Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal StationeryHowes, Clifton A. (Clifton Armstrong)
History
Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery
Howes, Clifton A. (Clifton Armstrong)
Postage stamps -- Canada; Postal stationery -- Canada
The first thing that confronts us here is a second supply of the 10d.
stamp in this supposed "perforated period," over half of which was
issued for sale, and yet the 10d. stamp is practically unknown in a
perforated condition! We say practically, because the London Society's
work[68] remarks:--"The Seven Pence Halfpenny, green, and Ten Pence,
blue, perforated, exist in the collection of a well known Parisian
collector. The authenticity, however, of the perforations appears to be
doubtful." We think it is more than doubtful, as it is practically
certain that neither value was ever issued in this condition. Messrs.
Corwin and King state:[69]--"We agree with the Society in doubting the
authenticity of the 7-1/2d. and 10 pence, perforated, as these stamps,
thus treated, have never been seen in America, nor can anything be
ascertained from the makers of the Stamps or the Canadian Post Office
Department concerning them." The last statement is hardly convincing,
for neither party referred to can give any more information concerning
the other three values that we know _were_ issued. We can heartily
subscribe to the next remark, however:--"We have no hesitation in
pronouncing them impostors."
[67] Metropolitan Philatelist, XVII: 83.
[68] North American Colonies of Great Britain, page 15.
[69] Metropolitan Philatelist, I: 226.
The date usually assigned to the appearance of the perforated stamps is
January 1858. The London Society gave simply "1857," which is apparently
set down merely because they have just quoted the announcement from the
Postmaster General's Report for that year. Evans and Moens, in their
catalogs, both name the date as November 1858. Unfortunately no more
authoritative statement has been found, except that in Messrs. Corwin
and King's article[70] they say "Mr. Hooper positively states that it
took place in January, 1858." Mr. John R. Hooper was at that time [1890]
connected with the Canadian Post Office Department at Ottawa and took
pains to look up much information for the above-mentioned gentlemen. His
reasons for the "positive statement" are not given, and inasmuch as he
is quoted elsewhere as saying that "the records of the Post Office
Department are silent as to where this perforation was performed and by
whom,"[71] and also seems a little uncertain in some other details, we
feel that further confirmation is needed.
[70] =Metropolitan Philatelist, I=: 275.
[71] =ibid. I=: 226.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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