o

strating its own postal service in 1850, and in the same year an Act was passed providing for the cha

. V

ent of the Inland Posts to the Provincial Governm

unications shall form part of the Provincial Revenue, unless such monies belong of right to the United Kingdom, or to some other Colony, or to some Foreign State, and the expenses of management shall be defrayed out of Provincial Funds, and that the Act passed in the Eighth year of Her Majesty's Reign, and entitled An Act to provide for the management of the Customs, and of matter

thin this Province, any fraction of a half-ounce being chargeable as a half-ounce; that no transit postage shall be charged on any letter or packet passing through this Province, or any part thereof, to any other Colony in British North America, unless it be posted in this Province, and the sender choose to prepay it; nor on any letter or packet from any such Colony, if prepaid t

regards the Provincial Postage. That Provincial Stamps for the prepayment of postage may be prepared under the orders of the Governor in Council, which stamps shall be evidence of the prepayment of Provincial Postage to the amount mentioned on such stamps; and that such stamps, prepared under

ich the transfer of the postal system from Imperial to Provincial authority was to take effect, gave more explicit instructions with regar

to Post

l Post

14th Mar

i

ce of your duties, under the New Post Office Law of the 13th and 14th Vict., chap. 17, passed at the last Session of the Provincial Parliam

liable to a uniform rate of Three Pence, currency, per half-ounce for whatever distance conveyed: prepayment will be optional: the charge increasing

exceeding ? ounce, will

ounce, and not exceeding 1 ounc

e, and not exceeding 1? ounces will

ers from that now followed, in advancing one

ing, if unpaid, and 1s 4d currency, if prepaid, as also the rate on Letters, by those mails, via Halifax, of 1s sterling, if unpaid

his distinction when taxing letters, weighing

nd Sailors in Her Majesty's Service, by which under certain conditions such L

, Prince Edward's Island, or Newfoundland, are to

he Frontier line and the place of posting or place of destination in Canada; and until further arrangements

Place, and any additional charge made on Letters delivered at the residence of partie

with regard to Letters and Packets on the business of the Post

re being prepared and will be distributed

. St

st Master

xpence currency, equivalent to ten cents in United States money, while to California and Oregon the rate was nine pence currency per half-ounce. On newspapers, pamphlets, etc., the rates were the same as those for Canada itself with the stipulation that all such mail must be prepaid. Certain offices were named for handling the mail be

e Post Office Department referring to the issue of stam

enting the head of Prince Albert, of the denomination of Six pence; and the third, representing the head of Her Majesty,

as a prepaid Letter or Packet; but if the Stamps affixed be not adequate to the proper Postage, the Post Master receiving the Letter or Packet for transmissi

stamps must be cancelled by making a cross (X) on each with a pen. If the cancelling has been omitted on the mailing of the Letter, the Post Master delivering it will cancel the stamp in the manner dir

oted above, and further amplified in a lengthy set of "Regulations and Instructions" called for numerous rates of ?d and 1d as w

herefore, 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 cro

ties 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

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 assured 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 constitutional 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

e 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 Duchess of Kent, as a

. Mr. Donald A. King says:-"This was undoubtedly done intentionally, as though it was intended for a one shilling stamp, yet it could not be called that, as there were a number of shillings o

nation which we cannot do bett

that in New England the 'shilling' was a current expression for 16? cents (10 pence currency), while in New York it represented 12? cents (7? pence currency) and we can readily see that in Canadian territory contiguous to these sections the number of pence to a 'shilling' might often be a debatable quantity. As a matter of fact the French Canadians of Lower Canada made general

nted 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 t

ine 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 illustrated three different ones. One of these is a variety mentioned by Mr. Howes, another shows a distinct doubling of parts of the details of

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 p

wes 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

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

St

1851, Ham

1851, Chi

, 1851, T

, 1851, T

1852, Mo

, 1852, In

Ottawa (then kno

1853, She

1854, Smith

, 1854, O

1854, L'

1854, Ing

1854, Sault

854, Port.

1854, Row

1854, Mel

1854, Mon

854, Smith'

stamps

he 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 t

ril, 1870, states that the 12d value was discontinued in 1855 and it also la

, that we were in doubt as to whether the 12d was ever actually used, has been good enough to w

28th Octo

e stamps were issued to the public in 1851, but did not find favor, and so few were sold-o

ir, yours ve

. Sm

o 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,

, in September, 1869, shows that the rarity of the 12d was already recognised as witnessed

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 Ind

vely small quantities, 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 br

satisfied with this meagre classification 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.

r, 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

oned above. The laid lines are most distinct, while the paper

however, in its appearance, as the paper of series VI. is much harder than that of series XII. It feels greasy when

three varieties, which the description plainly indicates. They are very dis

which is quite fragile, and will not bear much ha

rface presents a sort of hairy appearance, and the quality

pearance to that employed in any of the other series, that a reference to the back is hardly necessary. It is found i

from any of the other 6d stamps. It has only been found in shades of a peculiarly brownish purple which is a color ent

r 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 e

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 in

ount 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 stamp

an provinces. The 6d is catalogued as having been divided diagonally and the halves used as 3d stamps, though there can have been no real ne

"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 o

and while its bona-fides as a "split" is established its use as a half stamp is

rong in suggesting that the "split" stamp was merely a badly cut copy, as it appears to have been carefully bi-sected diagonally and to have been intended to pass as a half stamp, making up, with the entire stamp to which it is attached, a rate of 4?d. If this were all, though the specimen would be a great rarity-indeed, we believe it to be unique-it would not be necessarily a great puzzle to us. It is true that we do not know of any 4?d rate in Canada, and there never was a 4?d stamp in use there; but still, such a rate might have existed, although there was no possible means of making it up except by the use of at least three ?d stamps; but the puzzling part about this letter is that it is addressed from Port Hope in

ence

n, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New York,

on, Scott's N

, Scott's No

, Scott's No