Part 3 (1/2)
”OTTAWA, 28th October, 1869.
”DEAR SIR:--In reply to your note of the 26th inst., let me say that the twelve penny postage stamps were issued to the public in 1851, but did not find favor, and so few were sold--only a few hundred altogether in three or four years--that they ceased to be issued in 1855.
”I am, dear Sir, yours very faithfully,
”W. A. SMYTH.”
This is satisfactorily conclusive as to the emission of the stamp in question; but if even only a few hundreds were used, we are surprised that no used copies turn up. Were they used otherwise than for postage?
Mr. Philbrick informs us that no unused copy of the stamp was ever seen by him, nor does he know of its existence. Plenty of proofs on India paper, etc., exist, but the paper of the stamp was laid and thin, of a hard texture.
An extract from the _Stamp Collectors' Monthly Gazette_, published at St. John, New Brunswick, in September, 1869, shows that the rarity of the 12d was already recognised as witnessed by the fact that ”even $5”
could be obtained for a specimen. We give the paragraph in full:--
This stamp, as some of our readers are aware, was in use but a short time, so short, that many persons even those residing in Canada, knew nothing about it. One gentleman living in Quebec, to whom we had written on the subject some time ago, informed us that we must have been laboring under some mistake, when we asked him for some particulars about it. He told us that no such stamp was ever issued; but a subsequent letter from him told a totally different tale (as was expected)--he gave us a few facts, and that was all we wanted. It was first intended for postage to England, and was actually used for a time. The postage was afterwards reduced and the 10d stamp took the place of the 12d. The latter is now (the genuine) one of the rarest in existence, and very readily obtains such prices as $4.00 and even $5.00 for one specimen.
Proofs are often offered for sale on India paper, with the word 'specimen' written on one side. Amateur collections must content themselves with this last, for it is utterly impossible to obtain the real Simon Pure article for less than the sums we name, and even then, it is doubtful whether it can be had at the price or not. The color of the genuine stamp is black, it is an adhesive, and contains a portrait of Queen Victoria in an inscribed oval, with figures 12 at corners.
All three values of this first set were issued imperforate and while the 3d, of which at least three millions were issued, varies but little in shade, the 6d, printed in comparatively small quant.i.ties, provides a number of striking tints. In his check-list, Mr. Howes gives ”black-violet, deep-violet, slate-violet, brown-violet, dull purple, slate, black brown, brownish black, and greenish black”, and we have no doubt the list could be considerably amplified, though the above should be sufficient for the most exacting of specialists.
The catalogue gives two distinct sorts of paper--laid and wove--for all three values, with a sub-variety of the latter, designated ”thin”, for the 3d and 6d denominations. But specialists are not satisfied with this meagre cla.s.sification and recognise numerous other varieties such as thick white laid, soft white wove, thin and thick grayish, thick hard, thick soft, ribbed, etc. Mr. D. A. King, in his article in the _Monthly Journal_, says, ”There are fourteen varieties that we are able to distinguish”, and he gives a general cla.s.sification of their characteristics as follows:--
Series I, II, IV and V.--The texture of these papers is virtually the same, and it is indeed often difficult, particularly in the case of the 6d, to distinguish between the _laid_ and _wove_ papers. The lines in the _laid_ paper are of a most peculiar character, and cannot, as a rule, be brought fairly out by holding the stamp between one's eyes and the light. The best way to test these two papers is to lay the stamps, face down, on a black surface, and let the light strike them at about an angle of fifteen degrees, when the _laid_ lines are brought most plainly into view.
It is necessary, however, to place the specimens so that the light will strike them parallel to their length, as the _laid_ lines run horizontally in the 3d, and vertically in the 6d and 12d.
Series III.--This is an entirely different paper to those mentioned above. The _laid_ lines are most distinct, while the paper is of a different texture and color from the regular gray shade.
Series VI.--The paper of this series is almost as thick as that employed for series XII. There is a vast difference, however, in its appearance, as the paper of series VI. is much harder than that of series XII. It feels greasy when rubbed between the thumb and finger, and the color of the paper is distinctly different from that shown by series XII.
Series VII, VIII and IX.--We are able to divide the thin-ribbed papers into three varieties, which the description plainly indicates. They are very distinct, and can be distinguished by a moment's inspection without hesitation.
Series X.--This is a very peculiar sort of paper, which is quite fragile, and will not bear much handling. It is quite as soft as that of series VII.
Series XI.--This paper is also of a peculiar texture; the surface presents a sort of hairy appearance, and the quality is better than Series X, although not as tough as series XII.
Series XII and XIII.--This paper presents, even when looking at the face of the specimens, so entirely different an appearance to that employed in any of the other series, that a reference to the back is hardly necessary. It is found in two thicknesses, which have the same appearance, and seems to have been employed for all the values except the 12d.
Series XIV.--We are surprised that this variety has. .h.i.therto escaped notice. It is so distinct, both in paper and color, from any of the other 6d stamps. It has only been found in shades of a peculiarly _brownish purple_ which is a color entirely different from that presented by specimens on any other of the papers employed. It is an exceedingly rare variety.
It would indeed be a task for the most intrepid of specialists to try and complete his Canadian stamps on such ambitious lines, to say nothing of acquiring the ingenuity necessary to differentiate between them.
Their philatelic importance is, in our humble opinion, not a matter of very great consequence. At that period, hand-made paper was still being used to a very large extent and even machine-made paper was not manufactured with the nicety of standardisation that is possible with the improved machinery of today. Consequently, the sheets of paper, even in such a small commercial quant.i.ty as a ream, would generally show considerable variation in texture. Thin and thick sheets were frequently mixed to obtain the necessary weight per ream specified in any particular grade of paper. No particular quality of paper was, apparently, specified for the manufacture of these stamps, and so long as it looked much about the same it is very obvious the printers made no particular effort to maintain an exact standard. It is even questionable that the wove and laid varieties mark distinct consignments or printings of the stamps. Indeed, so far as the 12d is concerned at any rate, both varieties must have been included in the same consignment. But, more serious still, from the point of view of those collectors who consider the wove and laid papers should be treated as major varieties, Mr. King admits that ”the lines in the laid paper are of a most peculiar character” and that ”it is often difficult to distinguish between the laid and the wove papers”, while Mr. Howes states, ”It happens sometimes that it is quite difficult to distinguish the laid paper, a very careful scrutiny or even the extreme resort to the benzine cup being necessary to bring out the watermarked lines, and perhaps then only in a half suspicious way.” Writing in the _Canada Stamp Sheet_ (Vol. IV, page 142), concerning the 12d value, Mr. John N. Luff stated, ”It is my opinion that both the wove and laid papers are quite genuine and I think it is possible that both varieties might occur though there was only one lot sent out by the printers. It does not, of course, follow that the entire batch was printed on the same day or that two varieties of paper may not have been used. The early printers were not always very particular about their paper, provided it was somewhat alike in a general way. Some collectors claim that laid paper is often of such nature that the lines do not show in some parts of the sheet, and I believe there is evidence to support this theory.”
It is quite within the bounds of possibility that the paper generally used for these stamps was intended to be what is known as ”wove” to the trade, and that the ”laid lines” originated in a purely accidental manner and are rather on the order of the ”laid paper” varieties found in connection with the first 8c and 12c stamps of Sarawak. In short, it is probable that in some sheets at any rate the laid lines showed only in part. At best, therefore, it would appear that the ”wove” is but a minor variety of the ”laid” or vice versa, and while both varieties, as well as other varieties easily distinguished, such as the very thin and very thick, are of interest to specialists, they throw no light whatsoever on the history of the stamps, and do not, from all the available facts, represent separate printings, so that their _philatelic_ importance (aside from comparative rarity as minor varieties, with its accompanying variation in monetary worth) is not of a particularly high order.
One peculiarity resulting from the use of papers of such varying quality is an apparent difference in the size of stamps of the same denomination. For instance, the stamps on the thinner kinds of paper generally measure 22 x 18 mm., while those on thicker paper measure 22-3/4 x 17-1/2 mm. and papers of other thicknesses provide still other measurements. These differences in size (fairly considerable in relation to the comparatively small area of a postage stamp) proved very puzzling to collectors of twenty years or so ago for, though it was felt that the stamps came from the same plates, it was at the same time found impossible to account for such varieties, except on the hypothesis that all the impressions of the plate were not all applied alike or that the hardening of the plates before printing resulted in contraction in parts with a consequent variation in the size of different impressions. The same sorts of varieties have been noticed in many other stamps printed by the line engraved process, notably in such stamps as the ”pence”
Ceylons, and proper investigation finally proved beyond a shadow of doubt that these differences in size were due to nothing more than uneven contraction of the paper after printing. It must be understood that in printing stamps by the line-engraved method the paper usually has to be slightly wetted (this was an invariable rule at the time these early Canada stamps were printed) and it can be easily seen that the wetting would have quite different results on different qualities of paper. Some would be more absorbent than others and would stretch while damp and contract again when drying. The amount of wetting administered would, also, result in differences even in the same qualify of paper.
These variations in the size of the design, therefore, while interesting in themselves as examples of paper vagaries, are of little, if any, philatelic importance.
Bi-sected stamps were not used in Canada to anything like the same extent that similar varieties were used in the other British North American provinces. The 6d is catalogued as having been divided diagonally and the halves used as 3d stamps, though there can have been no real necessity for such bi-section. A bi-sected stamp of quite another character was mentioned in the _Monthly Journal_ for April, 1898, as follows:--
The _Post Office_ describes a so-called ”split provisional” of the early 3d stamp, which is described as consisting of one and a half of the unperforated 3d on wove, upon an entire envelope postmarked ”Port Hope, July 16th, 1855, Canada, Paid 10c.” Our contemporary does not appear to perceive that the postmark plainly indicates that the supposed half stamp is really only a badly cut copy; the 3d of Canada pa.s.sed for 5 cents, and as this letter is plainly marked ”Paid 10c”, the stamps upon it evidently pa.s.sed as two 3d, not as one and a half, which would have corresponded to no rate of postage.