quote in his own words:--
”A glance back at the rates of postage we have already quoted will show that it was generally necessary to give them in two forms, 'currency' and 'sterling'. The somewhat depreciated Canadian currency required fifteen pence, as will be noted, to equal the s.h.i.+lling sterling--a point brought out on the two stamps issued subsequently for the British Packet rates. Add to this fact that in New England the 's.h.i.+lling' was a current expression for 16-2/3 cents (10 pence currency), while in New York it represented 12-1/2 cents (7-1/2 pence currency) and we can readily see that in Canadian territory contiguous to these sections the number of pence to a 's.h.i.+lling' might often be a debatable quant.i.ty. As a matter of fact the French Canadians of Lower Canada made general use of the 's.h.i.+lling' as reckoned at 10 pence (20 cents) in the old currency, while the 'York s.h.i.+lling' was extensively used in Upper Canada.
'Twelve Pence' was without doubt wholly intentional, therefore, as the designation of the stamp, and was happy solution of any ambiguity in its use, even if it has proved a stumbling block to the understanding of latter day collectors.”
The three values forming this first issue were manufactured by Messrs.
Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson, of New York, who are, perhaps, better known to fame as the engravers of the 1847, 5c and 10c stamps for the United States government. All three stamps were printed from plates engraved in _taille douce_ the plates consisting of one hundred impressions arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten each. The manufacturer's imprint--”Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New York”--was engraved twice on each of the four sides quite close to the stamps. The imprints were so placed that the bottoms of the letters are always next to the stamps with the consequence that on the printed sheets of stamps the imprints read upwards at the left, downwards at the right, and upside down on the bottom margins.
A variety of the 3d denomination is catalogued with ”double transfer”.
This is, of course, a plate variety caused like all similar ones by a faulty or incorrect rocking of the roller impression on the plate and a correction on top of this impression which did not always entirely obliterate the first impression. Mr. Howes says this variety ”is recognized by the letters EE PEN being 'doubled' at the top, making it appear as if a line had been drawn through the words and giving it the name occasionally used of the 'line through threepence' variety.” There are at least two other similar varieties of ”double transfers” known on this value for in the _Philatelic World_ for December, 1908, Mr. A. J.
Sefi described and ill.u.s.trated three different ones. One of these is a variety mentioned by Mr. Howes, another shows a distinct doubling of parts of the details of the two left-hand corners, while the third variety shows a doubling of the upper right hand corner. It is quite possible a close study of these stamps would reveal others and also similar varieties in the 6d and 12d. ”Double strikes” are not uncommon on stamps produced by the line-engraved process though they are not often so striking as the first of these Canadian varieties and those found on the United States 10c stamp of 1847.
According to a valuable summary from official records published in the _Metropolitan Philatelist_ we learn that the first delivery of stamps from the manufacturers took place on April 5th, 1851, when 100,000 of the 3d denomination were delivered to the Canadian Government. On April 20th, a second supply of the same value comprising 150,200 stamps arrived in Canada. On May 2nd 100,400 of the 6d were received followed two days later by 51,400 of the 12d this latter being the only consignment of the highest value ever received from the printers. We have already pointed out that the 3d was placed on sale on April 23rd, 1851. The date of issue of the 6d is not known for certain as there are no official records relating to this though, as a supply was received on May 2nd, they were doubtless issued some time during the same month. The 12d was issued on June 14th as we shall show later.
The three values of this series, as well as other denominations in pence issued later, were withdrawn from use on July 1st, 1859, when decimal currency was introduced. By means of much diligent search through Post Office Reports and other records Mr. Howes has determined that a total of 3,528,700 3d stamps were issued and a total of 402,900 of the 6d value. Some of both these values were issued with perforation late in 1857 or early in 1858. Unfortunately there is no means of separating these from the imperforate ones as shown by the official figures but if we use the somewhat rough-and-ready means of reckoning afforded by catalogue quotations it would seem that of the above totals about three million of the 3d and 325,000 of the 6d were imperforate.
The 12d value, as every collector knows, is a very rare stamp. Even had the full supply of 51,000 stamps, received in the first and only consignment from the manufacturers on May 4th, 1851, been issued, it would have been a rare variety, but as a matter of fact, the greater portion of the consignment was destroyed and only 1510 were actually issued. An interesting article published in the _Metropolitan Philatelist_ in 1902 shows that this denomination was first issued on June 14th, 1851, and supplies were made to various post offices as follows:--
No. Stamps
June 14th, 1851, Hamilton, 300 Oct. 17th, 1851, Chippewa, 100 Nov. 13th, 1851, Thorold, 20 Nov. 25th, 1851, Toronto, 200 Mar. 8th, 1852, Montreal, 200 Sept. 14th, 1852, Ingersoll, 100 Apr. 5th, 1853, Ottawa (then known as Bytown), 100 Oct. 20th, 1853, Sherbrooke, 15 Jan. 13th, 1854, Smith's Falls, 50 Jan. 20th, 1854, Ottawa, 100 Feb. 8th, 1854, L'Islet, 15 Feb. 27th, 1854, Ingersoll, 20 Mar. 22nd, 1854, Sault S. Marie, 25 May 15th, 1854, Port. du Fort, 15 Oct. 21st, 1854, Rowan Mills, 50 Oct. 26th, 1854, Melbourne, 50 Oct. 27th, 1854, Montreal, 100 Dec. 4th, 1854, Smith's Falls, 50
Total stamps, 1,510
The consignment sent to Smith's Falls on December 4th, 1854, was the last distributed. While we can trace no official notice referring to the discontinuance of this denomination, or the actual date at which it ceased to be used, the writer of the article referred to above says that the balance of 49,490 stamps were destroyed on May 1st, 1857, ”in accordance with the practice of the Department in cases of the discontinuance of stamps” though as this was the first Canadian stamp to be discontinued, a precedent could hardly have been established.
The following interesting excerpt from the _Stamp Collectors' Magazine_ for April, 1870, states that the 12d value was discontinued in 1855 and it also lays considerable stress on the scarcity of used specimens of this stamp, viz:--
One of our readers observing from a reply we made to a correspondent in the last October number, that we were in doubt as to whether the 12d was ever actually used, has been good enough to write the Deputy Postmaster-General on the subject and has obtained from him the following reply:--
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