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Birmingham Philatelic Society

The first commemorative issue of Canada may also be said to have been its most controversial. At the time of its release in June 1897 the current stamps consisted of values from ½ cent to 15 cent, which in terms of design and colour were virtually unchanged from 1868. In addition there was an 8 cent stamp (issued in 1893) to prepay the combined postage am registration fee on letters and two high values, 20 cents and 50 cents, also issued in 1893. The Canadian Government decided that when its contract with the British American Bank Note Company lapsed it would not be renewed. Instead it was to be awarded to the American Bank Note Company of New York, for a period of 5¼ years, one of the conditions being that the printing took place in Ottawa.

As stocks of the current stamps were being exhausted it was decided to use the interim period before their replacement became available as an opportunity to celebrate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The first indication of this issue appeared in the Philatelic Journal dated March 15th 1897, when it was thought the design would be similar to the current 20 cents and 50 cents value (SG.115 and 116). By April it was confirmed that the design would, in fact, incorporate the Queen's head as she was in 1837 and 1897, but it was believed the issue would consist of a single 3 cents value. The news that a special issue was to be made did not meet with universal approval and the London Philatelist lamented 'We regret to hear that a 3 cents commemorative stamp is to be issued'. The design however was generally considered to be ‘the handsomest that has been issued for sale time’.

The situation was clarified by Sir William Mullock, the Postmaster General, in the Canadian Parliament in May. It was proposed to issue a series of values based on a normal three months usage.

The following details of the issue were released:

VALUE	COLOUR	QUANTITY	PLATE NUMBERS
½ cent	Black	150,000	9
1 cent	Orange	8,000,000	5,6, 15 and 16
2 cent	Green	2,500,000	7 and 8
3 cent	Bright Rose	20,000,000	1-4, 11-14, 28 and 29
5 cent	Deep Blue	750,000	10
6 cent	Rich Brown	75,000	17
8 cent	Violet Brown	200,000	20
10 cent	Brown Violet	150,000	19
15 cent	Steel Blue	100,000	18
20 cent	Vermillion	100,000	21
50 cent	Ultramarine	100,000	23
1 dollar	Red	25,000	22
2 dollar	Dark Purple	25,000	24
3 dollar	Yellow Brown	25,000	25
4 dollar	Purple	25,000	26
5 dollar	Olive	25,000	27

In addition some 7,000,000 1 cent postcards were issued. The design was printed in black on a buff coloured card.

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