Canada became a country, the Dominion of Canada back in 1867. Before that, British North America was made up of a few different provinces.
The “province” of Canada began issuing stamps on April 23, 1851. The 3 pence Beaver is considered the first Canadian postage stamp. It was the first stamp to picture an animal and not a monarch.
The first issues of this stamp were made on “laid”paper which did not stick all that well to envelopes. Therefore, in 1852 the printers switched to “wove” paper, and 250,000 were ordered.
Laid paper shows alternate light and dark lines when held up to the light, while wove paper has an even smooth of uniform texture and when held to a light the slight weave-like pattern of the grain can be seen.
This stamp was an impeforate issue and was printed in shades of red and orange red. Some stamp catalogues value this stamp up to $60,000 ($45,000 US) when in very fine mint condition.
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Beaver 3 Pence
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The second stamp was issued on May 12, 1851, a 6 pence imperforate stamp depicting the portrait of his Royal Highness Prince Albert. This stamp was printed in shades of slate violet, greyish purple and brown purple. 100,000 stamps were ordered.
This stamp was printed on laid paper and in mint condition is difficult to find. Some stamp catalogues value this stamp up to $60,000 ($45,000 US).
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HRH Prince Albert 6 pence
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The third stamp was issued on May 14, 1851, a 12 pence imperforate stamp showing the portrait of Queen Victoria and printed on laid paper in a black shade. It was also known as the 12 Penny Black.
Only about 50,000 of these stamps were ordered, and because they were unpopular with the public only 1,400 were issued and sold. The others were destroyed! This is now one of the world’s most rarest stamps.
Some stamp catalogues value this stamp up to $150,000 ($120,000 US) when in very fine mint condition. However, this stamp has sold for a much higher price at some auctions!
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Queen Victoria 12 pence
Source: The Unitrade specialized catalogue of Canadian Stamps
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Thanks to @papa-pepper for creating these logos for @daveks!
Great post
a culture where the stamps represent a great wealth full of history.
Yes, definitely!
great post bro i really like this type post
Wow what an interesting post! I wonder why the public did not like the Queen Victoria stamp?
Apparently they were poorly printed and unattractive to look at, and the stamp didn’t stick well to envelopes. Also the 12 pence was about 4 times the regular postage, so it was pricey too!
Oh I see! I think it's beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
I can't even imagine what the value of these stamps are right now. I'm sure there a small handful who have one. Thanks for sharing this bit of Canadian history. It's always nice seeing history from your homeland. :)
It’s incredible how valuable some of those old stamps are! Thanks for looking.
I agree. I've been collecting stamps from here in the States and Canada the last few years. Perhaps some day in a couple generations people will talk about the current ones like they do the much much older ones. And be worth something!
It's difficult to find a stamp club nowadays. Unfortunately, stamp collections are handed down through inheritance and the heir has 'not a clue' of the collectible value in his possession. The 1963 movie Charade was fun and interesting, and relevant to this post. Where are all the good mystery movies now?
Indeed, it seems that stamp clubs are dying off these days. Thanks for stopping by!
When I was a kid, I had a box of stamps, I loved the canadians ones the best. Those are some cool old wood cuts. I think they were still using some similar designs as late as the seventies, or at least that's what I remember.
I’ll be posting all of our Canadian postage stamps, so stay tuned, thanks for looking!
Very cool. How does one Join Team Canada?
It’s just a hashtag, anyone can use as far as I know.