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Roadside Attractions on Canadian Stamps

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:54:25 +0000

Canada Post is taking Canadians on a cross-country journey celebrating four great Canadian Roadside Attractions along the way.

Canada Post issue set of 4 stamps feature Roadside Attractions, denominated 55c each.

Discription of the stamps:

* Mr. PG is an eight-metre high log man raised in 1960 in Prince George to recognize forestry’s important role in the city’s history.

* A second stamp features the Signpost Forest, in Watson Lake, Yukon. The first signs were raised in 1942, by a homesick US G.I. to point his way home. Today, more than 64,000 signs are posted.

* The stunning inukshuk outside Hay River in the Northwest Territories illustrates the stone giants’ purpose in guiding travellers in Canada’s north.

* Finally there is the Pysanka, the largest Easter egg in the world, created to honour Vegreville, Alberta’s large Ukrainian-Canadian community. Beautifully decorated Easter eggs are a tradition among Ukrainians worldwide.

The set is the first in Canada Post’s Roadside Attractions series, which will run over three years.

Map of the World Stamp from Canada

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:54:43 +0000

Map of the World Stamp from Canada, a large one is too bulky for very general use, so it must be admitted that Canada has the distinction of issuing the only postage stamp which pictures at a glance the world.

This particular stamp was to mark the opening of the British Penny Postage scheme which was advocated from the days of Sir Rowland Hill. New Zealand, Transvaal, etc., issued a special type and Canada did likewise. The designing of this stamp also had another meaning. The Ottawa Evening Journal has it in these lines: “When Postmaster General of Canada Sir William Mulock, was in Britain he as surprised to notice that the great mass of people (of Britain) did not appreciate the vastness of the British possessions abroad. This was especially true of Canada”. When it was time to prepare a suitable design for the 1898 issue, he suggested a map of the world showing the British possessions in a striking color. He called for designs, but none suited. Then he drew a rough sketch and submitted it to an artist to finish. The Journal also states that “Mr. Mulock is giving the public the cheapest map of the world ever made”.

The British possessions were in red while the countries of other powers are not so noticeable.

At the top the Crown is displayed and at the bottom the legende “We hold a vaster Empire than has been” appears.

The legende is taken from the Jubilee ode of Sir Lewis Morris, entitled “Song of the Empire”.

This remarkable stamp caused no end of criticism at home and abroad, not only because of its startling design, but (quoting C.A. Howe’s “Canada”) also because of the bombastic legende which appeared.

Before the section of Philately of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, John N. Luff, on February 24th 1899, mentioned this issue in a lecture delivered in the interests of the hobby. He observes, “The motto is a trifle bombastic and suggests the Teutonic superlative “So bigger as never was”, and “Xmas 1898″ reads like the advertisement of a department store: “Gents pants for Xmas gifts”.

So great was the public demand for this stamp that it was put on sale the sixth day of December, although the intercolonial reduced postage did not become effective until Christmas Day. The value of the stamp was two cents and the colors, originally red and lavender, but within a short time copies appeared with Neptune’s realm in light green and Prussian blue.

Canada’s 12 Pence Black of 1851

admin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:34:22 +0000

Issued on June 14, 1851, Canada’s 12-penny black features a portrait of the youthful Queen Victoria, a reproduction of a full-length painting by Alfred E. Chalon. This 12d was the high value of Canada’s first three stamps. The 12d denomination, instead of 1 shilling, was used because the value of a shilling differed in various parts of North America at that time. In most of New England, the shilling was equal to l0d, while in New York it was valued at 7d. The 12d denomination left no room for monetary confusion.

The 12d issue was printed by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson (forerunner of the American Bank Note Company) on vertically laid paper. This poor quality paper irritated both the mailing public and postal authorities. The 12d stamp saw little use, not only because of its high denomination, but because it’s adhesive and paper did not adhere well to envelopes. Thus, the issue was on sale for just a few years, with only 1,450 being sold.

In 1857 the remaining unsold 49,550 12d stamps were withdrawn and destroyed. It is believed that somewhere between 100 and 150 examples of this 12d black exist today, but this is only conjecture.

On April 30, 1974, a single was purchased by Andy Kosztandy, manager of the Postal Stamp Department of Charlton Numismatics, Ltd., for $17,000 at a J.N. Sisson’s auction in Toronto. A mint corner marginal pair was acquired by the Canadian National Postal Museum in Ottawa in 1975. It is valued at $125,000.

In 1977, Stanley Gibbons International sold an unused pair for £51,000 during its Canadian ‘Consort’ auction in London.

A New York collector purchased a single for $90,000 during a Greg Manning auction in 1978, and an unused single brought $75,000 at a Robert A. Siegel auction in 1980. A record $126,500 was paid by a Canadian collector for a single at the Greg Manning London International Rarity Auction conducted May 10, 1980.