Canadian Philately - The Stamps and Postal History of Canada 1851 to Present by Brixton Chrome

Tonight I discovered how easy it is to pin my stamp images to Pinterest. So I have created several boards where I am posting images of stamps that I think would be of interest to people who are interested in various topics like architecture, history, art etc. Of course, I have also created a board for what I consider to be the most beautiful Canadian stamps. To view the boards, click on the following link: https://www.pinterest.com/chrism0144/

The adoption of decimal currency in 1859 necessitated a new series of stamps to replace the old sterling currency issues. It was decided to continue with the same designs as before. The only difference being that the stamps would be denominated in cents rather than pence: 1. 1c rose as the old 1/2d rose with the Wyon portrait of Queen Victoria. 2. 2c claret, as above, but with numerals in the corners and issued late in 1864. 3. 5c vermilion as the old 3d beaver. 4. 10c black brown Prince Albert, as the old 6d. This was the first printing only. 5. 10c brown, red lilac or violet as above. 6. 121/2c green, as the old 71/2d. 7. 17c dark blue as the old 10d Below are some examples from my stock: 1c rose - issued July 1, 1859 5c vermilion - issued July 1859 10c black brown - issued July 1, 1859 10c brown - issued after 1860 121/2c green - issued July 13, 1859 (earliest recorded date) 17c dark blue - issued July 18, 1859  (earliest recorded

The very first, and most expensive regular stamp issues of Canada were the impreforate pence issues, which first appeared on April 23, 1851. There were 6 basic stamps of the following designs and colours: 3d orange red or red featuring a beaver in a river. 6d slate violet or variants of grey, featuring HRH Prince Albert 12d black featuring the Alfred Chalon portrait of Queen Victoria 10d blue featuring a three quarter portrait of Jacques Cartier. 1/2d rose featuring the William Wyon bust portrait of Queen Victoria 71/2d green featuring the Chalon portrait of Queen Victoria Sir Sanford Fleming, who was instrumental in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and who was featured on a stamp issued in 1977, designed the 3d and 6d values. The 10d was adapted from a sketch by William Henry Griffin. The 1/2d design was after a bust designed by William Wyon, which was popular on the coins issued during the period in the UK. Finally the 71/2d and 12d values were based on the

In late 1858 the post office decided to begin perforating stamps to facilitate quick and accurate separation. It was decided that the 1/2d, 3d and 6d values of the erlier pence issue would be issued thus, the 12d, 10d and 7.5d values being discontinued. The perforation used measures 11.75 on all sides. This issue was very short lived, as Canada adopted decimal currency on July 1, 1859. Since the 1/2d rose was issued in December 1858, and the 3d and 6d values were issued in January 1859, this means that the issue had a life of around 5-6 months. Consequently only 850,000 of the 1/2d, 450,000 of the 3d and 70,000 of the 6d were issued. For a 19th century stamp issue for a country as populous as Canada was even back then, this is an absolutely miniscule quantity. As a result these are among the most elusive regular issues. If you are a perfectionist, prepare to be extremely frustrated, as these stamps are almost never found with perforations cleearing the outer framelines on all four si