"DEAR SIR:--In reply to your note of the 26th inst., let me say that the twelve penny postage stamps were issued to the public in 1851, but did not find favor, and so few were sold--only a few hundred altogether in three or four years--that they ceased to be issued in 1855. "I am, dear Sir, yours very faithfully, "W. A. SMYTH." This is satisfactorily conclusive as to the emission of the stamp in question; but if even only a few hundreds were used, we are surprised that no used copies turn up. Were they used otherwise than for postage? Mr. Philbrick informs us that no unused copy of the stamp was ever seen by him, nor does he know of its existence. Plenty of proofs on India paper, etc., exist, but the paper of the stamp was laid and thin, of a hard texture. An extract from the _Stamp Collectors' Monthly Gazette_, published at St. John, New Brunswick, in September, 1869, shows that the rarity of the 12d was already recognised as witnessed by the fact that "even $5" could be obtained for a specimen. We give the paragraph in full:-- This stamp, as some of our readers are aware, was in use but a short time, so short, that many persons even those residing in Canada, knew nothing about it. One gentleman living in Quebec, to whom we had written on the subject some time ago, informed us that we must have been laboring under some mistake, when we asked him for some particulars about it. He told us that no such stamp was ever issued; but a subsequent letter from him told a totally different tale (as was expected)--he gave us a few facts, and that was all we wanted. It was first intended for postage to England, and was actually used for a time. The postage was afterwards reduced and the 10d stamp took the place of the 12d. The latter is now (the genuine) one of the rarest in existence, and very readily obtains such prices as $4.00 and even $5.00 for one specimen. Proofs are often offered for sale on India paper, with the word 'specimen' written on one side. Amateur collections must content themselves with this last, for it is utterly impossible to obtain the real Simon Pure article for less than the sums we name, and even then, it is doubtful whether it can be had at the price or not. The color of the genuine stamp is black, it is an adhesive, and contains a portrait of Queen Victoria in an inscribed oval, with figures 12 at corners.