The 12d. stamp is very similar in design to the 6d. stamp, but contains a portrait of Queen Victoria. This beautiful head, so often seen upon the early British Colonial stamps, 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 souvenir of Her Majesty's first visit to the House of Lords. The occasion was the prorogation of Parliament, on July 17, 1837, and the Queen is portrayed in her robes of state, because of which fact the painting is sometimes described as "in Coronation Robes," but this is erroneous.[10] The stamp is illustrated as figure 2 on Plate I, and it will be noticed that the inscriptions in the oval frame are this time separated on either side by the royal crown. The color is black. [10] London Philatelist, VI: 147. The peculiarity in the expression of the value of this stamp as "Twelve Pence" instead of "One Shilling," which would seem to be the natural form for such an amount in English money, was long a moot question amongst collectors. It was even suggested as an "error" of the American manufacturers of the stamp! But the controversy has been practically settled by reference to the monetary conditions of the period. A glance back at the rates of postage we have already quoted will show that it was generally necessary to give them in two forms, "currency" and "sterling." The somewhat depreciated Canadian currency required fifteen pence, as will be noted, to equal the shilling sterling--a point that is brought out on the two stamps issued subsequently for the British Packet rates. Add to this the fact that in New England the "shilling" was a current expression for 16-2/3 cents (10 pence currency), while in New York it represented 12-1/2 cents (7-1/2 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 use of the "shilling" as reckoned at 10 pence (20 cents) in the old currency, while the "York shilling" was extensively used in Upper Canada.[11] "Twelve pence" was without doubt wholly intentional, therefore, as the designation of the stamp, and was a happy solution of any ambiguity in its use, even if it has proved a stumbling block to the understanding of latter day collectors. [11] Metropolitan Philatelist, I: 170. An interesting essay for this stamp is in existence, being a companion for the 3 pence "beaver," inasmuch as the shape of the stamp and the central design are the same, though on a larger scale; the inscriptions, however, are on an octagonal frame around the picture instead of an elliptical one, and the value is expressed as "one shilling," with "1s" in each spandrel. It was doubtless also a conception of Sir Sanford Fleming, the designer of the 3 pence, and it would be interesting to know what the companion 6 pence may have been.