Postage stamps and postal history of Canada
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The postal and philatelic history of Canada concerns postage of the territories which have formed
Origins
At
French control
The earliest reference to a
British control
The British captured Montreal in 1760, and shortly thereafter established a military postal system that handled letters between Quebec and Montreal, and from Montreal to Albany, New York.
The peace treaty of 1763 inaugurated the development of a civilian post. The
The
Finlay was succeeded in 1800 by George Heriot, then in 1816 Daniel Sutherland took over as Postmaster General. By this time dozens of post offices were being opened. 1816 was also when the postal services of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia were separated, and not rejoined until 1868.
Postmarks had been in use since 1764, Finlay having been introduced to them by Franklin. The earliest markings were town names in a straight line. As is typical of the period, the postal service introduced ever-more-complicated systems of rates for mail, depending on destination and distance. In 1840
Colonial Governments
The colonies co-operated in the local control of the postal system after they assumed the administration from the General Post office in London in 1851, but each colony issued its own stamps until it joined the confederation. All colonies ceased issuing postage stamps after joining the
British Columbia
The colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island jointly issued stamps valid in both colonies in 1860. In 1865, each colony issued its own series. After the two colonies were merged in 1866, the united colony issued stamps from 1867 to 1869.
Province of Canada
The
In April 1851, the rate for inland letters to Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island was 3d per ½ oz. Letters to the USA was 6d per ½ oz, excluding California and Oregon, which was 9d per ½ oz. The first issues were made on laid paper, which did not stick as well to envelopes; thus in 1852 the printers switched to wove paper. All of these early stamps were imperforate issues. These earliest issues on laid paper are quite rare; a grand total of only 1,450 copies of the 12d were ever issued. Copies today, depending on their condition, may sell for US$50,000 or more.
Between 1852 and 1857, the postal service came out with new values: ½d, 7½d, and 10d, while removing the 12d. The first two depicting Victoria, and the 10d featuring a portrait of Jacques Cartier. The 7½d was unusual in that it was also denominated "6 Pence Sterling". In 1858 the first perforated stamps were issued in ½d, 3d, and 6d values, depicting Queen Victoria, a beaver and HRH Prince Albert.
In 1859 the province standardized on a single decimal monetary system, which also meant new stamps would be needed. Between 1859 and 1864, the American Bank Note Company, New York produced seven new stamps in: 1¢, 2¢, 5¢, (two) 10¢, 12½¢, and 17¢ values. In general, existing designs were used. These were the last stamps produced for the Province of Canada.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick first issued stamps in 1851; they were imperforate and denominated in pence. They consisted of a 3d red, 6d olive yellow, 1/- bright red violet and a 1/- dull violet issues, all on bluish paper. All four stamps were diamond-shaped and bore the New Brunswick coat of arms. In 1860, six new stamps, denominated in cents, were issued. The 1¢ depicted a steam locomotive, the 2¢, 5¢, and 10¢ values showed a young Queen Victoria, while the 12½¢ depicted a steamship and the 17¢ showed the Prince of Wales in Highland regalia.
Newfoundland
The
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia's first issue was from 1851 to 1857, in pence. The second issue, in cents, was from 1861 to 1863.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island issued stamps in pence from 1862 to 1865, and a second series from 1868 to 1870. The third series, in cents, was issued in 1872.
Canada
Victorian period
The Dominion came into existence July 1, 1867, assembled from colonies each of which had their own stamps, so the new government issued a new series of stamps on April 1, 1868, superseding all previous issues. These featured a profile of Queen Victoria, based on an engraving by Charles Henry Jeens and became known to philatelists as the "Large Queens". They ranged in value from ½¢ to 15¢. While mostly printed on wove paper, a few of the 1¢, 2¢, and 3¢ values were also printed on laid paper; only three examples of the Canada 2c Large Queen on laid paper are known, making it Canada's rarest stamp.
Except for the 15c value which was in use as late as 1897,[6] the Large Queens had a relatively short life, being replaced in 1870 by the "Small Queens", smaller stamps of the same basic design, adopted to be able to produce more stamps more quickly. The Small Queens came in a number of printings between 1870 and 1897. In 1893 20¢ and 50¢ stamps came out with a 3/4 portrait of Victoria.
When Prince Edward Island became a Canadian province in 1873, it sold off all its remaining pre-Canadian stamps at discounted prices, flooding the market with over 1.5 million cheap stamps. Since these stamps had next to no value, forgers had no compelling reason to make copies. Today, since forged versions of Prince Edward Island stamps are harder to find than the original, the forgeries are more valuable. Library and Archives Canada holds a forged, lithographed version of a stamp from 1870 that features an engraving of Queen Victoria.[7]
In 1897, the
1897 also saw the "Maple Leaf Issue", regular stamps with the central design based on a Jubilee portrait for Victoria, with maple leaves in each corner. It was in use for only a few months before being replaced by a modified design that replaced the lower leaves with numerals of value, motivated by the French-speaking population who found it difficult to read the textual denomination on the original design. (The Universal Postal Union would require the use of Arabic numerals in 1907.)
In 1898, a first step towards
Edward VII
Upon the accession of King
George V
King
1928 saw the "Scroll Issue", so-called because "CANADA" appeared in a scroll across the top. This was the first issue to be bilingual. The pictorials are among the finest stamps ever produced, especially the 50¢ value Bluenose stamp portraying the legendary schooner Bluenose.
The "Arch Issue" of 1930 was similarly elegant. The last issue for George V, in 1935, was called the "Dated Die Issue" because the year appeared in very small print in the design.
Edward VIII
No stamps were issued during the reign of Edward VIII since he abdicated the throne before the Coronation Ceremony took place.
George VI
The dated die concept was used in 1937 as well, in the stamps issued for newly crowned King
Soon after the Empire was plunged into war; the War issue of 1942 highlighted Canada's contributions. While the low values showed the King wearing the uniforms of the different services, the higher values showed Canada's role in growing food and the production of munitions, including a Ram tank, a corvette, and a destroyer.
In 1946, the "Peace issue" showed scenes and economic activities around the country. From the late 1940s on, the issuance of commemoratives became a regular event, with two in 1947, but gradually increasing. The last regular stamps of George VI came out in 1951.
Elizabeth II
The first definitive issue for
The Karsh series was replaced in the following year by a new design based on the portrait by Dorothy Wilding that was also used in the United Kingdom. The 5¢ value was issued on April 1 with the introduction of the new domestic first class letter rate. Five more values in this series were introduced on June 10. With this series the post office began experimenting with fluorescence on stamps, resulting in a number of challenging varieties over the life of this and the next two series.
The Wilding series was replaced by the "Cameo" series, a horizontal design by Ernst Roch. The series began with the 5¢ value on 10 March 1962. The 1¢ and 4¢ values were released on 2 April 1963, and the 2¢ and 3¢ values followed on May 2.
From the 1960s on, Canadian stamp policies have favoured issuing a relatively large number of single commemoratives valued at the prevailing first-class rate. In its commemorative issues Canada has made extensive use of works by well-known artists and until very recently has not used images of living people on its stamps.
Definitive series have tended to be combinations of design types, each applying to a range of values. For instance, the definitives of the late 1980s featured native wildlife for values up to 80 cents, and Canadian architecture for the dollar values, while those of the early 1990s used berries for the lowest values, and fruit trees for the higher values, and continuing with architecture for the highest values.
In December 2003, Canada Post issued a new 49¢ definitive stamp bearing the image of Queen Elizabeth II using a photograph taken by rock star
Charles III
The first definitive issue for Charles III's reign was unveiled by Canada Post on May 5, 2023, and became available for purchase on May 8, 2023. The definitive stamp features a portrait of His Majesty King Charles III, then The Prince of Wales, by photographer Alan Shawcross.[9]
See also
- Canadian definitive postage stamps
- History of Canada
- List of people on stamps of Canada
- People on stamps of Canadian provinces
- Revenue stamps of Canada
References and sources
- References
- ^ "A Chronology of Canadian Postal History". Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ISBN 0-9730271-2-6.
- ISBN 0-9730271-1-8.
- ^ Fleming, Sandford (1893). "Note on Postage Stamps". Transactions of the Canadian Institute. 3 (1891-1892): 178. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "History: Apr. 23, 1851, Canada issues first stamp". Radio Canada International. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ Holmes, L. Seale (1968). Holmes' Specialized Philatelic Catalogue of Canada and British North America (11th revised ed.). Toronto: The Ryerson Press. p. 64.
This value had a very long life and went through many printings, on many kinds of papers in many shades of color.
- ^ "Postal Imposters" in Detecting the Truth: Fakes, Forgeries and Trickery Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada
- ^ "Dominion of Canada Stamps 1903 - 1908". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Canada Post issues first Canadian stamp featuring His Majesty King Charles III as Monarch". Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- Sources
- Stanley Gibbons: various catalogues.
- Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
- ISBN 0-356-10862-7
- Winthrop Smillie Boggs. (1945, reprinted 1974) The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Canada. Lawrence, Mass: Quarterman Publications.
- Detecting the Truth: Fakes, Forgeries and Trickery, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada
- Harris, Dwight Robin. (1998) 1952-53 Karsh, 1954-62 Wilding, 1962-66 Cameo definitives.
Further reading
- BNA Topics from the British North America Philatelic Society 1944 to 2005 online journals.
- Hillson, John. (1989) Small Queens of Canada. 2nd Revised edition. London: Christie's-Robson Lowe. ISBN 978-0-85397-429-1
- Holmes' specialized philatelic catalogue of Canada and British North America published from 1935 to 1968.
- Jarrett, Fred. Stamps of British North America.
- Jarrett, Fred. (1929) Standard British North America Catalogue. Toronto.
- Lowe, Robson. (1973) The Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps 1639-1952; Vol V North America. London: Robson Lowe.
- Prest, Stephen F. (2008) A Study of the Plates, Papers & Gums of the 1937 1¢, 2¢ & 3¢ Mufti Issues of Canada.
- Publications from: The Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation.
External links
- Canadian stamps values and prices.
- The British North American Philatelic Society.
- The Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain.
- The Canadian Philatelist Searchable Database.
- The Canadian Postal System in the Canadian Encyclopedia.
- The Large Queen Issue of Canada.
- The Canadian Stamps Gallery.
- The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (RPSC).
- The Stamps of Canada, by Bertram Poole, c. 1914.