Issue I. March and April, 1868.
_Seven values._ Engraved and printed in _taille-douce_ by the
British-American Bank Note Company, of Montreal and Ottawa, on white
wove paper, varying greatly in substance, or on white laid paper; white
gum; machine perforated 12. Designs: The central design is the same
in each value, and consists of a diademed profile portrait of Queen
Victoria to right, on background of horizontal lines, enclosed within a
narrow circular white line. The borders, the shape of the labels, and
the position of the numerals, vary in each value. Shapes, small upright
rectangular for the Half Cent, large upright rectangular for the other
six values. (_Illustrations 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28._)
T. “CANADA POSTAGE.” B. “HALF CENT,” “ONE CENT,” “TWO,”
“THREE,” “SIX,” “TWELVE AND A HALF,” “FIFTEEN CENTS.”
(A) _White wove paper._
½ c., black.
1 c., brown-red (shades).
1 c., orange-yellow ( ” ).
2 c., green, yellow-green ( ” ).
3 c., red ( ” ).
6 c., brown ( ” ).
12½ c., blue ( ” ).
15 c., lilac ( ” ).
(B) _White horizontal laid paper._
1 c., brown-red.
1 c., yellow.
3 c., red (shades).
(C) _Bluish-white wove paper._
½ c., black.
_Remarks._—The One Cent, yellow, on laid paper, is not known to the
Society. It is taken from _The Halifax Philatelist_ for July, 1888,
page 74. Some of the stamps on wove paper have been catalogued with a
watermark, consisting of various letters. It is probable these letters
are portions of the name of the papermaker, which most likely exists in
the margin of the sheets. The Half Cent, on bluish paper, is taken from
the sixth edition of M. Moens’ _Catalogue_.
Issue II. 1870-1874.
_Five values_.—Engraved and printed in _taille-douce_ by the
British-American Bank Note Company on white wove paper, varying in
substance; white gum; machine perforated 12. The entire sheets contain
100 stamps, each in ten rows of ten. The size of the stamps and the
designs are similar to that of the Half Cent of the preceding issue,
except as regards the borders of the stamps, which differ for each
value. The Six Cents was not issued until January, 1872; while the Ten
Cents did not make its appearance until the end of 1874. (_Illustrations
29, 30, 31, 32, 33._)
1 c., orange, yellow (shades).
2 c., green, yellow-green (shades).
3 c., vermilion, red, rose, vermilion-red (shades).
6 c., brown (shades).
10 c., lilac-rose (shades).
_Varieties._
(A) 3 c., imperforate,
(B) 5 c., perf. 13½ × 12.
_Remarks._—_The Halifax Philatelist_, in its number for February, 1887,
mentions that the Three Cents exists in very dark brown, almost black.
The specimen seen was unused, and purchased among others from the Post
Office. Probably the change in colour is due to oxidation, or some other
accidental cause.
Issue III. 1875-1876.
_One Value._ Similar in design to the stamps of the two last issues.
The stamp first appeared on October 1st, 1875, with large dimensions,
like those of Issue I.; but in March, 1876, the size was reduced to that
of the stamps of Issue II. The perforation of both varieties is 12.
(_Illustrations 34, 35._)
(A) _Large size._