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Beaver

Stamp Info

Name Value
Date of Issue April 23, 1851
Year 1851
Quantity 250,200
Denomination
3d
Perforation or Dimension Imperforate = Non dentelé
Printer Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson.
Postal Administration Canada

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Stamp Price Values

Condition Name Avg Value
M-NH-VF
Mint - Never Hinged - Very Fine Only available to paid users
M-NH-F
Mint - Never Hinged - Fine Only available to paid users
M-NH-VG
Mint - Never Hinged - Very Good Only available to paid users
M-H-VF
Mint - Hinged - Very Fine Only available to paid users
M-H-F
Mint - Hinged - Fine Only available to paid users
M-H-VG
Mint - Hinged - Very Good Only available to paid users
U-VF
Used - Very Fine Only available to paid users
U-F
Used - Fine Only available to paid users
U-VG
Used - Very Good Only available to paid users
* Notes about these prices:
  • They are not based on catalogue values but on current dealer and auction listings. The reason for this is that catalogues tend to over-value stamps.
  • They are average prices. The actual value of your stamp may be slightly above or below the listed value, depending on the overall condition of your stamp. Use these prices as a guide to determine the approximate value of your stamps.

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About Stamp

The first postage stamps issue by the Province of Canada featured the beaver on the 3-pence stamp, H.R.H. Albert, the Prince Consort on the 6-pence denomination, and Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the 12-pence stamp.

These stamps were produced on laid paper without perforations.Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edison, the New York security printers, received the contract to print Canadian postage stamps, producing all the requirements until May 1, 1858. On that day the company name changed, following amalgamation, to the American Bank Note Company with headquarters remaining in New York City. The new firm continued the former printing contract until the Canadian Confederation in 1867.

Sandford Fleming, a young civil engineer and draughtsman, designed the 3-pence stamp under the direction of the Honourable James Morris, Postmaster General. He also prepared the artwork with a similar beaver motif for a 1-shilling denomination which never appeared as a finished postage stamp.

Sandford Fleming's most important work concerned railway construction in Canada, and for his work Queen Victoria knighted him. He became chief engineer for the Intercolonial Railway (1857-76), and for the Canadian Pacific Railway (1871-80). In 1872 he was in charge of the Ocean-to-Ocean Expedition undertaken to find a route for the Canadian Pacific through the Yellowhead Pass. During these years he devised the system of time zones. From 1881 until his death in 1915 he served as Chancellor of Queen's University at Kingston.

The 3-pence denomination featuring a beaver building a dam was symbolic of the people in the young country of Canada building their towns, cities, and communities. The secondary purpose of choosing the beaver centred in the original meaning of the beaver skin; it represented a medium of exchange in trade.

Creators

Designed by Sandford Fleming. Picture probably engraved by Alfred Jones.

Similar Stamps

Reference

Patrick, Douglas and Mary Patrick. Canada's Postage Stamps. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1964, p. 8.

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